5) - Atal FDP NITG - Dr. Prashanth J

BIO-RETENTION SYSTEMS-
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Dr. Prashanth J.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
National Institute of Technology Silchar
IMPACTS OF CONVENTIONAL URBANISATION
Surface Water Sewer River Erosion Diffuse

Flooding Flooding Flooding Pollution
Runoff may not Underground Too much Runoff causes Runoff washes
be drained pipes can runoff can faster flows in pollutants off
away quickly become cause flooding rivers, which impervious
enough overloaded locally or causes erosion surfaces and
downstream into waterways
Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 2

…demonstrate the means by which the quality of
stormwater discharges will be progressively
improved and from which the proposed
contaminant load reductions will be met…

LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID)
• LID is an approach to land development (or re-
development) that works with nature to manage
stormwater as close to its source as possible.
• LID employs principles such as preserving and

recreating natural landscape features, minimizing
effective imperviousness to create functional and
appealing site drainage that treat stormwater as a
resource rather than a waste product.
Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa
6/23/2021 4
LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT
6/23/2021 5
TYPES
• GREEN ROOFS
• RAIN GARDENS / BIORETENTION SYSTEM
• RAIN BARRELS
• TREE BOXES
• PERMEABLE PAVEMENT
• DISCONNECTED IMPERVIOUS SURFACES (DIS)
• STORMWATER BUMPOUT
• GRASSED SWALES
6/23/2021 6
GRASS SWALES
• Adaptable to a variety of site
conditions, are flexible in design and
layout, and are relatively inexpensive.
• They function as a mechanism to
reduce runoff velocity and as
filtration/infiltration devices.
• Engineered swales are less costly than
installing curb and gutter/storm drain
inlet and storm drain pipe systems.
Curb-cut rain garden in New York, NY
(Schulz, 2014)
GREEN ROOFS
• Reduces urban stormwater runoff by
reducing the percentage of impervious
surfaces in urban areas.
• Green roofs are highly effective in reducing
total runoff volume.
• Can be added to existing rooftops without
additional reinforcement or structural
design requirements.
• Once installed, a green roof is beautiful,
low maintenance, and eco-friendly.
6/23/2021 8
PERMEABLE PAVEMENT
• Effective means of reducing the percent of
imperviousness in a drainage basin.
• Porous pavements are best suited for low traffic areas,
such as parking lots and sidewalks. Tarrytown Modern, Luxury Homes
• Permeable pavements allow stormwater to infiltrate

into underlying soils promoting pollutant treatment and
recharge, as opposed to producing large volumes of
rainfall runoff requiring conveyance and treatment.

PERMEABLE CONCRETE
Figures: Permeable Concrete in Tasmania (Harrison, 2018); Pervious Concrete samples (Girvan, 2017)
6/23/2021 10
PERMEABLE PAVEMENT
• Health and Safety benefits: reduced
hydroplaning, tire spray, and ice
• Reduced tire noise at the tire-pavement
interface
• Reduces the Urban Heat Island effect through
evaporation and convective airflow
• Different quality control measures for
compressive, splitting-tensile, and flexural
strength
• Not yet considered an Acceptable Solution by
the Building Consent Authority. Figure: Pervious Concrete (City of Columbus Ohio, 2018)
6/23/2021 11
PERMEABLE PAVEMENT - DISADVANTAGES
• Has higher installation costs

• Takes trained personnel to install it. Not many contractors are familiar with it.
• Generally cannot be used atop shallow water tables, shallow rock layers, or low
permeability soils
• Performs poorly in heavy truck traffic or heavy traffic areas
• Is susceptible to structure failure (consolidation)
• Regular maintenance is necessary.

