The regenerative role of biofilm in the removal of pesticides from stormwater in biochar-amended biofilters

Portmann, Andrea; Lefèvre, Grégory; Hankawa, Rennosuke; Werner, David; Higgins, Christopher P.

doi:10.1039/d1ew00870f

Cited by 12 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 104 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Past studies on use of BC such as biochar or AC for stormwater treatment have investigated a limited range of conditions, including low flow rates, relatively fine particle sizes, and few co-contaminants. − , As reported in Table , recent studies have employed low flow rates of several cm hr –1 and grain sizes typically less than 800 μm. Slow treatment flow rates would require larger SCM foot prints to hold and treat all of the stormwater runoff and are not necessarily representative of typical design guidance which specifies infiltration rates in the range of 7–22 cm hr –1 for stormwater runoff treatment. , Increasing the flow rate necessitates increased particle sizes to facilitate hydraulic conductivity and results in shorter contact times, both of which are expected to negatively affect contaminant removal kinetics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Carbon-Amended Engineered Media Filters for Improved Treatment of Stormwater Runoff

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urban stormwater runoff is a significant driver of surface water quality impairment. Recently, attention has been drawn to potential beneficial use of urban stormwater runoff, including augmenting drinking water supply in water-stressed areas. However, beneficial use relies on improved treatment of stormwater runoff to remove mobile dissolved metals and trace organic contaminants (TrOCs). This study assesses six engineered media mixtures consisting of sand, zeolite, high-temperature gasification biochar, and regenerated activated carbon (RAC) for removing a suite of co-contaminants comprising five metals, three herbicides, four pesticides, a corrosion inhibitor, six per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), five polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This long-term laboratory-scale column study uses a novel approach to generate reproducible synthetic stormwater that incorporates catch basin material and straw-derived dissolved organic carbon. Higher flow conditions (20 cm hr −1 ), larger sized media (0.42−1.68 mm), and downflow configuration with outlet control increase the relevance of this study to better enable implementation in the field. Biochar-and RAC-amended engineered media filters removed nearly all of the TrOCs in the effluent over the course of three months of continuous flow (480 empty bed volumes), while sample ports spaced at 25% and 50% along the column depth provide windows to observe contaminant transport. Biochar provided greater benefit to TrOC removal than RAC on a mass basis. This study used relatively high concentrations of contaminants and low biochar and RAC content to observe contaminant transport. Performance in the field is likely to be significantly better with higher biochar-and RACcontent filters and lower ambient stormwater contaminant concentrations. This study provides proof-of-concept for biochar-and RAC-amended engineered media filters operated at a flow rate of 20 cm hr −1 for removing dissolved TrOCs and metals and offers insights on the performance of biochar and RAC for improved stormwater treatment and field trials.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Carbon-Amended Engineered Media Filters for Improved Treatment of Stormwater Runoff

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These features would theoretically lead to higher sorption affinity, especially for organic compounds that contain multiple moieties. 73 Finally, our results demonstrated that the four primary tire rubber-derived compounds often underwent desorption hysteresis and the higher the aqueous concentration, the stronger the hysteretic effect. Over the long term, processes like irreversible sorption and transformation are the ultimate sinks of these chemicals.…”

Section: ■ Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Biochar is also often utilized to remove contaminants from stormwater; it is relatively more porous and contains more functional groups compared with natural soils. These features would theoretically lead to higher sorption affinity, especially for organic compounds that contain multiple moieties …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sorption and Desorption of Tire Rubber and Roadway-Derived Organic Contaminants in Soils and a Representative Engineered Geomedium

