Performance of two contrasting pilot swale designs for treating zinc, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and glyphosate from stormwater runoff

Filter media for storm water treatment in sustainable cities: A review

“…Finally, they investigated how the pathway of the inflowing water influenced the removal of the targeted pollutants. At the end of the investigation period, Fardel et al (2020) observed that the standard swale reduced the targeted micropollutants in the infiltrated water with 35%-85% while the corresponding values for the overflow water was observed to range between 65% and 100%. Reductions of pollutants in the filtering swale was reported to be 67%-90% for Zn and ≥89% for the other micropollutants.…”

“…A field experiment described by Fardel et al (2020) comprises two swales receiving storm water roof runoff in Nantes, France. One of the swales, the standard swale, was constructed from a natural soil (silt loam) while the other consisted of silt loam embankments surrounding a central part of sand that served as filter.…”

“…The corresponding values for the standard swale were lower for all pollutants. Based on the observations, Fardel et al (2020) concluded that filtering swales were preferable to standard swales. Hallberg et al (2007) describe a pilot study in Stockholm, Sweden, in which storm water from a road was filtered through sand-filled columns after having passed a grit chamber.…”

“…Treatment facilities based on filter materials could in this case be areas where the polluted storm water could infiltrate and pass through a filter media layer with a high capacity to remove pollutants (Milovanović et al, 2022) and at the same time, also retain, the storm water runoff. Bioretention beds, such as swales are areas where water can infiltrate and where removal of pollutants could take place at the same (Fardel et al, 2020). Rain beds in which sand mixed with biochar have been implemented in Stockholm, and the biochar is expected to contribute to the removal of pollutants as well as to increase the infiltration, thus preventing flooding.…”

“…They range from full-scale applications to pilot-scale applications and, they have been performed under various local conditions. Some applications mimic conventional bioretention systems like the swales investigated by Fardel et al (2020) or green roofs as described by Teemusk and Mander (2007) and Liu and Coffman (2016). Other treatment facilities are specially designed such as the storm water treatment train described by Teixidó et al (2022).…”