Abstract
The fate and transport mechanism of pollutants which have affinities to particles, such as trace metals and some petroleum product based compounds, can be effectively explained by the movement of sediment. The sediment release from lands to adjacent water bodies due to rainfall events was investigated in an effort to predict the total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations in runoff. The contribution of sediment from land origin to the river TSS can be better understood by the relationship between TSS concentration and particle size in runoff. The sieve analysis was used to determine the particle size distribution and these results were incorporated into statistical models. The critical size of particles was set to $74{\mu}m$ which contributes to the river TSS concentration since fine particles (wash load) of the sediment in the runoff play the key role in constituting TSS in a water column of the river. Empirical relationships were developed to predict TSS in runoff from the percentage of the critical particle size and were proven statistically to be valid.