Road salt collection and redistribution at an urban rain garden on sandy soil, Gary, Indiana

Water
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Abstract

Rain gardens installed as green infrastructure to divert storm runoff from entering combined sewers also collect dissolved constituents and particulates. An urban rain garden in northwestern Indiana, USA, was continuously monitored from November 2019 to May 2021 to evaluate the fate of dissolved constituents entering the rain garden in runoff. Physical and chemical properties of soils in the rain garden were also monitored, along with underlying groundwater. Linear regression models relating specific conductance to chloride concentration indicated that the 0.0371-ha (3998 square feet) rain garden collected approximately 1490 kg (3285 pounds) of road salt from the surrounding 0.2228 ha (24,500 square feet) of impervious surfaces. Soils and groundwater were seasonally affected by road salt application but carryover from year to year was not indicated. Rain garden soil permeability (5.20 × 10−5 to 9.72 × 10−5 m/s) remained unchanged during the study period and soil organic carbon generally increased under native vegetation. The results suggest that a rain garden built on sandy soil can divert substantial quantities of runoff and dissolved constituents from combined sewers; however, chloride is transported to sub-infrastructure groundwater that eventually discharges to adjacent waterways with concentrations lower than those observed in runoff.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Road salt collection and redistribution at an urban rain garden on sandy soil, Gary, Indiana
Series title Water
DOI 10.3390/w17040510
Volume 17
Issue 4
Year Published 2025
Language English
Publisher MDPI
Contributing office(s) Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center
Description 510, 25 p.
Country United States
State Indiana
City Gary
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