Author(s): Hui Weng Goh; Chun Kiat Chang; Tze Liang Lau; Keng Yuen Foo; Nor Azazi Zakaria
Linked Author(s): Chun Kiat Chang, Tze Liang Lau, Nor Azazi Zakaria, Keng Yuen Foo, Hui Weng Goh
Keywords: Best Management Practices(BMPs); Bioretention Media; Nutrient Removal; Stormwater Treatment; Tropical Shrub
Abstract: Bioretention systems with sedges as vegetation for the system are one of the popular Best Management Practices (BMPs) in temperate countries. However, there are lack of studies using shrub in tropical countries, which has been used widely as landscape plants. In recent years, use of additives for nutrient removal from water bodies has been proven to be successful in various applications but the potential of using waste material as additives in bioretention has not been fully discovered. In this study, the effect of tropical shrub with enhanced bioretention media, which contain 4 different types of additives from waste materials (cockle shell, newspaper, coconut husk and printed paper) was examined. Natural runoff with high pollutant concentration was used in this study. Comparison between 20 bioretention mesocosm planted with and without Red Hot Chinese Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) showed that tropical shrub with well-developed root systems played an important role in maintaining hydraulic conductivity within the range stated in various guidelines. Results show that after 16 weeks of runoff test, mean of hydraulic conductivity for mesocosm without shrub was ranging from 79 to286mm/hour, whereby for mesocosm with shrub, the hydraulic conductivity was maintain within 170 to 190 mm/hour. For total suspended solid (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP) mass removal, mesocosm with shrub containing cockle shell has higher TSS and TP removal (95. 7%and 93. 3%respectively) compared to standard mesocosm (85. 4%and 84. 9%respectively) .For total nitrogen (TN) mass removal, mesocosm with shrub containing newspaper (80. 4%) perform better compared to standard mesocosm (57. 4%) ,which proven that with selected bioretention media, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is recommended to be used for bioretention system in tropical climate to treat nutrient rich runoff.
Year: 2015