I-Corps: Biologically Active Pervious Structure for Stormwater Management

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a biologically active pervious structure to solve problems associated with runoff water that notably affects human health, soil quality, and the environment. The technology is a simple, yet more sustainable and multifunctional structure that can be applied to individual structures, community-based structures, and shoreline environments to minimize erosion, infiltration, and treatment of runoff water. The configuration and geometry of a biologically active pervious structure can be adapted to address individual and site-specific requirements for areas prone to runoff. Biochar can mitigate climate change by reducing soil emissions of greenhouse gases, where one ton of biochar can sequester three tons of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, introducing biochar in concrete block manufacturing can decrease carbon dioxide emissions as compared to producing concrete using 100% Portland type-I cement. The biologically active pervious structure has the potential to control erosion and improve runoff water quality through adsorption, biotransformation, and biodegradation which can prevent contamination of aquifers, waterways, and the environment. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a biologically active pervious structure. The biologically active pervious structure presents a viable solution to address several issues associated with runoff, including flow volume, erosional effects, contaminant deactivation, and greenhouse gas emissions. Multifunctional biochar (derived from invasive plants and waste agriculture biomass impregnated on a biologically active pervious structure) captures a wide range of nutrients, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, dyes, antibiotics, volatile organic compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The highly efficient and robust synergistic bacterial consortium immobilized on a biologically active pervious structure can bio-transform or biodegrade a wide range of parent and intermediate compounds sorbed on biochar, and bacterial exopolysaccharides. The biologically active pervious structure can be implemented for runoff treatment in individual buildings, urban communities, and coastal areas. Additionally, this technology can facilitate the capture and control of runoff volume before reaching surface water bodies, making it a viable option for the worldwide runoff capture/control industry. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.