Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation
Green infrastructure (GI) protects aquatic ecosystems from stormwater runoff caused by urban development. Bioretention (BR) is a typical GI system wherein stormwater runoff is routed to a soil basin planted with vegetation and has been shown to reduce deicing salt loads in surface runoff, but the re...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/907 |
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| author | Wuhuan Zhang Charles R. Burgis Gail M. Hayes Derek A. Henderson James A. Smith |
| author_facet | Wuhuan Zhang Charles R. Burgis Gail M. Hayes Derek A. Henderson James A. Smith |
| author_sort | Wuhuan Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Green infrastructure (GI) protects aquatic ecosystems from stormwater runoff caused by urban development. Bioretention (BR) is a typical GI system wherein stormwater runoff is routed to a soil basin planted with vegetation and has been shown to reduce deicing salt loads in surface runoff, but the removal mechanism of salt is poorly understood. This study explores the potential of different vegetation types to reduce deicing salt released from a BR by transpiration. Six engineered soil media columns were built in a laboratory greenhouse to simulate a 1012 m<sup>2</sup> BR basin along Lorton Road, Fairfax County, VA, USA. The effect of vegetation type (Blue Wild Indigo and Broadleaf Cattail) and influent salt concentration on flow volume and salt mass reduction were quantified for multiple storm events. For all storm events, chloride inflow concentrations, and vegetation types, Cl<sup>−</sup> load reduction ranged from 26.1% to 33.5%, Na<sup>+</sup> load reduction ranged from 38.2% to 47.4%, and volume reductions ranged from 11.4% to 41.9%. Different inflow salt concentrations yielded different removal rates of deicing salt, and for a given column, salt removal decreased over sequential storm events. For each influent salt concentration, columns planted with Broadleaf Cattail (BC) performed better for volume and salt mass reductions than columns planted with Blue Wild Indigo (BWI), which in turn performed better than the controls. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:18:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa5b2785e22e46c3ad0604016736361e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:18:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa5b2785e22e46c3ad0604016736361e2023-11-23T17:32:40ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2022-06-0111690710.3390/land11060907Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure VegetationWuhuan Zhang0Charles R. Burgis1Gail M. Hayes2Derek A. Henderson3James A. Smith4Department of Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, 351 McCormick Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22904, USADepartment of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USADepartment of Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, 351 McCormick Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22904, USADepartment of Environmental Engineering, Florida Polytechnic University, 4700 Research Way, Lakeland, FL 33805, USADepartment of Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, 351 McCormick Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22904, USAGreen infrastructure (GI) protects aquatic ecosystems from stormwater runoff caused by urban development. Bioretention (BR) is a typical GI system wherein stormwater runoff is routed to a soil basin planted with vegetation and has been shown to reduce deicing salt loads in surface runoff, but the removal mechanism of salt is poorly understood. This study explores the potential of different vegetation types to reduce deicing salt released from a BR by transpiration. Six engineered soil media columns were built in a laboratory greenhouse to simulate a 1012 m<sup>2</sup> BR basin along Lorton Road, Fairfax County, VA, USA. The effect of vegetation type (Blue Wild Indigo and Broadleaf Cattail) and influent salt concentration on flow volume and salt mass reduction were quantified for multiple storm events. For all storm events, chloride inflow concentrations, and vegetation types, Cl<sup>−</sup> load reduction ranged from 26.1% to 33.5%, Na<sup>+</sup> load reduction ranged from 38.2% to 47.4%, and volume reductions ranged from 11.4% to 41.9%. Different inflow salt concentrations yielded different removal rates of deicing salt, and for a given column, salt removal decreased over sequential storm events. For each influent salt concentration, columns planted with Broadleaf Cattail (BC) performed better for volume and salt mass reductions than columns planted with Blue Wild Indigo (BWI), which in turn performed better than the controls.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/907green infrastructure (GI)bioretention (BR)water qualityvegetationdeicing saltstormwater runoff |
| spellingShingle | Wuhuan Zhang Charles R. Burgis Gail M. Hayes Derek A. Henderson James A. Smith Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation Land green infrastructure (GI) bioretention (BR) water quality vegetation deicing salt stormwater runoff |
| title | Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation |
| title_full | Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation |
| title_fullStr | Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation |
| title_short | Mitigation of Deicing Salt Loading to Water Resources by Transpiration from Green Infrastructure Vegetation |
| title_sort | mitigation of deicing salt loading to water resources by transpiration from green infrastructure vegetation |
| topic | green infrastructure (GI) bioretention (BR) water quality vegetation deicing salt stormwater runoff |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/907 |
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