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EFFECTS OF LIME AMENDMENT ON THE PH OF ENGINEERED SOIL MIX FOR THE PURPOSES OF BIORETENTION
Citation:
MUTHUKRISHNAN, S. AND M. L. OLESKE. EFFECTS OF LIME AMENDMENT ON THE PH OF ENGINEERED SOIL MIX FOR THE PURPOSES OF BIORETENTION. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Reston, VA, 134(5):675-679, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
Information.
Description:
Bioretention basins are currently at the forefront of federal and state initiatives for urban stormwater management and water quality control. Also known as raingardens, these systems have been included in U.S. EPA’s list urban stormwater best management practices (BMPs). A bioretention BMP functions as a soil and plant based filtration system to reduce flooding and promote stormwater infiltration. The removal of pollutants, such as heavy metals and nutrients, in these BMPs is governed by a variety of physical, biological, and chemical processes. Beyond soil texture, the performance of the bioretention soil media is influenced by soil physical and chemical properties, especially soil pH. Previous studies have established that a soil pH range between 5.5 and 7 is conducive to the sorption of heavy metals in bioretention systems. The pH level control of bioretention fill soils is a necessary and critical practice in order to insure heavy metals removal from urban stormwater runoff, and should be addressed during the construction of any bioretention system. In this study, the infield mix with an initial acidic pH of 4.91 was amended with varying proportions of dolomitic lime and incubated until an equilibrium soil pH was reached. The results were used to produce a relationship between soil equilibrium pH and lime amendment percentage.
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EFFECTS OF LIME AMENDMENT ON THE PH OF ENGINEERED SOIL MIX FOR THE PURPOSES OF BIORETENTION
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