The influence of temperature on nutrient treatment efficiency in stormwater biofilter systems

Synthetic stormwater for laboratory testing of filter materials

Synthetic stormwater was tested to determine the ageing effects on dissolved metal concentrations and used in a column experiment to determine efficiency of four different filter materials (milkweed, bark, peat, polypropylene) in removing total and dissolved metals. Synthetic stormwater was created by adding metal salts, oil and collected stormwater sediment to tap water. Two ageing experiments were performed to determine the change of synthetic stormwater quality over time. One experiment lasted for 11 days and another focused on rapid concentration changes one day after preparation. The one-day ageing experiment showed rapid decrease in dissolved concentration of certain metals, specifically Cu. To consider this change, correction coefficients for each metal were developed and used to estimate the average dissolved metal concentration in the synthetic stormwater during the experiment to determine filter treatment efficiency. During the 11-day experiment on metal concentrations, no noticeable quality changes were observed for at least six days after the preparation of synthetic stormwater. Furthermore, a column experiment was run with duplicate filter columns. Inflow and outflow samples were analysed for total and dissolved metals, turbidity, particle size distribution, and pH. High removal of total metal concentrations was noticed in all tested filter media (58-94%). Dissolved metal concentration removal varied among different filter media. In general, columns with bark and peat media were able to treat dissolved metals better than polypropylene and milkweed. The level of treatment of dissolved metals between the different filter media columns were bark > peat > milkweed > polypropylene.

Potential of bioretention plants in treating urban runoff polluted with greywater under tropical climate

Bioretention systems are among the most popular stormwater best management practices (BMPs) for urban runoff treatment. Studies on plant performance using bioretention systems have been conducted, especially in developed countries with a temperate climate, such as the USA and Australia. However, these results might not be applicable in developing countries with tropical climates due to the different rainfall regimes and the strength of runoff pollutants. Thus, this study focuses on the performance of tropical plants in treating urban runoff polluted with greywater using a bioretention system. Ten different tropical plant species were triplicated and planted in 30 mesocosms with two control mesocosms without vegetation. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the performance of plants, which were then ranked based on their performance in removing pollutants using the total score obtained for each water quality test. Results showed that vetiver topped the table with 86.4% of total nitrogen (TN) removal, 93.5% of total phosphorus (TP) removal, 89.8% of biological oxygen demand (BOD) removal, 90% of total suspended solids (TSS) removal, and 92.5% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal followed by blue porterweed, Hibiscus, golden trumpet, and tall sedge which can be recommended to be employed in future bioretention studies.

Purification effect of bioretention with improved filler on runoff pollution under low temperature conditions

In recent years, there have been a number of studies on bioretention during hot summer, with only few studies reported during low-temperature winters. The application of bioretention in cold areas still lacks effective guidance. In this study, runoff simulation experiments were conducted to explore the influence of wood chips filler and water treatment residue on the removal of runoff pollutants under different packing gradations and low temperature conditions. Under low temperature, nitrate nitrogen removal rate of wood chips filler decreased from 70% to 90% in autumn to -23%- 35% in winter, the total nitrogen removal rate decreased from 75 to 90% in autumn to 20%-50% in winter, the removal rate of ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus exceeded 70% during the entire experiment. Water treatment residue filler maintained a high ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus removal rate during the experiment, with the total phosphorus removal rate above 90% and ammonia nitrogen removal rate above 80%. The bioretention effluent concentration of nitrate and total nitrogen was higher than 7.3 mg/L and 8.5 mg/L, respectively, most of the time. However, at low temperature, the COD removal rate of the two fillers was 25%-50%, which was very poor. Therefore, wood chips filler was observed to be better suited for the removal of nitrate and total nitrogen from the runoff, while water treatment residue had a better effect on the removal of ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus in winter. Thus, for the application of bioretention in northern China, appropriate fillers should be selected considering the water quality characteristics of the area.

