Tracing volatile organic compounds in sewers

A combined method of passive and active sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a sewer system is presented. Passive sampling devices are used to locate and identify volatile organic compounds in the sewer atmosphere. Passive sampling is a time-integrating method and its results are only qualitative. To get quantitative information active sampling of wastewater is necessary. Concentrations of VOCs obtained from active sampling are used as input values for a simplified form of the two-film-model. This model allows to compute concentrations of VOCs at different points in a sewer stretch. We employed this method to describe the behaviour of volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons within a sewer stretch in Bayreuth, Germany.