ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Modified Media for Heavy Metals and COD
Removal from Urban Stormwater Runoff Using
Pilot Bioretention Systems
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State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China,
Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, China
Submission date: 2018-06-20
Final revision date: 2018-08-25
Acceptance date: 2018-09-04
Online publication date: 2019-07-04
Publication date: 2019-07-08
Corresponding author
Jiake Li
Xi\'an university of technology, No.5 South jinhua road, 710048 Xi'an, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2019;28(5):3735-3744
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ABSTRACT
The media and structural optimization in bioretention systems play important roles in removing
pollutants from urban stormwater runoff. Ten bioretention basins were constructed by adding water
treatment residual (WTR), green zeolite, flyash, and coconut bran to traditional bioretention soil
(65% sand + 30% soil + 5% sawdust, by mass), respectively, through mixing or layering. The steady
infiltration rates of modified media were 3.25~62.78 times those of plant soil. The peak flow reduction
rates of plant soil (1#) and flyash (7#) basins were significantly high, ranging from 78.09% to 92.91%
(median = 86.52%) and 88.01% to 96.85% (median = 93.62%).The outflow concentrations of Cu and Zn
were superior to Class II limitation (1.0 mg·L-1) in surface water environmental quality standards in
China. The outflow concentration was inferior to Class V for COD and Cd. COD load reduction rate
decreased with the increase of the recurrence interval and discharge ratio, which increased with the
increase of inflow concentration. Although load reduction rate of heavy metal Cd increased with the
increase of these three influencing factors, the reduction rate of Zn and Cu in heavy metals occurred
without certain regularity. The median loading reduction rates of COD were the highest for layered
media structure bioretention basins (6# and 8#). The heavy metal load reduction rates of 3#~6# (mixed
or layered media structure, adding 10% WTR as modifier) and 8# (layered media structure, adding 10%
fly ash as modifier) were higher than other basins, and the median load reduction rate was mostly above
80%.