Hydrologic experiments and modeling of two laboratory bioretention systems under different boundary conditions

Highlights

A bioretention with internal water storage zone enhances hydrologic performance.

A medium with marine sand is better at delaying drainage than one with pumice sand.

In column studies, air entrapment affects filling of an internal water storage zone.

Medium-specific characteristics are recommended for SWMM v5.1.11 model estimations.

Abstract

Hydrologic performance of bioretention systems is significantly influenced by the media composition and underdrain configuration. This research measured hydrologic performance of column-scale bioretention systems during a synthetic design storm of 25.9 mm, assuming a system area:catchment area ratio of 5%. The laboratory experiments involved two different engineered media and two different drainage configurations. Results show that the two engineered media with different sand aggregates were able to retain about 36% of the inflow volume with free drainage configuration. However, the medium with marine sand is better at delaying the occurrence of drainage than the one with pumice sand, denoting the better detention ability of the former. For both engineered media, an underdrain configuration with internal water storage (IWS) zone lowered drainage volume and peak drainage rate as well as delayed the occurrence of drainage and peak drainage rate, as compared to a free drainage configuration. The USEPA SWMM v5.1.11 model was applied for the free drainage configuration case, and there is a reasonable fit between observed and modeled drainage-rates when media-specific characteristics are available. For the IWS drainage configuration case, air entrapment was observed to occur in the engineered medium with marine sand. Filling of an IWS zone is most likely to be influenced by many factors, such as the structure of the bioretention system, medium physical and hydraulic properties, and inflow characteristics. More research is needed on the analysis and modeling of hydrologic process in bioretention with IWS drainage configuration.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Bioretention / Hydrologic process / Underdrain configuration / SWMM / Modeling

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate Dr. Robyn Simcock and John Dando at Landcare Research for help in data measurements and interpretation. The first author would also like to thank the China Scholarship Council for providing the doctoral scholarship ([2010]3006) for her PhD studies, and the University of Auckland for providing funding for experiments.

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