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Nitrate and Phosphate Removal through Enhanced Bioretention Media: Mesocosm Study
Author(s) -
Palmer Eric T.,
Poor Cara J.,
Hinman Curtis,
Stark John D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143013x13736496908997
Subject(s) - bioretention , stormwater , environmental science , surface runoff , nitrate , environmental engineering , effluent , saturation (graph theory) , mesocosm , phosphate , low impact development , compost , nutrient , phosphorus , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , stormwater management , chemistry , waste management , ecology , geology , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , organic chemistry , combinatorics , engineering , biology
Bioretention is an evolving type of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) designed to attenuate peak flows, reduce stormwater volume, and treat stormwater. This article examines the capabilities of a bioretention soil mixture of sand and compost enhanced with aluminum‐based drinking water treatment residuals to reduce nutrients from stormwater runoff. Columns with and without a saturation zone and vegetation were compared to examine their role in removing nitrate and ortho‐phosphate from stormwater. Results show that utilization of a saturation zone can significantly reduce nitrate in effluent water (71% compared to 33% without a saturated zone), even in a newly constructed system. However, ortho‐phosphate reduction was significantly better in the columns without a saturated zone (80%) compared to columns with (67%). Plants did not significantly improve removal. This suggests amendments such as aluminum‐based water treatment residuals for phosphorus removal and a saturation zone for nitrogen removal are needed during the initial establishment period.