Does It Pay to be Mature? Evaluation of Bioretention Cell Performance Seven Years Postconstruction
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 9
Abstract
Bioretention cells (BRCs) are stormwater control measures that integrate water quantity and quality management. Previous research primarily focused on the performance of cells less than two years old, before potential clogging and sorption site saturation. To assess long-term effectiveness, this project evaluated the performance of a BRC after seven years to determine reductions in flow rate, flow volume, suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). These observations were compared with analyses conducted immediately postconstruction. Inflow and outflow water samples were collected for sediment, nutrients, and FIB. Soil media samples were collected from multiple depths and analyzed for denitrifying bacteria. Results indicate the BRC remains effective at reducing storm flows, nutrients, and FIB. These reductions were correlated to outflow volume, rather than storm characteristics. The majority of denitrifying bacteria were present in the top media layers, despite the presence of an internal water storage layer for denitrification. This finding suggests denitrification primarily occurs at anoxic microsites in the upper layers and that a lack of carbon at deeper depths may limit significant microbial growth.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Integrated Grants Program for funding this study and the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia for their assistance in planning, designing, and constructing the bioretention cell used for this research. Additional recognition goes to Dr. Greg Evanylo and Laura Lehmann for their support and guidance during the course of this study, and to Akinrotimi Akinola and Mitchell Dillon for their field assistance.
References
ASTM. (2007). “Standard test method for particle-size analysis of soils.” ASTM D422-63, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2009). “Standard test methods for particle-size distribution (gradation) of soils using sieve analysis.” ASTM D6913-04, West Conshohocken, PA.
Babić, K. H., et al. (2008). “Influence of different Sinorhizobium meliloti inocula on abundance of genes involved in nitrogen transformations in the rhizosphere of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).” Environ. Microbiol., 10(11), 2922–2930.
Brady, N. C., and Weil, R. R. (2008). The nature and properties of soils, Pearson Prentice Hall, Columbus, OH.
Canfield, D. E., Glazer, A. N., and Falkowski, P. G. (2010). “The evolution and future of Earth’s nitrogen cycle.” Science, 330(6001), 192–196.
Chandrasena, G. I., Pham, T., Payne, E. G., Deletic, A., and McCarthy, D. T. (2014). “E. coli removal in laboratory scale stormwater biofilters: Influence of vegetation and submerged zone.” J. Hydrol., 519(2014), 814–822.
Characklis, G. W., Dilts, M. J., Simmons, O. D., Likirdopulos, C. A., Krometis, L. A. H., and Sobsey, M. D. (2005). “Microbial partitioning to settleable particles in stormwater.” Water Res., 39(9), 1773–1782.
Chen, X., Peltier, E., Sturm, B. S., and Young, C. B. (2013). “Nitrogen removal and nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria quantification in a stormwater bioretention system.” Water Res., 47(4), 1691–1700.
Dalgaard, P. (2002). Introductory statistics with R, Springer, New York.
Dandie, C. E., et al. (2011). “Abundance, diversity and functional gene expression of denitrifier communities in adjacent riparian and agricultural zones.” FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 77(1), 69–82.
Davis, A. P. (2007). “Field performance of bioretention: Water quality.” Environ. Eng. Sci., 24(8), 1048–1064.
Davis, A. P. (2009). “Bioretention technology: Overview of current practice and future needs.” J. Environ. Eng., 109–117.
DDOE (District Department of the Environment). (2013). “Notice of final rulemaking: Stormwater management, and soil erosion and sediment control.” Washington, DC.
DeBusk, K. M., and Wynn, T. M. (2011). “Storm-water bioretention for runoff quality and quantity mitigation.” J. Environ. Eng., 800–808.
Ermilio, J. R., and Traver, R. G. (2006). “Hydrologic and pollutant removal performance of a bio-infiltration BMP.” World Environmental and Water Resource Congress 2006: Examining the Confluence of Environmental and Water Concerns, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Fierer, N., Jackson, J. A., Vilgalys, R., and Jackson, R. B. (2005). “Assessment of soil microbial community structure by use of taxon-specific quantitative PCR assays.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 71(7), 4117–4120.
