Assessment of the Potential Environmental Impacts of Stormwater Management from a Life cycle perspective : A case study of stormwater treatment alternatives in Finspång Municipality

Abstract: Finspång Municipality suspects that the stormwater discharge has a negative impact on the quality of lake Skutbosjön due to its poor quality. Therefore, Tyréns is currently working together with the municipality to introduce new stormwater measures that would help to improve the state of the lake. This study will provide supporting evidence for decision-making by analysing and comparing the potential environmental impacts of a detention pond, an underground detention chamber system (UDCS) and a biofiltration system by utilising life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Metrics used in this study include 18 mid-point impact categories that are quantified for each system’s life cycle. The modelled pond had significantly lower adverse environmental impact in 12 impact categories than other systems, and UDCS had the highest environmental impacts in 13 impact categories. For pond, majority of the impacts where attributed to the transport of bulky materials during the decommissioning phase while for UDCS and biofilters, the material production in the construction phase dominated the life cycle impacts. Overall, applying LCA in a context of stormwater management can help in gaining a better understanding of the system’s life cycle and identifying areas of improvement.