IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v4y2015i4p1090-1109d59286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Patterns of Wastewater Infrastructure along a Gradient of Coastal Urbanization: A Study of the Puget Sound Region

Author

Listed:
  • Daniele Spirandelli

    (Department of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Hawai`i-Manoa, 2424 Maile Way, Saunders 107, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore patterns of wastewater infrastructures (sewers vs. septic tanks) in urbanizing watersheds across a coastal metropolitan region. This research combines an urban-rural gradient with spatial metrics at the patch and watershed scale (proportion of parcels on a treatment system, septic density, lot size and percent imperviousness) to analyze wastewater patterns in the Puget Sound, WA, USA. Results show that most urban residential parcels are hooked up to a sewer, although there remain urban residences on a septic tank with small lots. I find a complex arrangement of wastewater treatment in suburban watersheds representing a patchwork of parcels on sewers and septic tanks. Sewers dominate in total numbers, while the density of septic tanks is highest in this portion of the urban gradient. Lot size decreases from rural to urban; however, it varies depending on the type of wastewater treatment system. In urban watersheds, lots on septic tanks are significantly smaller than lots in suburban and rural watersheds and of a similar size compared to lots on sewers. I also find a significant difference in the amount of impervious surfaces in watersheds dominated by sewers vs. septic tanks. In the urban portion of the gradient, the amount of paved surfaces in parcels with septic tanks is also similar in level as parcels with sewers. I discuss how these patterns emerge from the interplay of biophysical, socio-economic and technological factors and how different regulatory regimes for septic tanks and sewers may further induce these patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniele Spirandelli, 2015. "Patterns of Wastewater Infrastructure along a Gradient of Coastal Urbanization: A Study of the Puget Sound Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:4:y:2015:i:4:p:1090-1109:d:59286
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/4/4/1090/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/4/4/1090/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heimlich, Ralph E. & Anderson, William D., 2001. "Development At The Urban Fringe And Beyond: Impacts On Agriculture And Rural Land," Agricultural Economic Reports 33943, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Newburn, David & Berck, Peter, 2011. "Exurban development," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 323-336.
    3. Marina Alberti, 2005. "The Effects of Urban Patterns on Ecosystem Function," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 28(2), pages 168-192, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eggimann, Sven & Truffer, Bernhard & Feldmann, Ulrike & Maurer, Max, 2018. "Screening European market potentials for small modular wastewater treatment systems – an inroad to sustainability transitions in urban water management?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 711-725.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Guci, Ledia, 2018. "An estimator for discrete-choice models with spatial lag dependence using large samples, with an application to land-use conversions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 77-93.
    2. Wendong Zhang & Douglas H. Wrenn & Elena G. Irwin, 2017. "Spatial Heterogeneity, Accessibility, and Zoning: An Empirical Investigation of Leapfrog Development," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 547-570.
    3. Newburn, David A. & Berck, Peter, 2011. "Growth Management Policies for Exurban and Suburban Development: Theory and an Application to Sonoma County, California," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(3), pages 375-392, December.
    4. Sophie Legras, 2013. "From the tank to climate change: multiple environmental impacts of wastewater management," Working Papers hal-01190244, HAL.
    5. Ranalli Flavia & Salvati Luca, 2015. "Land-Use Structure and Urbanization-Driven Land Fragmentation: Revisiting the Monocentric Model in a Sprawling Region," European Spatial Research and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 22(1), pages 61-80, June.
    6. Legras, Sophie, 2015. "Correlated environmental impacts of wastewater management in a spatial context," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 83-92.
    7. Charlotte Ham & John B. Loomis & Patricia A. Champ, 2015. "Relative Economic Values of Open Space Provided by National Forest and Military Lands to Surrounding Communities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 81-96, March.
    8. Giuseppe Di Liddo, 2015. "Urban sprawl and regional growth: empirical evidence from Italian Regions," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2141-2160.
    9. Alison Blay-Palmer & Roberta Sonnino & Julien Custot, 2016. "A food politics of the possible? Growing sustainable food systems through networks of knowledge," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(1), pages 27-43, March.
    10. Michael A. Stoll, 2006. "Job sprawl, spatial mismatch, and black employment disadvantage," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 827-854.
    11. Barry Kew & Brian D. Lee, 2013. "Measuring Sprawl across the Urban Rural Continuum Using an Amalgamated Sprawl Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-23, April.
    12. Cicia, Gianni & Colantuoni, Francesca & Del Giudice, Teresa & Pascucci, Stefano, 2011. "Community Supported Agriculture in the Urban Fringe: Empirical Evidence for Project Feasibility in the Metropolitan Area of Naples (Italy)," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 2(3), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Salvati, Luca & Sateriano, Adele & Grigoriadis, Efstathios & Carlucci, Margherita, 2017. "New wine in old bottles: The (changing) socioeconomic attributes of sprawl during building boom and stagnation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 361-372.
    14. Nehring, Richard & Erickson, Kenneth & Michael, Harris & Hallahan, Charlie & Katchova, Ani, 2016. "Heartland, Southern Seaboard, and Prairie Gateway: A Farm-Level Analysis," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235666, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Joshua Duke & Lori Lynch, 2007. "Gauging support for innovative farmland preservation techniques," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 40(2), pages 123-155, June.
    16. Dietrich Earnhart, 2006. "Using Contingent-Pricing Analysis to Value Open Space and Its Duration at Residential Locations," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 82(1), pages 17-35.
    17. Coisnon, Thomas & Oueslati, Walid & Salanié, Julien, 2014. "Urban sprawl occurrence under spatially varying agricultural amenities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 38-49.
    18. McConnell, Virginia & Walls, Margaret & Kopits, Elizabeth, 2006. "Zoning, TDRs and the density of development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 440-457, May.
    19. Hailu, Yohannes G. & Brown, Cheryl, 2007. "Regional Growth Impacts on Agricultural Land Development: A Spatial Model for Three States," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 36(1), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Kenya L. Covington, 2015. "Poverty Suburbanization: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Analyses," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(2), pages 71-90.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:4:y:2015:i:4:p:1090-1109:d:59286. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.