Harter, J., et al. (2014). “Linking emissions from biochar-amended soil to the structure and function of the N-cycling microbial community.” ISME J., 8(3), 660–674.
Hathaway, J. M., Hunt, W. F., Graves, A. K., and Wright, J. D. (2011). “Field evaluation of bioretention indicator bacteria sequestration in Wilmington, North Carolina.” J. Environ. Eng., 1103–1113.
Hathaway, J. M., Hunt, W. F., Guest, R. M., and McCarthy, D. T. (2014). “Residual indicator bacteria in autosampler tubing: A field and laboratory assessment.” Water Sci. Technol., 69(5), 1120–1126.
Hathaway, J. M., Hunt, W. F., and Jadlocki, S. (2009). “Indicator bacteria removal in storm-water best management practices in Charlotte, North Carolina.” J. Environ. Eng., 1275–1285.
Hatt, B. E., Fletcher, T. D., and Deletic, A. (2009). “Hydrologic and pollutant removal performance of stormwater biofiltration systems at the field scale.” J. Hydrol., 365(3–4), 310–321.
Henry, S., Baudoin, E., López-Gutiérrez, J. C., Martin-Laurent, F., Brauman, A., and Philippot, L. (2004). “Quantification of denitrifying bacteria in soils by nirK gene targeted real-time PCR.” J. Microbiol. Methods, 59(3), 327–335.
Henry, S., Bru, D., Stres, B., Hallet, S., and Philippot, L. (2006). “Quantitative detection of the nosZ gene, encoding nitrous oxide reductase, and comparison of the abundances of 16S rRNA, narG, nirK, and nosZ genes in soils.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72(8), 5181–5189.
Hunt, W. F., Davis, A. P., and Traver, R. G. (2012). “Meeting hydrologic and water quality goals through targeted bioretention design.” J. Environ. Eng., 138(6), 698–707.
Hunt, W. F., Jarrett, A. R., Smith, J. T., and Sharkey, L. J. (2006). “Evaluating bioretention hydrology and nutrient removal at three field sites in North Carolina.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 600–608.
ISO. (1995). “Soil quality—Determination of organic and total carbon after dry combustion (elementary analysis).” ISO 10694:1995, Geneva.
ISO. (1998). “Soil quality—Determination of total nitrogen content by dry combustion (elementary analysis).” ISO 13878:1998, Geneva.
Jones, M. P., and Davis, A. P. (2013). “Spatial accumulation and strength of affiliation of heavy metals in bioretention media.” J. Environ. Eng., 479–487.
Krometis, L. A. H., Dillaha, T. A., Love, N. G., and Mostaghimi, S. (2009). “Evaluation of a filtration/dispersion method for enumeration of particle-associated E. coli.” J. Environ. Qual., 38(3), 980–986.
Levin, L. A., and Mehring, A. S. (2015). “Optimization of bioretention systems through application of ecological theory.” Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Water, 2(3), 259–270.
Li, H., and Davis, A. P. (2008). “Urban particle capture in bioretention media. I: Laboratory and field studies.” J. Environ. Eng., 409–418.
Li, H., Sharkey, L. J., Hunt, W. F., and Davis, A. P. (2009). “Mitigation of impervious surface hydrology using bioretention in North Carolina and Maryland.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 407–415.
Li, Y. L., Deletic, A., Alcazar, L., Bratieres, K., Fletcher, T. D., and McCarthy, D. T. (2012). “Removal of Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli and F-RNA coliphages by stormwater biofilters.” Ecol. Eng., 49, 137–145.
Liu, J., Sample, D. J., Owen, J. S., Li, J., and Evanylo, G. (2014). “Assessment of selected bioretention blends for nutrient retention using mesocosm experiments.” J. Environ. Qual., 43(5), 1754–1763.
Lucas, W. C., and Greenway, M. (2008). “Nutrient retention in vegetated and nonvegetated bioretention mesocosms.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 613–623.
