Determining Urban Stormwater BMP Effectiveness

The Best Management Practices (BMPs) used to reduce pollutant loads in stormwater runoff from urban areas can be evaluated at individual sites and still be relevant to other applications. Most research studies have provided data that is not comparable between sets, or that can not be extrapolated to apply to other sites. This assessment of comparability problems also considers the factors which affect the transferability of data, including methods and statistical assessments. A protocol for future BMP analysis is developed, and recommendations on the use of effluent quality as a measure of BMP efficiency are made.