Abstract
Stormwater runoff management is challenging in a highly urbanised tropical environment due to the unique space constraints and tropical climate conditions. A modular bioretention tree (MBT) with a small footprint and a reduced on-site installation time was explored for application in a tropical environment. Tree species used in the pilot studies were Talipariti tiliaceum (TT1) and Sterculia macrophylla (TT2). Both of the MBTs could effectively remove total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), zinc, copper, cadmium, and lead with removal efficiencies of greater than 90%. Total nitrogen (TN) removal was noted to be significantly higher in the wet period compared to the dry period (p < 0.05). Variation in TN removal between TT1 and TT2 were attributed to the nitrogen uptake and the root formation of the trees species. A field study MBT using Talipariti tiliaceum had a very clean effluent quality, with average TSS, TP, and TN effluent EMC of 4.8 mg/L, 0.04 mg/L, and 0.27 mg/L, respectively. Key environmental factors were also investigated to study their impact on the performance of BMT. It was found that the initial pollutant concentration, the dissolved fraction of influent pollutants, and soil moisture affect the performance of the MBT. Based on the results from this study, the MBT demonstrates good capability in the improvement of stormwater runoff quality.
Highlights
Rapid urbanization has resulted in an increase of impervious surface area with a drastic loss of green spaces;, ensuing in a reduction in surface infiltration and evapotranspiration, causing surface runoff to increase in volume [1]
This study has provided insights into the performance of a modular bioretention tree (MBT) system in terms of stormwater runoff quality improvements at both the pilot and field scale in the tropical region
MBT was shown to be successful in highly urbanized areas and was able to do so with low construction time while maintaining high removal performance without the addition of submerged zone layer
Summary
Rapid urbanization has resulted in an increase of impervious surface area with a drastic loss of green spaces;, ensuing in a reduction in surface infiltration and evapotranspiration, causing surface runoff to increase in volume [1]. Due to these surface modifications, the urban environment often faces flash floods and problems of nutrient contamination in the surface water [2,3]. Urban tropical countries like Singapore pose particular challenges due to their high amount of rainfall, land shortage, and rapid urbanisation. Land scarcity is a perennial challenge for highly urbanised countries [6]
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