Seasonal performance of field bioretention systems in retaining phosphorus in a cold climate: Influence of prolonged road salt application

Bioretention systems are popular low impact development stormwater management features designed to remove pollutants, including phosphorus (P), from urban stormwater runoff. While the performance of bioretention systems in retaining P has been well studied, seasonal variability of P retention in field-scale systems installed in cold climates, including the influence of high road de-icing salt (sodium chloride) inputs, remains unclear. Two large field-scale bioretention systems installed in London, Ontario, Canada were monitored over their initial operational period to evaluate the seasonal trends in the retention of different forms of P in bioretention systems and the impact of high salt loading. Over the 12-month monitoring period, a net retention of total P and dissolved organic P, and a net release of soluble reactive P and total dissolved P mass were observed. Reduced hydrological performance and increased effluent P concentrations resulted in high P release from the bioretention systems in early to mid-spring (March and April), with most release occurring during a few individual large precipitation events. Laboratory-scale column experiments were performed using the engineered soil media installed in the field-scale bioretention systems to isolate the effect of high salt loading on P release. Column experiments combined with field data indicate that prolonged high salt loads through winter and spring may have contributed to elevated spring P release, mostly in the form of soluble reactive P, from the field-scale bioretention systems. Findings from this study are needed to better understand the performance of bioretention systems with respect to P retention as required to improve urban stormwater management in cold climates. Results have implications for further investigations of the impact of road salt on P mobility in bioretention systems and more broadly in roadside soils and groundwater systems.

Nitrate removal uncertainty in stormwater control measures: Is the design or climate a culprit?

Eutrophication is caused by excess nitrate and other nutrient exported via stormwater runoff to surface waters, which is projected to increase as a result of climate change. Despite recent increases in the implementation of stormwater control measures (SCM), nutrient export has not abated, indicating poor or inconsistent removal capacities of SCM for nitrate. However, the cause of the variability is unclear. We show that both design and local climate can explain nitrate removal variability by critically analyzing data reported on the international BMP database for nitrate removal by four common types of SCM: bioretention cells, grass swales, media filters, and retention ponds. The relative importance of climate or design on nitrate removal depends on the SCM type. Nitrate removal in grass swales and bioretention systems is more sensitive to local climate than design specifications, whereas nitrate removal in the retention ponds is less sensitive to climate and more sensitive to design features such as vegetation and pond volume. Media filters without amendment have the least capacity compared to other SCM types surveyed, and their removal capacity was independent of the local climate. Adding amendments made up of carbon biomass, iron-based media, or a mixture of these amendments can significantly improve nitrate removal. The type of carbon biomass is also a factor since biochar does not appear to affect nitrate removal. This analysis can help inform the selection of SCM and modification of their design based on local and projected climate to maximize nitrate removal and minimize eutrophication.

Metal speciation in stormwater bioretention: Removal of particulate, colloidal and truly dissolved metals

For comprehensive estimation of the metal treatment efficiency of bioretention systems, information on metal speciation in the stormwater and the effluent is needed. However, so far, most bioretention studies only considered total metal concentrations. Despite their environmental importance, dissolved metals (defined as fractions < 0.45 μm) have only been evaluated in few studies. This study represents the first bioretention study to subdivide the <0.45 μm fraction further by filtration through a 3 kDa ultrafilter (corresponding to appr. 2-3 nm), thus enabling distinction between particulate, colloidal and truly dissolved metals. Higher bioavailability of the truly dissolved fraction has been indicated by previous research, underlining the importance of this study. Since vegetation and salt in stormwater both may be explanatory variables for metal fractionation, these have been added as factors in the utilized full factorial pilot-scale column experiment. While total metal removal was often >95%, detailed fractionation revealed that Cu and (when no salt was added) Zn removal in the <0.45 μm and <3 kDa fractions was significantly lower. Further, mean concentrations of Cu and (in one treatment) Cd in the <0.45 μm effluent fraction did not meet Swedish receiving water quality guidelines. By calculating the particulate, colloidal and truly dissolved fractions, it was shown that bioretention systems affect metal speciation of Cu and Zn. Colloidal and truly dissolved fractions were mostly prevalent in the effluent rather than the influent. Salt affected metal removal mostly negatively. Fractionation was affected by salt mainly in the influent where it increased the concentrations of Cd and Zn in the truly dissolved fraction (no effects on Cu and Pb fractions). In the effluent, Cu and Zn were only slightly affected by salt. Vegetation had mostly no significant effects on metal removal and fractionation. Further integration of detailed metal fractionation into sampling routines in bioretention research is recommended.

