University of New Hampshire
McNair Scholar, 2017
Major: Civil Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Tom Ballestero, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Title: Investigation of Coco pith in Bioretention System Media for Nitrate Removal from Storm Water Runoff
Abstract:
Nutrients are the key to plant growth however excessive nutrients can be bad for the environment and can cause Eutrophication. Eutrophication causes excessive growth and decay of plants that directly affects the water quality and the marine habitat. One of the largest causes of excessive nutrients in the water is stormwater runoff, which washes away these nutrients from human habitat to surface water sources. In order to remove nitrogen and other nutrients from water, low impact developments like Bioretention must be designed. Different soil media has been used in Bioretention to effectively remove nitrogen from runoff and it showed productive results. New media coco pith has been proposed to use in Bioretention to make it more productive. Coco pith has a high level of nitrogen leaching, and a great water holding capacity. For this experiment, a vertical column study will be conducted. Coco pith will be added with different amounts of Bioretention soil and sample water will be running through the column. The sample will then be collected and tested to see whether any nitrogen was removed from the water. The results will be used to determine whether coco pith removed or absorbed any nitrogen.
