Hydrologic, hydraulic, and water quality characterization from laboratory test and SWMM modelling: A full-scale evaluation of Filterra® bioretention cell for urban stormwater management

Bioretention cells (BRCs) are widely implemented to restore undeveloped hydrologic cycle however, conventional BRCs need considerable space, making them impractical in densely populated areas. To overcome this issue, compact BRCs like Filterra® have been designed to provide comparable hydrologic and pollutant removal effectiveness with a considerably smaller footprint. This study assesses the hydraulic characteristics of Filterra’s engineered media through laboratory testing and integrates these results with field monitoring to implement a field-validated SWMM model. Laboratory testing showed a high hydraulic conductivity (1750 mm/h). The validated SWMM model effectively replicated the outflow dynamics with satisfactory accuracy (KGE > 0.35, R² > 0.47). The outflow TSS is acceptably predicted although the constant removal rate in SWMM cannot reproduce the complexity of the removal processes. The results indicate that the field-validated SWMM model of the Filterra may be utilized to evaluate the hydrologic and pollutant removal efficiencies of compact BRCs in urban catchment.