Hydrologic and Pollutant Removal Performance of Media Layers in Bioretention

The current study was aimed to investigate the filler layer structure in modified bioretention systems. Three different structural layers in bioretention were proposed to evaluate their hydrologic performance and pollutant removal efficiency under different rainfall intensities. These layers were as follows: all three layers (filter, transition, and drainage layers), without transition layer, and without drainage layer. Synthetic stormwater was used for experimental purpose in current work. Results revealed that compared with “all three layers”, runoff control rate of “without transition layer” and “without drainage layer” was reduced by 0 to 7.4%, 0 to 10.1%, and outflow start time was advanced by 6 to 8 min and 1.5 to 4.5 min, respectively. Moreover, CODcr (chemical oxygen demand), NH4+-N (ammonium nitrogen), TN (total nitrogen) and TP (total phosphorus) removal rates were 86.0%, 85.4%, 71.8%, and 68.0%, respectively. Particle size distribution of the fillers revealed that during operation, particle moved downward were mainly within 0.16–0.63 mm size. Findings showed that transition and drainage layer played an important role in runoff control, and total height of the filler layer should not be less than 800 mm. Filter layer effectively reduce runoff pollution but the thickness of the filter layer should not be less than 500 mm. Whereas, transition layer has the function of preventing the filler loss of the filter layer; therefore, proper measures must be taken into consideration during structural optimization.

Importance of the Submerged Zone during Dry Periods to Nitrogen Removal in a Bioretention System

Adding a submerged zone (SZ) is deemed to promote denitrification during dry periods and thus improve NO3− removal efficiency of a bioretention system. However, few studies had investigated the variation of nitrogen concentration in the SZ during dry periods and evaluated the effect of the variation on nitrogen removal of the bioretention system. Based on the experiment in a mesocosm bioretetion system with SZ, this study investigated the variation of nitrogen concentration of the system under 17 consecutive cycles of wet and dry alternation with varied rainfall amount, influent nitrogen concentration and antecedent dry periods (ADP). The results indicated that (1) during the dry periods, NH4+ concentrations in SZ showed an exponential decline trend, decreasing by 50% in 12.9 ± 7.3 h; while NO3− concentrations showed an inverse S-shape declining trend, decreasing by 50% in 18.8 ± 6.4 h; (2) during the wet periods, NO3− concentration in the effluent showed an S-shape upward trend; and at the early stage of the wet periods, the concentration was relatively low and significantly correlated with ADP, while the corresponding volume of the effluent was significantly correlated with the SZ depth; (3) in the whole experiment, the contribution of nitrogen decrease in SZ during dry periods to NH4+ and NO3− removal accounted for 12% and 92%, respectively; and the decrease of NO3− in SZ during the dry period was correlated with the influent concentration in the wet period and the length of the dry period.

A Review of Nitrogen Removal for Urban Stormwater Runoff in Bioretention System

One of the best management practices (BMPs) for stormwater quality and quantity control is a bioretention system. The removal efficiency of different pollutants under this system is generally satisfactory, except for nitrogen which is deficient in certain bioretention systems. Nitrogen has a complex biogeochemical cycle, and thus the removal processes of nitrogen are typically slower than other pollutants. This study summarizes recent studies that have focused on nitrogen removal for urban stormwater runoff and discusses the latest advances in bioretention systems. The performance, influencing factors, and design enhancements are comprehensively reviewed in this paper. The review of current literature reveals that a bioretention system shows great promise due to its ability to remove nitrogen from stormwater runoff. Combining nitrification and denitrification zones with the addition of a carbon source and selecting different plant species promote nitrogen removal. Nevertheless, more studies on nitrogen transformations in a bioretention system and the relationships between different design factors need to be undertaken.

Predicting bioretention pollutant removal efficiency with design features: A data-driven approach

The objective of this study is to synthesize previous research findings from bioretention experiments and identify design features that lead to the best performance of bioretention pollutant removal with a data-driven approach. A bioretention database was built from 79 bioretention publications, composed of 182 records of bioretention cells with their design features and the corresponding pollutant removal efficiency data. Non-parametric correlation analysis, multiple linear regression (MLR), and decision tree classifiers were applied to investigate the relationships between bioretention design features and pollutant removal efficiencies. Non-parametric statistics and MLR results indicated that bioretention surface area, media depth, the presence of an internal water storage (IWS) layer, soil composition, and vegetation cover are all significantly correlated with pollutant removal efficiencies. The impacts of design features are significantly different under different climate and inflow conditions. Decision tree classifiers showed that non-vegetated bioretention cells with sand filter media generally have higher than 80% total suspended solid (TSS) mass removal efficiencies; bioretention cells with minimum organic matter and greater than 0.58 m soil media depth tend to remove more than 51% of total nitrogen (TN); and vegetated bioretention cells with minimum organic matter remove more than 67% of total phosphorus (TP). The overall accuracy of decision tree classifiers in the test set is around 70% to predict TSS, TN, and TP mass removal efficiency classes. This study suggests that the data-driven approach provides insights into understanding the complex relationship between bioretention design features and pollutant removal performance.

