The performance of vegetated swales for urban stormwater pollution control

Abstract

Vegetated swales are becoming a common feature of water sensitive urban design, acting to remove pollutants, and attenuate flows. Despite their increasing popularity, there is relatively little rigorous information available about the performance of vegetated swales, and its relationship to design parameters. Much of the information which is available, lacks the degree of experimental control necessary for use in performance modelling. Controlled experiments were therefore undertaken on recently constructed grass swales in Brisbane, Australia. A constant-head tank, discharging through a v-notch weir, provided steady flows ranging from 2 L/s to 15 L/s. Inflows were dosed with a synthetic mix ..