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
Figure: Permeable paver hydrovac (Girvan, 2017)

BIORETENTION SYSTEMS
• Bioretention facilities are less cost intensive than
traditional structural stormwater conveyance
systems.
• Bio-retention is the process in which contaminants

and sedimentation are removed from influent.
• Annual maintenance is required for the overall

success of bioretention systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOTECHNOLOGY @ NIT GOA 6/23/2021 14

METHODOLOGY
• Grass buffer layer

• Mulch layer
• Vegetation layer
• Filter media
• Drainage layer
• Perforated collection pipe

• By implementing a bioretention system, we can filter pollutants out and slow down
the storm water runoff, and also improve runoff quality in a natural, aesthetically
pleasing manner.
• Bioretention has many benefits, including hydrologic restoration, removal of

different pollutants, enhancement of biodiversity and reduction in temperature.
• It is the optimization and combination of bioretention, biodegradation, physical and

chemical that makes this system the most efficient of all BMP’s.

POLLUTANT REMOVAL MECHANISMS
PHYSICAL / CHEMICAL / BIOLOGICAL
PROCESSES
System Components
SEDIMENTATION
FILTRATION
Mulch
ADSORPTION Coarse Sand
ABSORPTION Pore Space
CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
Surface Area
POLAR / NON-POLAR SORPTION
MICROBIAL ACTION (AEROBIC / ANAEROBIC) Complex Organics
DECOMPOSITION / NITRIFICATION / DENITRIFICATION Microbes
PLANT UPTAKE Biofilm
CYCLING NUTRIENTS / CARBON / METALS
Plants
BIOMASS RETENTION (MICROBES / PLANT)
EVAPORATION / VOLATILIZATION “Ecological Structure”

NITROGEN REMOVAL
• Step 1: Nitrification
• Ammonia/urea → nitrate
• Aerobic process
• Nitrate is highly mobile, and tends to be exported
• Step 2: Denitrification
• Nitrate → nitrogen gas
• Anaerobic process
• May occur in gravel storage layer beneath underdrain

PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL
• Dependent on the amount of phosphorus present in the Biotreatment soil media (BSM)
• Measured by the p-index of the topsoil used to mix BSM
OTHER POLLUTANTS
• Heavy metals
• TSS
• Adsorb to clay and humus in BSM • Filtered by mulch and BSM
• May be taken up by plants • Bioturbation by earthworms may
prevent clogging
• Organics (oil and grease, pathogens, PAHs, etc.)
• Filtered by mulch and BSM
• Digested by microbes / Taken up by plants
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• Design Objectives (Quality / Volume / Flow / Recharge)

• Media Specifications / Consistency
• Sizing
• Offline / Flow–Through Systems
• Pretreatment
• Unique configurations / designs (costs)
• Custom Application (Bacteria / Metals / Oil and Grease)

BIORETENTION DESIGN OBJECTIVES
• Peak Discharge Control
• 1-, 2-, 10-, 15-, 100-year storms
• Bioretention may provide part or all of this control
• Water Quality Control

• 1cm, 3cm or 5cm rainfall most frequently used
• Bioretention can provide 100% control
• Ground water recharge

• Many jurisdictions now require recharge

INFILTRATION SYSTEM
5cm Mulch
Existing Ground

Highly Pervious Soils 6/23/2021 22
COMBINATION FILTRATION / INFILTRATION
5cm Mulch
Existing Ground
60cm
Sandy Organic Soil
Drain Pipe
Gravel
BIORETENTION
Shallow Ponding - 10cm to 15cm

• Mulch 5cm
• BSM Depth 50cm to 70cm
• BSM
• 50% Sand
• 30% Sandy Loam
2’ • 20% Shredded Hardwood/ Compost
• Underdrain System
Under Drain
• Plants
BIORETENTION SOIL MEDIUM
Final proportion Component Properties
50% by volume Sand Conforms to IS 650 Fine Aggregate
20% by volume Organic Material Compost or shredded hardwood mulch
Topsoil
 Sand (2.0 – 0.050 mm) 50 – 85% by weight
 Silt (0.050 – 0.002 mm) 0 – 50% by weight
 Clay (less than 0.002 mm) 10 – 20% by weight *
 Organic Matter 1.5 – 10% by weight
 pH 5.5 – 7.5 (NOTE: pH can be corrected
with soil amendments if outside
30% by volume acceptable range)
 Magnesium Minimum 32 ppm (NOTE: magnesium
sulfate can be added to increase Mg)
 Phosphorus (Phosphate - P2O5) Not to exceed 69 ppm
P-index should be less than 25
 Potassium (K2O) Minimum 78 ppm (NOTE: potash can be
added to increase K)
 Soluble Salts Not to exceed 500 ppm
*If the proposed topsoil is known to contain expansive clays, clay content
Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa should not exceed 10% by weight. 6/23/2021 25
OTHER MEDIA CONSIDERATIONS
• Homogenous Mixture
• Peat / Clays / Silts slow flows
• Test and standardize the media!
• But performance varies with source!
• Max depth varies with vegetation.
• Organic Component (Shredded Hardwood vs. Compost)

