Enhancing Nitrogen Removal in Storm-Water Treatment Facilities for Transportation.

摘要

Stormwater from roadways is a point source of pollution. State DOTs must comply with Total MaximumnDaily Load (TMDL) regulations for nutrients such as nitrogen, which causes water quality impairment. Ex-nisting stormwater treatment technologies, such as bioretention cells, do not remove nitrogen adequately to meetnwater quality standards. New technologies that can more eectively remove nitrogen and reduce the footprintnrequired for stormwater treatment will result in signi#12;cant savings for State DOTs. We have hypothesized thatnbiochar can be used in bioretention cells to promote microbial removal of nitrate from stormwater and improvenbioretention cell performance. The goal of this project is to experimentally test this hypothesis and produce thendata necessary to (1) develop a better understanding of biochar-enhanced denitri#12;cation and (2) secure multi-yearnsupport for a #12;eld-scale assessment of the proposed technology. We established a culture of the anaerobic bac-nterium Geobacter metallireducens and "trained" it to utilize nitrate as an electron acceptor. Batch experimentsnwere carried out to illustrate the ability of a commercial wood biochar, which is being tested in a #12;eld detentionncell in Delaware, to support nitrate removal by G. metallireducens. This project provided direct or indirect re-nsearch support for 12 students and resulted in 1 conference paper, 1 conference presentation, 3 seminars/publicnlectures, and 3 awarded multi-year grants.