Non-Metal Roofs as a Source of Stormwater Pollution
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Urban stormwater runoff contains pollutants that deteriorate the quality of surface and groundwater when discharged untreated. To prevent pollution and to develop treatment facilities, understanding the sources of hazardous substances is essential. While the leaching behavior of metal roofs is well investigated, the contribution of non-metal roofing materials, especially for inclined roofs, to stormwater contamination is still poorly investigated. Based on a market and literature study to determine the most used non-metal roofing materials in Germany, laboratory leaching tests were conducted in the first step with 15 selected roofing materials: clay tiles, concrete tiles, wood shingles, fiber cement panels, bitumen shingles, and plastic tiles. The eluate of the lab test has been analyzed for different organic and inorganic parameters that occur in urban stormwater. The laboratory test results provided the basis for the subsequent field test. For a period of one year, pilot-scale roofs (triplicates) were exposed to weathering, and runoff from all rain events were collected and analyzed for the parameters found in the lab test. Results showed that several materials release environmentally relevant concentrations of hazardous substances in the lab and field: treated wood shingles are a strong source of B, Cu, and NH4+. Concrete tiles release the biocide terbutryn and associated transformation products, and clay tiles leach V. These findings highlight the role of non-metal roofing materials as pollutant sources in urban runoff.
Source: HAL
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213995318