McBride, M. B. (1994). Environmental chemistry of soils, Oxford University Press, New York.
MDSHA (Maryland State Highway Administration). (2015). Landscape design guide, Baltimore.
Meyer, S. C. (2005). “Analysis of base flow trends in urban streams, northeastern Illinois, USA.” Hydrogeol. J., 13(5–6), 871–885.
MSMC (Minnesota Stormwater Manual contributors). (2016). “Design criteria for bioretention.” ⟨http://stormwater.pca.state.mn.us/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=30194⟩ (Nov. 14, 2016).
Niemczynowicz, J. (1999). “Urban hydrology and water management—Present and future challenges.” Urban Water, 1(1), 1–14.
Ollivier, J., et al. (2010). “Effect of sulfadiazine-contaminated pig manure on the abundances of genes and transcripts involved in nitrogen transformation in the root-rhizosphere complexes of maize and clover.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 76(24), 7903–7909.
Palmer, E. T., Poor, C. J., Hinman, C., and Stark, J. D. (2013). “Nitrate and phosphate removal through enhanced bioretention media: Mesocosm study.” Water Environ. Res., 85(9), 823–832.
Passeport, E., Hunt, W. F., Line, D. E., Smith, R. A., and Brown, R. A. (2009). “Field Study of the ability of two grassed bioretention cells to reduce storm—Water runoff pollution.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 505–510.
Philippot, L., et al. (2009). “Mapping field-scale spatial patterns of size and activity of the denitrifier community.” Environ. Microbiol., 11(6), 1518–1526.
Prince George’s County. (1993). “Design manual for use of bioretention in stormwater management.” Dept. of Environmental Protection, Landover, MD.
Qiu, X. Y., Hurt, R. A., Wu, L. Y., Chen, C. H., Tiedje, J. M., and Zhou, J. Z. (2004). “Detection and quantification of copper-denitrifying bacteria by quantitative competititve PCR.” J. Microbiol. Methods, 59(2), 199–210.
Ravishankara, A. R., Daniel, J. S., and Portmann, R. W. (2009). “Nitrous oxide (): The dominant ozone-depleting substance emitted in the 21st century.” Science, 326(5949), 123–125.
Rippy, M. A. (2015). “Meeting the criteria: Linking biofilter design to fecal indicator bacteria removal.” Water, 2(5), 577–592.
Schillinger, J. E., and Gannon, J. J. (1985). “Bacterial adsorption and suspended particles in urban stormwater.” J. Water Pollut. Control Federation, 57(5), 384–389.
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (1999). “Total suspended soils.”, Washington, DC.
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (2000). “Low impact development (LID): A literature review.” Washington, DC.
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (2002). “Nation water quality inventory.”, Washington, DC.
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (2008). “Incorporating green infrastructure concepts into total maximum daily loads (TMDLs).” ⟨http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/2008_12_12_tmdl_stormwater_tmdl_lid_final.pdf⟩ (Aug. 20, 2014).
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). (2015). “Test methods for evaluating solid waste, physical/chemical methods.” 3rd Ed., Washington, DC.
VADEQ (Virginia Department of Environmental Quality). (1999). Virginia stormwater management handbook, Richmond, VA.
VADEQ (Virginia Department of Environmental Quality). (2014). Virginia stormwater design specification no. 9: Bioretention, Richmond, VA.
Verbaendert, I., Hoefman, S., Boeckx, P., Boon, N., and De Vos, P. (2014). “Primers for overlooked nirK, qnorB, and nosZ genes of thermophilic Gram-positive denitrifiers.” FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 89(1), 162–180.
Wood, D. W., et al. (2001). “The genome of the natural genetic engineer Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58.” Science, 294(5550), 2317–2323.
Zhang, L., Seagren, E. A., Davis, A. P., and Karns, J. S. (2011). “Long-term sustainability of Escherichia coli removal in conventional bioretention media.” J. Environ. Eng., 669–677.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 22, 2016
Accepted: Jan 6, 2017
Published ahead of print: Apr 12, 2017
Published online: Apr 13, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Sep 13, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.