Assessing the performance of infiltration
Infiltration trenches and basins are designed to infiltrate runoff and remove pollutants from the surface water stream through attenuation in soil or media or transport into underlying groundwater at concentrations below drinking water standards. It is difficult to assess the performance of these BMPs, although considering only potential impacts to surface waters, a properly functioning infiltration system is considered to be highly performing.
An online manual for assessing BMP treatment performance was developed in 2010 by Andrew Erickson, Peter Weiss, and John Gulliver from the University of Minnesota and St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory. The manual advises on a four-level process to assess the performance of a Best Management Practice.
- Level 1: Visual Inspection. This includes assessments for infiltration practices and for filtration practices. The website includes links to a downloadable checklist.
- Level 2: Capacity Testing. Level 2 testing can be applied to both infiltration and filtration practices.
- Level 3: Synthetic Runoff Testing for infiltration and filtration practices. Synthetic runoff test results can be used to develop an accurate characterization of pollutant retention or removal, but can be limited by the need for an available water volume and discharge.
- Level 4: Monitoring for infiltration or filtration practices
Level 1 activities do not produce numerical performance data that could be used to obtain a stormwater management credit. BMP owners and operators who are interested in using data obtained from Levels 2 and 3 should consult with the MPCA or other regulatory agency to determine if the results are appropriate for credit calculations. Level 4, Monitoring, is the method most frequently used for assessment of the performance of a BMP.
Use these links to obtain detailed information on the following topics related to BMP performance monitoring:
- Developing an Assessment Program
- Water Budget Measurement
- Sampling Methods
- Analysis of Water and Soils
- Data Analysis for Monitoring
Additional information on designing a monitoring network and performing field monitoring are found at this link.
Related pages
- Overview for infiltration
- Types of infiltration
- Design criteria for infiltration
- Construction specifications for infiltration
- Operation and maintenance of infiltration
- Assessing the performance of infiltration
- Calculating credits for infiltration
- Cost-benefit considerations for infiltration
- Case studies for infiltration
- External resources for infiltration
- References for infiltration
- Requirements, recommendations and information for using infiltration basin/underground infiltration BMPs in the MIDS calculator
- Understanding and interpreting soils and soil boring reports for infiltration BMPs
- Determining soil infiltration rates
- Cold climate considerations for infiltration practices - See [1], [2]