Achievement

LeFevre, G., et al, Assessment of the Stormwater Infiltration and Pollutant Removal Capacities of Rain Gardens: Infiltrating stormwater at a high rate and capturing pollutants are critical for the success of rain gardens and other infiltration-based stormwater best management practices. An infiltrometer developed in our laboratory was used to determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil surface at several locations in eight rain gardens in what is termed infiltration capacity testing. The median Ksat values for the rain gardens were indicative of silty-sand to sandy soils. Synthetic runoff testing was performed on three rain gardens by filling the basins with water and recording water level over time while the basins drained. The observed drain times were well below the recommended maximum of 48 hours. Furthermore, the predicted drain times from the infiltration capacity testing results generally were in good agreement with the measured values.