Implementation of an extensive urban runoff monitoring program, targeting the quantification of heavy metal and organic micropollutant loads, necessitated the development of an autonomous water sampler. The design requirements for the device were to fulfill flow-proportional continuous composite sampling of urban runoff events in a widely customizable, relatively inexpensive, and simple way. In this paper, we introduce the concept along with the experiences gained from the first several months of field tests at seven pilot areas in Hungary that represent a wide range of urban environments. During the test period, prototype samplers were placed in natural (urban) streams as well as stormwater drainage pipes, resulting in a total of 97 automatic composite runoff samples. At two sites, an additional 28 manual grab samples were collected to represent time series from five distinct runoff events. Sampling efficiency was checked by comparing collected volumes with the theoretical ones (derived from pump mileage data). Ranges and ratios of concentrations measured from composite and grab samples were graphically interpreted in order to evaluate their representativeness. It has been shown that the concept is suitable for conducting cost-effective urban runoff characterization surveys targeting inter-event variability.

中文翻译：

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开发了一种自动流量比例水采样器，用于估算城市径流中的污染物负荷。

针对量化重金属和有机微污染物负荷的大规模城市径流监测计划的实施，有必要开发一个自主的水采样器。该设备的设计要求是以可广泛定制，相对便宜且简单的方式来完成城市径流事件的流量比例连续复合采样。在本文中，我们介绍了该概念以及在匈牙利的七个试点地区的前几个月的现场测试中获得的经验，这些地区代表了广泛的城市环境。在测试期间，将原型采样器放置在自然（城市）溪流和雨水排放管中，总共产生了97个自动复合径流样品。在两个地点 另外收集了28个手动抓取样本，以代表五个不同径流事件的时间序列。通过将收集的体积与理论体积进行比较（从泵里程数据得出）来检查采样效率。用图形解释了从复合样品和抓斗样品中测得的浓度范围和比率，以评估其代表性。研究表明，该概念适用于针对事件间变异性进行具有成本效益的城市径流特征调查。