Evaluation of the Volume and Pollutant Reduction in an Infiltration and Filtration Facility with Varying Rainfall Conditions

Urban areas generate large amounts of stormwater and non-point source (NPS) pollutants during rainfall events. These are caused by various land use runoffs, vehicular and human activities and increased impervious cover. The increased runoff and NPS pollutants cause water quality deterioration in the receiving waters and adversely affect the aqua-ecosystem. These environmental impacts could be reduced through the application of low impact development (LID) techniques. In Korea, more than 80% of the total rainfall occurs in summer and most of these were 10 mm or less. Therefore, if the LIDs developed were able to cope with rainfall of 10 mm and below, NPS management could be efficiently conducted. This research was performed to determine the effect of varying amounts of rainfall on the performance capability of an established infiltration and filtration facility (IF facility) that can be applied to Korea’s common rainfall ranges. The IF facility area was 1.75% of the catchment area, however the facility treated more than 40% and 60% runoff volume and pollutant reduction respectively for a 10 mm rainfall. Lastly, higher volume and pollutant reduction could be attained when the LID area was at least 2% of the entire catchment.