Evaluation of Biochar Amendments for Nutrient and Fine Sediment Retention in Stormwater Treatment Applications

This project evaluated the nutrient and fine sediment removal capacity of biochar amended soils for stormwater treatment in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Biochar is a natural material produced in forest fires or from burning biomass in controlled pyrolization kilns and can be amended in soils to increase moisture retention, infiltration and vegetative vigor. This research included (1) laboratory analyses on NDF biochar material; (2) experiments with flow cells to evaluate the best mixtures of biochar amended materials to optimize infiltration and pollutant removal; (3) experiments with a meso-scale physical model of a bioinfiltration swale to test BMP treatment efficiency.