Summary of bioretention water quality cleansing mechanisms for common stormwater pollutants.
Link to this table

Pollutant Bioretention cleansing mechanism
Total suspended solids Sedimentation and filtration (e.g. Davis et al., 2009)
Metals Filtration of particulate metals, sorption of dissolved metals into mulch layer (e.g. Davis et al, 2009), plant uptake (e.g. Toronto and Region Conservation, 2009)
Nitrogen Sorption; uptake by microbes and plant material, uptake into recalcitrant soil organic matter (e.g. Henderson, 2008)
Phosphorus Sorption, precipitation, plant uptake, uptake into recalcitrant soil organic matter (e.g. Henderson, 2008)
Pathogens Filtration, UV light, competition for limited nutrients, predation by protozoa and bacterial predators (e.g. Zhang et al., 2010)
Hydrocarbons Filtration and sorption to organic matter and humic acids, then degraded by soil microbes (e.g. Hong et al., 2006)

This page was last edited on 26 July 2022, at 20:24.