Performance of a Bioretention Area and a Level Spreader-Grass Filter Strip at Two Highway Sites in North Carolina
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 2
Abstract
The pollutant removal efficiency of a bioretention area and a level spreader-grass filter strip implemented at North Carolina highway facilities was assessed. The assessment consisted of monitoring inflow, outflow, and on-site rainfall for at least 13 storm events. Monitoring included continuous discharge measurement and collecting and analyzing flow-proportional samples for each event. All samples were analyzed for solids, turbidity, and nitrogen and phosphorus forms and selected samples were analyzed for metals. The level spreader-grass filter strip had the best overall efficiency with load reduction efficiencies in all pollutants ranging from 24 to 83% and the highest reduction for total suspended solids (TSS). Much of the efficiency of this best management practice can be attributed to the 49% reduction in runoff volume from inflow to outflow. Pollutant reduction efficiencies for the bioretention area ranged from to 76% with the highest reduction for TSS. The lowest or large negative efficiency was for nitrogen . The increase in likely resulted from a combination of nitrogen additions within the cell and conversion of other forms of nitrogen to . Statistical analyses suggested that all of the mass reductions for the grass filter strip and many of those for the bioretention area were significant.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the NCDOT via Project No. HWY2001-07. The writers wish to thank Matt Lauffer, NCDOT, for project management and Dale Hyatt, Michael Shaffer, Tony Gallegos, Pamela Schooler, and Fred Miller, NC Cooperative Extension Service, for their assistance in sample collection and site maintenance.
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© 2009 ASCE.
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Received: Feb 21, 2008
Accepted: Jul 9, 2008
Published online: Apr 1, 2009
Published in print: Apr 2009
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