(2016) Environmental Research_Hazardous and odorous pollutants released from sewer manholes and stormwater catch basins in urban areas

Pandey S.K., Kim K.-H., Kwon E.E., Kim Y.-H.

(Academic Press Inc.) Environmental Research ISSN: 139351 Vol.146 Issue. Article No. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2015.12.033

To learn more about the emission characteristics of odorants released from sewer manholes and stormwater catch basins (SCBs) in an urban environment, we measured the emission concentrations of major odorants including 22 target compounds designated as offensive odorants by the Korean Ministry of Environment (KMOE). All of our measurements were made from urban sewer manholes and SCBs in a highly commercialized location in Seoul, Korea. The results of our study were analyzed to identify the major odorants from such sources and to assess their contribution to odor intensity. The malodor strengths at both types of underground sources were considerably higher in the afternoon than in the morning. The assessment of odor intensity (OI) and odor activity value (OAV) confirmed the dominance of key odorants like H₂S, CH₃SH, and ammonia along with various volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and phenol. The concentration of these major odorants (H₂S, CH₃SH, and NH₃) exceeded the maximum permissible limit given as the odor prevention law in Korea. As such, significantly high levels of odorants released from these underground sources were greatly distinguished from those seen at above ground locations. © 2015 Elsevier Inc.

This study was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) (No. 2009-0093848 ). This work was also carried out with the support of the “ Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development ” (Project title: Study on model development to control odor from hogpens, Project No. PJ01052101 ) Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. The first author gratefully acknowledges the support of a UGC start-up grant, New Delhi, India. (No. F.20-1/2012(BSR)/20-2(3)/2012(BSR ). The third author also acknowledges the support made by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government ( MSIP ) (No. 2914RA1A004893 ).