Bioretention System as a Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs): A Case Study in Malaysia

Abstract

Bioretention systems, such as rain gardens, are landscaped depressions that treat on-site stormwater discharge from impervious surfaces such as roofs, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and compacted lawns. They are used to collect stormwater and filter it through a mixture of soil, sand and/or gravel. In this study, a pilot-scale bioretention system has been constructed in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang. This bioretention system will be used as a stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) to solve water quality issues in tropical climates, particularly Malaysia. This study consists of two bioretention pilot sites, a vegetated site with tropical plants, such as Red Hot Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), Amaryllis (Hippeastrum), Singapore Daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata), Lobster claw (Heliconia rostrata), Alternanthera (Alternanthera cultivar) and a non-vegetated control site. The study investigated the pollutant removal efficiency between two pilot sites in treating polluted runoff. The site uptake from the polluted runoff will be observed by testing the effluent with TSS, TN and TP test for three weeks at 30 mins, 2 hours, 4 hours and 8 hours after the runoff being released. The results showed pollutant removal efficiency for TSS (76 %), TN (78 %), and TP (71 %) for the vegetated site, which is slightly better compared to control site (TSS (75 %), TN (76 %) and TP (54 %)). This study concluded that the vegetated site has slightly better performance on nutrient removal efficiency.