Ting

Kolodziej

2022

ACS EST Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated the sorption and desorption of four representative roadway runoff-derived organic contaminants [1,3-diphenylguanidine (DPG), N,N-dicyclohexylmethylamine, 1-cyclohexyl-3-phenylurea, and hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine] with five soils. Isotherm data from batch studies were well fitted by the Freundlich model (R 2 = 0.855–0.999). For ionic contaminants, log K oc values were affected by pH. These contaminants also exhibited sorption–desorption hysteresis that increased at higher concentrations. Additionally, to reflect common stormwater treatment practices, a 40% compost/60% sand engineered geomedium was evaluated as a representative model sorbent. For this geomedium, the sorption of the primary roadway-derived contaminants listed above was evaluated along with seven additional stormwater contaminants, including neutral and cationic compounds. Sorption affinities varied across different contaminants, with the positively charged DPG (log K oc = 3.12–4.11) and N,N-dicyclohexylmethylamine (log K oc = 2.65–4.51) exhibiting the highest sorption potential compared to those of neutral compounds in all soils except for 726 Toledo soil. Weak log D ow and log K oc correlations indicated that specific interactions such as hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction often affected sorption, although sorption to the organic matter rich engineered geomedium was dominated by hydrophobic interactions. As commonly observed, sorption affinities were influenced by aspects of contaminant structural diversity and chemical properties that induced differing interaction mechanisms.

show abstract

“…14 Sorption and tortuosity parameters, critical for describing contaminant sorption and effective intraparticle diffusion, have been determined using batch isotherms 10 or by fitting the transport model to observed contaminant migration. 11,13 The model, fit to or using experimental data, has then been used to estimate BC filter performance in the field. 11,13 However, use of the sorption-retarded intraparticle pore diffusion model for predicting TrOC transport in BC-amended engineered media stormwater filters has been constrained by model limitations and experimental conditions and seldom incorporated validation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11,13 The model, fit to or using experimental data, has then been used to estimate BC filter performance in the field. 11,13 However, use of the sorption-retarded intraparticle pore diffusion model for predicting TrOC transport in BC-amended engineered media stormwater filters has been constrained by model limitations and experimental conditions and seldom incorporated validation. While variable influent concentration has recently been incorporated into the model, 11 further implementation of variable flow rate is necessary for situations when contaminant removal is kinetically limited and thus flow rates through the filter may impact contaminant removal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting PFAS and Hydrophilic Trace Organic Contaminant Transport in Black Carbon-Amended Engineered Media Filters for Improved Stormwater Runoff Treatment

Pritchard,

Cho,

Hawkins

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Improved stormwater treatment is needed to prevent toxic and mobile contaminant transport into receiving waters and allow beneficial use of stormwater runoff. In particular, safe capture of stormwater runoff to augment drinking water supplies is contingent upon removing dissolved trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) not captured by conventional stormwater control measures. This study builds upon a prior laboratory-based column study investigating biochar and regenerated activated carbon (RAC) amendment for removing hydrophilic trace organic contaminants (HiTrOCs) and poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from stormwater runoff. A robust contaminant transport model framework incorporating time-dependent flow and influent concentration is developed and validated to predict HiTrOC and PFAS transport in biochar- and RAC-amended stormwater filters. Specifically, parameters fit using a sorption-retarded intraparticle pore diffusion transport model were validated using data further along the depth of the column and compared to equilibrium batch isotherms. The transport model and fitted parameters were then used to estimate the lifetime of a hypothetical stormwater filter in Seal Beach, CA, to be 35 ± 6 years for biochar- and 51 ± 17 years for RAC-amended filters, under ideal conditions with no filter clogging. This work offers insights on the kinetics of HiTrOC and PFAS transport within biochar and RAC filters and on the impact of filter design on contaminant removal performance and longevity.

show abstract

The regenerative role of biofilm in the removal of pesticides from stormwater in biochar-amended biofilters

Abstract: Low-impact, green infrastructure systems such as biofilters, particularly when amended with biochar, can help address chemical pollution conveyed via stormwater that is increasingly posing a threat to aquatic ecosystems and...

Cited by 12 publications

References 104 publications

Black Carbon-Amended Engineered Media Filters for Improved Treatment of Stormwater Runoff

Black Carbon-Amended Engineered Media Filters for Improved Treatment of Stormwater Runoff

Sorption and Desorption of Tire Rubber and Roadway-Derived Organic Contaminants in Soils and a Representative Engineered Geomedium

Predicting PFAS and Hydrophilic Trace Organic Contaminant Transport in Black Carbon-Amended Engineered Media Filters for Improved Stormwater Runoff Treatment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About