Experimental analysis to assess the hydrological efficiency and the nutrient leaching behavior of a new green wall system

Abstract

Green Walls represent a sustainable solution to mitigate the effects due to climate change and urbanization. However, although they have been widely investigated in different fields of science, studies on the potential of these systems to manage urban stormwater are still few. Moreover, even if these systems provide multiple benefits, as other nature-based solutions, they leach nutrients due to growing media, decomposed vegetation, and the possibility of fertilizer use. In this regard, several studies have evaluated the nutrient concentrations in the runoff from green roofs, while studies that have analyzed the nutrient-leaching behavior of green walls are still limited. To bridge these scientific gaps, this study presents experimental findings on the hydrological efficiency and nutrient-leaching behavior of an innovative modular living wall system. Some rainfall-runoff tests were carried out to assess the hydrological response of a new green wall system in retaining stormwater. To evaluate the concentration of the nutrients, the collected outflow was analyzed by spectrophotometer UV–visible. The findings show that the developed green wall panel presents good retention capacity by considering different simulated rainfalls and varying the initial soil moisture conditions. The results in terms of nutrient concentrations highlight that the vegetation life cycle and the fertilizer uses affect the quality of the water released from the green wall panel. The concentration of the analyzed nutrients is influenced by the simulated rainfall's hydrological characteristics and the days between the planting phase and the test. However, the overall results show that the concentrations of each analyzed nutrient are low, except after the fertilizer use, highlighting that the choice of vegetation that does not need external nutrients should be preferred during the design of a green wall.