Potential of bioretention plants in treating urban runoff polluted with greywater under tropical climate

Abstract

Bioretention systems are among the most popular stormwater best management practices (BMPs) for urban runoff treatment. Studies on the plant performance using bioretention systems have been conducted, especially in developed countries with a temperate climate, such as the United States and Australia. However, these results might not be applicable in developing countries with tropical climates due to the different rainfall regimes and the strength of runoff pollutants. Thus, this study focuses on the performance of tropical plants in treating urban runoff polluted with greywater using bioretention system. Ten different tropical plant species were triplicated and planted in 30 mesocosms with two control mesocosms without vegetation. One-way ANOVA was used to analyse the performance of plants, which were then ranked based on their performance in removing pollutants using the total score obtained for each water quality tests. Results showed that vetiver topped the table with 86.4% of Total Nitrogen (TN) removal, 93.5% of Total Phosphorus (TP) removal, 89.8% of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) removal, 90% of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) removal and 92.5% of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal followed by blue porterweed, hibiscus, golden trumpet and tall sedge which can be recommended to be employed in future bioretention studies.

The Value of Vegetation in Nature-Based Solutions: Roles, Challenges, and Utilization in Managing Different Environmental and Climate-Related Problems

“…As mentioned, plants absorb nutrients in the tissues and root system and provide space for the growth of bacteria responsible for organic degradation, so plants with relative plant growth rates and high-biomass plants are generally considered to maximize the mass of contaminants assimilated into plant biomass [12,100]. On the contrary, some studies have demonstrated that biomass production is not the most important parameter for amounts of accumulated metals.…”

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Bioretention Cells for Urban Stormwater Management: A Systematic Review

“…The four most common mechanisms for removing the COD in BRCs are adsorption, filtration, microbial degradation, and plant uptake [85,92]. In particular, the adsorption mechanism is crucial because it acts as a fast capture mechanism and short-term storage reservoir, paving the way for longer-lasting processes such as biodegradation and plant uptake [127].…”

Bioretention System as a Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs): A Case Study in Malaysia

“…A vegetated bioretention pilot site was planted with tropical plants, such as Red Hot Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), Amaryllis (Hippeastrum), Singapore Daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata), Lobster claw (Heliconia rostrata), Alternanthera (Alternanthera cultivar). These plants have been selected according to its performance studied by Johnson et al [4]. The novelty of this study is the application of various new tropical plants in the bioretention pilot site to treat urban stormwater runoff in tropical countries, particularly Malaysia.…”