Affiliations 

  • 1 River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. ghw.red007@gmail.com
  • 2 River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
  • 3 Discipline of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 4 Jacobs' Water Scotland team, Jacobs UK Ltd, Edinburgh, UK
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 May;26(15):14904-14919.
PMID: 30977005 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05041-0

Abstract

Bioretention systems have been implemented as stormwater best management practices (BMPs) worldwide to treat non-point sources pollution. Due to insufficient research, the design guidelines for bioretention systems in tropical countries are modeled after those of temperate countries. However, climatic factors and stormwater runoff characteristics are the two key factors affecting the capacity of bioretention system. This paper reviews and compares the stormwater runoff characteristics, bioretention components, pollutant removal requirements, and applications of bioretention systems in temperate and tropical countries. Suggestions are given for bioretention components in the tropics, including elimination of mulch layer and submerged zone. More research is required to identify suitable additives for filter media, study tropical shrubs application while avoiding using grass and sedges, explore function of soil faunas, and adopt final discharged pollutants concentration (mg/L) on top of percentage removal (%) in bioretention design guidelines.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.