Ph.D. Candidate
University of Virginia
I'm Wuhuan Zhang, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Virginia. I’m interested in the applications of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) for stormwater management. Non-point source pollution, such as stormwater runoff, has become the leading threat to aquatic ecosystems in the US. Sudden discharges of stormwater from paved surfaces result in flooding, erosion, sewer overflows, and pollution into receiving waters. GSI mimics natural landscape hydrology by slowing, spreading, and infiltrating stormwater runoff before discharging it to receiving waters. Grass swales, vegetated roadsides, and filter strips are relatively simple, efficient, and inexpensive controls for stormwater management (Deletic and Fletcher, 2006). Prior studies indicate that they are capable of significant flow and pollutant load reduction, including the reduction in trace metals, inorganic nutrients, oil and grease, and suspended sediment (Henderson et al. 2016). GSI is currently in use in a variety of forms in the transportation setting, but few studies exist comparing the long-term performance of different GSI designs in the same location. My objectives are to compare GSI designs for stormwater quantity and quality control in the same location, analyze economic and environmental maintenance costs and benefits, and simulate the flow of stormwater through the bioretention and the behavior of contaminants via soil column studies.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2024
5:00 PM – 5:15 PM CT