Green Infrastructures in Stormwater Control and Treatment Strategies

Abstract

Green infrastructures can provide multiple benefits and play an important role in cities' resilience to extreme stormwater events caused by climate change. Additionally, these techniques can contribute to the protection of transport infrastructures, averting major environmental and economical adversities. Stormwater can be treated through several processes, some processes being more effective than others for specific contaminants. A review of some of the most commonly used GI for stormwater management in urban environments was carried out, with emphasis on their efficiency in reducing peak flow rates, runoff volumes and the following pollutants: total suspended solids, heavy metals, total phosphorus and total nitrogen. The GI studied were green roofs, bioretention systems, filter strips, vegetated swales and trenches. In addition to the advantages in the urban water cycle, benefits of amenity and ecosystem services of these GI have also been identified. The discussion of the results and the comparative analysis of GI performance were carried out taking advantage of a table that summarizes the range of percentages of GI efficiency obtained in the various studies for the different functions.

Exploring the Potential in LID Technologies for Remediating Heavy Metals in Carwash Wastewater

“…Generally native grass, bushes, and trees are recommended, as they are best able to adapt to the soil and weather conditions of each region. Although the role of the vegetation component is to remove contaminants and protect the soil from water erosion, vegetated LID efficacy is highly related to the plant species installed [71,72]. Plants have to be selected based on their efficiency in treatment and adopting to environmental conditions and climate [65].…”

“…Plants have to be selected based on their efficiency in treatment and adopting to environmental conditions and climate [65]. The literature shows that the vegetation component of an LID can greatly enhance nutrient (total phosphorus and total nitrogen) removal [71] through sedimentation, sorption, filtration, and enhanced denitrification [72]. Some plants showed One of the most important roles of a vegetated LID is to retain and hold the water stream so that the processes that remove the contaminants are given the length of time needed to be effective [69].…”

“…Plants have to be selected based on their efficiency in treatment and adopting to environmental conditions and climate [65]. The literature shows that the vegetation component of an LID can greatly enhance nutrient (total phosphorus and total nitrogen) removal [71] through sedimentation, sorption, filtration, and enhanced denitrification [72]. Some plants showed a better performance in nutrient and heavy metal removal, such as bamboo (Bambusoideae), rosea variegata (Graptophyllum pictum), the ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa), and the umbrella palm plant (Cyperus alternifolius) [64].…”

“…There is some chemical remediation and only minor biological processes, if any. These systems allow sedimentation and filtration of metals [72], which are normally dissolved. In addition, Figure 2 also shows that the amount of water retention this kind of system can provide is very large and markedly higher than that provided by vegetated systems of similar size.…”