Infrastructure deterioration is a threat to developed countries, emphasizing the need for effective management techniques. In particular, the leakage of aged domestic sewer pipeline is a major health issue, yet there is a lack of markers to identify domestic leakage. We studied the pollution in urban waters resulting from domestic sewage leakage into storm drainages. We monitored caffeine, fragrance substances and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the storm discharge points in five urban districts having separate sewer systems aged from 10 to over 40 years. Results show that caffeine and fragrance concentrations tended to increase with sewer system age. For instance, caffeine concentrations in the areas of sewer systems over 40 years old were at least two orders of magnitude higher than in 10-year-old sewer systems, and were as high as 1–10% of domestic sewage, strongly suggesting the leakage of domestic sewer pipelines. PAHs exhibited consistent patterns across the districts. Overall, we observe that sewer leaking processes can be distinguished by analyzing the levels of organic pollutants.

基础设施恶化对发达国家构成威胁，强调需要有效的管理技术。特别是老化的家庭下水道管道的泄漏是一个重大的健康问题，但缺乏识别家庭泄漏的标记。我们研究了生活污水渗入雨水渠造成的城市水域污染。我们对五个拥有 10 年至 40 年以上独立下水道系统的城区的风暴排放点的咖啡因、香料物质和多环芳烃 (PAH) 进行了监测。结果表明，咖啡因和香料浓度随着下水道系统年龄的增长而增加。例如，使用超过 40 年的下水道系统区域的咖啡因浓度比使用 10 年的下水道系统至少高出两个数量级，并且高达生活污水的 1-10%，强烈表明存在泄漏。的生活污水管道。多环芳烃在各地区表现出一致的模式。总的来说，我们观察到，可以通过分析有机污染物的水平来区分下水道泄漏过程。