Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering (JUEE), v.13, n.2, p.329-335, 2019
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E
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Journal of Urban and Environmental
Engineering, v.13, n.2, p.329-335
Journal of Urban and
Environmental Engineering
ISSN 1982-3932
doi: 10.4090/juee.2019.v13n2.329335
www.journal-uee.org
INNOVATIVE PROPOSITION AND PREDICTION OF URBAN
WET WEATHER WASHOFF USING SIMULATED RAINFALL
Mahadi L. Yakubu
1
*, Zulkifli Yusop
2
, Razali Ismail
3
, Isa B. Koki
4
, Muhammad T Ahmad
1
and Abubakar Tukur
5
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Kano,
Nigeria.
2
Institute of Environmental and Water Resources Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor,
Malaysia.
3
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
4
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, Nigeria.
5
Department of Geography, Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Kano University of Science and
Technology, Wudil, Kano, Nigeria.
Received 3 Fabruary 2019; received in revised form 5 October 2019; accepted 10 November 2019
Abstract: Washoff is an important process that describes the transportation of pollutants into water
ways during the wet weather event. Washoff is a multifarious phenomenon that
encapsulated other varied processes ranging from the pollutants deposition during the
dry weather period (buildup), to the higher load transport at the beginning of the storm
(first flush). Most of the washoff studies were localised to non-tropical regions, where
the laxity to wait for dry weather period exist. However, in the tropical regions, the
assurance for prolonged dry weather period is near absent, due to frequency of rainfall.
This research experimented two new approaches to washoff sampling suitable for
tropical regions, alongside with the traditional washoff sampling method. To obtain
highly accurate data, the rainfall parameters were confined to selection by employing a
very efficient rainfall simulator to gain the washoff data. The washoff of Total
suspended solids (TSS) as an indicator of pollution under different simulated rainfalls
was established. The result indicated higher mobilisation of the TSS in the first five
minutes of rain, and disposes to a steady mobilisation rate after 40 minutes of simulated
rain. The washoff percentages for the three road surfaces suggests that the rain intensity
plays a more prominent role in washoff prior to the occurrence of first flush, while
intense rain mobilises higher amount of TSS within shorter duration of rain. The first
flush effect was quantified based on the common definitions of pollutants load-volume
relationships of 20/80, 30/80, and 20/40. In all the road surfaces, at least 40% of the
pollutants loads were transported in the first 20% of the runoff volumes.
Keywords: First flush; rain duration; rain intensity; simulated rain; TSS; washoff.
© 2019 Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering (JUEE). All rights reserved.
Correspondence to: Mahadi L. Yakubu, Tel.: +234 80 3678 2425.
E-mail: mahadilawan@gmail.com