DESIGN CONFIGURATION CONSIDERATIONS
• Off-line vs. Flow-through

• Inlet (treated or untreated)
• Surface Storage
• Underdrain – Dewater media

Off-line

2005 Lake County, OH
Off-line

Flow-through

2005 Lake County, OH
Flow-through

SIZING - “KERPLUNK” METHOD
• Bioretention cell is sized to store a target runoff volume within the
ponded area and soil/gravel pore space.
• This method makes several simplifying assumptions, but works

reasonably well (see Reese, Stormwater Magazine, September 2011)

“KERPLUNK” METHOD
𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 =
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ

= 𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ + 𝐵𝑆𝑀 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ ∗ 𝐵𝑆𝑀 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
+ (𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ ∗ 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦)
BSM porosity ≈ 0.35

Gravel porosity ≈ 0.4
SET-UP OF COLUMNS WITH FILTER MEDIA

SET-UP OF COLUMNS WITH COCUNUT FIBER
FILTER MEDIA

REMOVAL OF CONTAMINANTS BY COLUMNS
Percentage Removal Without Fiber (100mm dia) With Fiber (100mm dia)
Chloride 85-95% 90-95%
Alkalinity 60-85% 60-70%
Turbidity 50-90% 80-90%
pH 8-14% 35-40%

CONSTRUCTION / INSPECTION
• “Preconstruction meeting” with the contractor / owner / architect / engineer
• Geotechnical Report
• Ensure sediment control measures in place
• Sub grade soils and preparation.
• Presence of Ground water
• Under drain and filter media installation.
• Topsoil layers should be thoroughly wetted achieve settlement.
• Plant placement / warrantee / type
• Proper site grading
• Site stabilization before planting.

INSPECTION / MAINTENANCE
• Require a long term maintenance plan
• Non-Erosive Designs Inlet / Outlet / Flow- through
• Sediment build-up
• Annual inspection / plant care
• Excessive ponding (Longer than 8 hours)
• Right Vegetation
• Spills

Rain Gardens

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa Rain Garden in an office building 6/23/2021 42
RESIDENTIAL RAIN GARDENS

EXAMPLE BIORETENTION AREAS

All green space can be designed to be
hydrologically functional and treat runoff.
Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021
46
Email ID: prashanth@civil.nits.ac.in

5) - Atal FDP NITG - Dr. Prashanth J

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BIO-RETENTION SYSTEMS-

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Surface Water Sewer River Erosion Diffuse

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 2

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 3

• LID employs principles such as preserving and

• Permeable pavements allow stormwater to infiltrate

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 9

• Has higher installation costs

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 12

Figure: Permeable paver hydrovac (Girvan, 2017)

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 13

• Bio-retention is the process in which contaminants

• Annual maintenance is required for the overall

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOTECHNOLOGY @ NIT GOA 6/23/2021 14

• Grass buffer layer

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 15

• Bioretention has many benefits, including hydrologic restoration, removal of

• It is the optimization and combination of bioretention, biodegradation, physical and

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 16

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 17

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 18

• Design Objectives (Quality / Volume / Flow / Recharge)

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 20

• Water Quality Control

• Ground water recharge

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 21

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa

Shallow Ponding - 10cm to 15cm

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 26

• Off-line vs. Flow-through

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 27

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 28

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 29

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 30

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 31

• This method makes several simplifying assumptions, but works

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 32

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ

BSM porosity ≈ 0.35

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 34

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 35

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 36

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 37

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 38

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 40

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 43

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 44

Environmental Geotechnology @ NIT Goa 6/23/2021 49

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