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Evaluating the functionality of small and decentralized low-impact development (LID) technologies often requires extensive labor, time, and costs for water quality analysis. In order to reduce these in an infiltration trench in South Korea, monitoring data gathered over a period of 8 years were used to determine its long-term performance, establish a stormwater quality estimation model, and develop a comprehensive evaluation tool. Our findings show that the infiltration trench can treat up to 90% of the stormwater runoff from a paved road but would require annual maintenance to minimize the reduction in infiltration capacity. The facility was able to remove an average of 83% of total suspended solids (TSS), 75% of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 80% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 76% of total nitrogen (TN), and 79% of total phosphorus (TP), with the highest removal efficiencies observed after maintenance was conducted. Rainfall depth and air quality parameters (i.e., PM2.5 and PM10) were found to be positively correlated with TSS, COD, TN, and TP. These parameters were then used to develop a model for the estimation of influent stormwater quality, which can help in estimating the effluent water quality based on the average removal efficiencies. Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation tool considering indicators such as treatment efficiency, cultural benefits, and facility and operating conditions was established through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Aside from determining the facility's overall efficiency, this can also serve as a diagnostic tool to identify whether maintenance is needed or not. While atmospheric and hydrological characteristics differ in different regions, and the results may vary if applied in other facilities, this study can serve as a guide to the effective and efficient evaluation of similar stormwater management facilities in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the studies about stormwater low-impact development technologies (LID) used generalized observations without fully understanding the mechanisms affecting the whole performance of the systems from the catchment to the facility itself. At present, these LID technologies have been treated as black box due to fluctuating flow and environmental conditions affecting its operation and treatment performance. As such, the implications of microbial community to the overall performance of the tree-box filter (TBF) were investigated in this study. Based on the results, summer season was found to be the most suitable season for microorganism growth as greater microorganism count was found in TBF during this season compared to other seasons. Least microorganism count was found in spring which might have been affected by the plant growth during this season since plant penology influences the seasonal dynamics of soil microorganisms. Litterfall during fall season might have affected the microorganism count during winter as, during this season, the compositional variety of soil organic matter changes affecting growth of soil microbial communities. Microbial analyses of soil samples collected in TBF revealed that the most dominant microorganism phylum is Proteobacteria in all the seasons in both inlet and outlet comprising 37% to 47% of the total microorganism count. Proteobacteria is of great importance to carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen cycling in soil. Proteobacteria was followed by Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Chloroflexi which comprises 6% to 20%, 9% to 20%, and 2% to 27%, respectively, of the total microorganism count for each season. Each microorganism phylum was found to have varying correlation to different soil chemical parameters implying the effects of these parameters to microorganism survival in LID technologies. Depending on the target biogeochemical cycle, maintaining a good environment for a specific microbial phylum may be decided. These findings were useful in optimizing the design and performance of tree box filters considering physical, chemical, and biological pollutant removal mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficiency of nature-based facilities is mostly evaluated in terms of their pollutant removal capabilities; however, apart from water purification functions, constructed wetlands also perform ecological, cultural, and environmental education functions. A multi-criteria performance index was developed in this study to evaluate the overall efficiency of constructed wetlands. A total of 54 constructed wetlands installed across South Korea were monitored to evaluate the pollutant removal performance of the facilities. A comparison between the conventional pollutant removal-based evaluation and the developed multi-criteria index was also performed to determine the key changes in the results of evaluation when different methods are employed. Among the different types of wetlands studied, hybrid systems were found to be the most effective in terms of pollutant removal due to their complex configurations and functions. Newly constructed treatment wetlands have unstable performance and thus, a stabilization period ranging from two to five years is required to assess the facility's pollutant removal capabilities. As compared to the conventional pollutant removal-based efficiency evaluation, the comprehensive evaluation method provided a more strategic tool for identifying the facilities' strengths and weaknesses. Generally, the multi-criteria performance index developed in this inquiry can be utilized as a general tool for evaluating the sustainability of similar nature-based facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]