A review of bioretention components and nutrient removal under different climates-future directions for tropics

Bioretention systems have been implemented as stormwater best management practices (BMPs) worldwide to treat non-point sources pollution. Due to insufficient research, the design guidelines for bioretention systems in tropical countries are modeled after those of temperate countries. However, climatic factors and stormwater runoff characteristics are the two key factors affecting the capacity of bioretention system. This paper reviews and compares the stormwater runoff characteristics, bioretention components, pollutant removal requirements, and applications of bioretention systems in temperate and tropical countries. Suggestions are given for bioretention components in the tropics, including elimination of mulch layer and submerged zone. More research is required to identify suitable additives for filter media, study tropical shrubs application while avoiding using grass and sedges, explore function of soil faunas, and adopt final discharged pollutants concentration (mg/L) on top of percentage removal (%) in bioretention design guidelines.

Effective nitrogen removal during different periods of a field-scale bioretention system

Bioretention systems are designed to manage stormwater, but they are always subject to substantial nitrate leaching. In previous laboratory-scale experiments, nitrate removal was enhanced using wood chips as a medium. However, the ability of field-scale systems to transform and remove nitrogen species is not well understood. Here, we report a wood-chip bioretention system that accepts the natural runoff from an elevated highway. The transformation of different nitrogen species indicates that the field-scale system with wood chips also inhibits nitrogen leaching. Nitrate removal was mainly found during the wet period, and was affected by the hydraulic loading rate of the system. Overall, this study showed that the field performance of the wood-chip bioretention system effectively removes nitrogen. In addition, the main period associated with the nitrogen removal process was identified.

The Potential Role of Urban Forests in Removing Nutrients from Stormwater

Biofiltration systems can be used to improve the quality of stormwater by treating runoff using plants grown in a moderately permeable soil. Most biofilters use herbaceous species, but in highly urbanized locations, such as streets, trees may be a more suitable vegetation. Biofilters that use urban woody vegetation are less studied. This experiment investigated the use of four street tree species [ Schauer, (R. Br.) Peter G. Wilson & J.T. Waterh., (Sm.) Colvill ex Sweet, and L.] and an unplanted control in model biofilters. All four tree species are used in urban landscapes in southern Australia and were chosen to investigate potential species differences in biofiltration systems. The trees were grown in mesocosms as a randomized block factorial design in soils with three saturated hydraulic conductivity rates (4, 95, and 170 mm h). The trees were regularly flooded with mains water (tap water) or artificial stormwater. Tree growth and nutrient removal performance of the systems were investigated over 13 mo. All four species grew well in all three soils, including one chosen for its low, and potentially growth-limiting, drainage rate. Tree growth increased significantly, except for , when flooded with stormwater. Unplanted controls were a source of nutrients; however, the presence of trees reduced oxidized nitrogen and filterable reactive phosphorus concentrations in leachate. There was little effect of species on the removal of nutrients from stormwater. Trees have the potential to be effective elements in urban biofiltration systems, but further field-level evaluation of these systems is required to fully assess this potential.

Removal and fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants in an urban stormwater bioretention facility

This research investigated the removal and fate of 16 USEPA priority pollutant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from urban stormwater runoff through a bioretention cell. Bioretention is an infiltration/filtration practice containing a mixed layer of about 90 cm of soil, sand, and organic matter, planted with appropriate vegetation. Field water quality monitoring and bioretention media core analyses were performed. The results indicate that bioretention is a promising management practice to control runoff PAH pollutants. The PAH event mean concentration (EMC) reduction ranged from 31 to 99%, with a mean discharge EMC of 0.22 microg/L. The mass load decreased from a mean value of 0.0180 kg/ha yr to 0.0025 kg/ha yr, suggesting an average PAH mass load reduction of 87% to the discharging watershed. The most dominant PAH species monitored were fluoranthene and pyrene. Influent PAHs indicated strong affiliation with runoff total suspended solids (TSS). As such, PAH removal positively correlated with TSS removal. Low rainfall depth was associated with high influent PAH concentration and resulted in favorable PAH removal. Source investigation suggested that the PAHs measured in the monitored cell were from pyrogenic sources, likely resulting from vehicle combustion processes. Sealers used in parking lots and driveway coatings were also a possible source of PAHs. Media core analyses indicated that the intercepted PAH compounds transported only a few centimeters vertically in the soil media near the runoff entrance location, suggesting that a shallow cell design may be adequate for systems focusing on PAH removal.