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Dynamics of Clay Particles in Non-vegetated Stormwater Biofilters

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Abstract

Stormwater biofilters manage quantity and quality of urban stormwater runoff. Particulate solids from natural and anthropogenic sources accumulate on paved surfaces and eventually reach receiving waters. Retention of suspended solids in stormwater management systems ensures the quality of stormwater runoff to water resources. Stormwater biofilters are similar in most of design parameters to sand filters employed in water treatment systems. The understanding and design of stormwater biofilters are often based on generic models of sand filters. Unlike water treatment sand filters, which are continuously fed, stormwater biofilters operate intermittently with spontaneously alternating wetting and drying cycles. This results in dynamic pollutant removal pattern that employs different mechanisms during and across rainfall events. As such, pilot scale biofilter columns fabricated with a layer of organic material were operated. Removal of suspended solids was very dynamic, where impact of age of filter, antecedent dry days, and inflow quality varied during and across events. Flush of retained solids and filter material occurred during the stabilisation period during each event while very high removal percentages (more than 90%) were observed after stabilisation, during an event. Clogging was not observed due to re-entrainment, re-distribution, and flush of retained solids during intermittent wetting and drying cycles.

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Abbreviations

ADD:

Antecedent dry days

EN:

Event number

TUIN:

Turbidity of inflow of current event

TUPRE:

Turbidity of inflow of previous event

TUOUT:

Turbidity of outflow

min(t) [min2, min7, etc.]:

TUOUT at “t” minutes during an event (2 min, 7 min, etc.)

TSS:

Total suspended solids

PSD:

Particle size distribution

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank River Sands Pty Ltd., Australia, for supplying the stormwater biofilter packing material for my experiments. The authors would also like to thank Queensland University of Technology and University of Jaffna for funding my research study. And the authors extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Prasanna Egodawatta, Dr. Jay Rajapakse, and laboratory staff at QUT and University of Jaffna for the support during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna, Ariviyal Nagar, Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka

    Daniel N. Subramaniam, T. Logeswaran, V. Tharshikka & B. Nilakshan

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  1. Daniel N. Subramaniam
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  2. T. Logeswaran
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  3. V. Tharshikka
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  4. B. Nilakshan
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Correspondence to Daniel N. Subramaniam.

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Subramaniam, D.N., Logeswaran, T., Tharshikka, V. et al. Dynamics of Clay Particles in Non-vegetated Stormwater Biofilters. Water Air Soil Pollut 229, 302 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-018-3919-6

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