Enhancing MUSIC’s Capability for Performance Evaluation and Optimization of Established Urban Constructed Wetlands

The Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualization (MUSIC) serves as a key hydrological tool for simulating urban stormwater runoff pollution and evaluating the treatment performance in Water-Sensitive Urban Designs like constructed wetlands (CWs). However, a significant limitation exists in MUSIC’s current inability to model heavy metal contaminants, even though they are commonly found in urban stormwater and pose significant environmental risks. This eventually affects the model’s utility during critical planning phases for urban developments. Thus, there is a need to address this limitation. Field investigations were conducted across established CWs in residential and industrial catchments throughout Greater Melbourne, Australia. Through systematic monitoring and calibration, an approach was developed to extend MUSIC’s predictive capabilities to include several prevalent heavy metals. The results indicate that the enhanced model can generate plausible estimates for targeted metals while differentiating catchment-specific pollutant generation and treatment patterns. This advancement enhances MUSIC’s functionality as a planning support tool, enabling the preliminary assessment of heavy metal dynamics alongside conventional pollutants during both design and operational stages. The findings underscore the value of incorporating metal-specific parameters into stormwater models, offering improved support for urban water management decisions and long-term water quality protection.