Understanding dissolved organic matters in stormwater from different urban land uses: implications for reuse safety

Highlights

	● Dissolved organic matters (DOM) in stormwater from different land uses were compared.
	● Surrounding environments significantly influenced DOM characteristics in stormwater.
	● Commercial/highway stormwater had higher DOM concentrations with higher aromaticity.
	● Stormwater/rainwater tended to be more hydrophilic than other water sources.
	● All water sources included a very high fraction of low molecular weight DOM.

Abstract

Chlorination plays a vital role in guaranteeing the safety of reused stormwater, but it must be carefully managed due to its potential to react with dissolved organic matter (DOM) in water, forming disinfection by-products (DBPs). This study investigated DOM characteristics in stormwater from different land uses. The results showed that surrounding environments significantly impacted DOM characteristics in stormwater. Commercial stormwater and highway stormwater showed higher DOM concentrations with higher aromaticity than urban village and residential areas. DOM in commercial stormwater and highway stormwater had a high humification while residential stormwater and urban village stormwater had a higher fraction of recently microbially-generated DOM. When compared to other water sources in China, stormwater (rainwater that reaches the ground and washes off pollutants)/rainwater (rainwater without reaching ground surfaces) exhibited higher humification and fewer extracellular substances produced by microorganisms. Stormwater/rainwater was also more hydrophilic, with percentages ranging from 50.77% to 93.73%. However, all water sources contained a significant fraction of low molecular weight DOM, such as < 1 kDa, with stormwater in this study containing 36.45% to 66.39% of DOM < 1 kDa. These findings provide valuable insights into the DOM characteristics of stormwater.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Dissolved organic matters / Stormwater reuse / Land use / Reuse safety

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Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. U21A2036 and 52170100), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2024A1515010371) and Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (No. JCYJ20240813141507010).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1969-8 and is accessible for authorized users.

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