A simulated examination of stormwater sampling methods

Stormwater management practices and regulatory policies depend on accurate estimates of pollutant loading. Pollutant wash-off is quantified by sampling stormwater runoff, often with automated water samplers. To better understand the errors associated with stormwater sampling, we built a numerical simulation of runoff sampling and examined accuracy for different types of idealized storms, pollutants, and samplers. We will present findings about the relative errors of different sampling methods, and suggestions for inexpensively improving accuracy in some specific cases.