Assessment of the contribution of utility vault water to surface water pollution

Utility vaults and underground structures house essential telecommunications, gas, and electrical infrastructure (e.g., transformers, copper wiring) that could contaminate water which accumulates in them. Water is removed from utility vaults during routine infrastructure maintenance. That water is typically released to the storm drain system, raising concerns that polluted water could reach receiving waters. However, no one has measured pollutants in utility vault water. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has mandated such measurements as a condition of renewing the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Utility Vault Permit. We analyzed 126 priority pollutants in 20 utility vault water samples collected throughout California by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). We also estimated the volume of utility vault water discharged and calculated loads. Twenty-one priority pollutants were detected. Metals were commonly found. Only copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) exceeded water quality criteria. Their maximum concentrations were 791 and 386 μg/L, respectively. Median Cu and Zn concentrations of 9.66 and 81.6 μg/L were representative of urban stormwater, suggesting runoff is a source of metals in utility vault water. For San Francisco Bay, Cu and Zn loads from PG&E's utility vault water (0.06 and 0.5 kg/year) were inconsequential compared to previously reported total loads (74,000 and 320,000 kg/year) from stormwater, wastewater treatment plants, etc. For California, utility vault water loads were 5 and 40 kg/year of Cu and Zn. We are the first to report pollutant concentrations in utility vault water. Utility vaults are not a major source of pollutants to receiving waters. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10661-019-7585-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.