Project overview
Stormwater filtration systems, such as bioretention basins and sand filters, reduce runoff volumes and help to remove phosphorus and sediment from urban stormwater. However, not enough is known about how to design them so that they also remove fecal bacteria, pharmaceutical and personal care products, PAHs, PFAS, and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Additionally, the upper Midwest region’s cold climate and dependence on road salt in winter provides another topic worthy of investigation - how to design stormwater filtration systems that are capable of removing CECs and fecal bacteria in cold urban environments.
This project will address these research gaps by providing scientific information that can be used to develop fungal mycelium amendments for stormwater biofiltration systems. The biochemical processes employed by fungi to metabolize a wide variety of chemical compounds in harsh environments should allow them to successfully remove CECs and fecal bacteria from Minnesota’s uniquely cold, salty stormwater.
Using fungi to remove chemical compounds from the environment (mycoremediation) is an exciting and cutting-edge area of research. This particular project will focus on developing a database of fungal species adapted to cold environments, which are also capable of removing fecal bacteria and CECs from salty urban stormwater.
Research questions
Can we detect distinctive pollutant uptake capacities among different fungal species, and can those unique capacities be utilized to create a filter media amendment that improves the performance of stormwater biofilters?
Taking into consideration the harsh environmental conditions experienced in Minnesota, what is the best way to introduce fungal processes into current stormwater biofilter designs?
Can we develop enough knowledge in a laboratory setting to propose a new stormwater biofiltration system suitable for field testing?
Key innovations/contributions
This project aims to identify hardy, high-performing fungal species that can reliably remove CECs and fecal bacteria from urban stormwater in cold climates.
What does this mean for Minnesota?
If this project succeeds, the information and the associated engineering recommendations will help water resource practitioners and stormwater permittees in Minnesota to design more effective biofiltration systems. More specifically, the knowledge generated from this research could be used to produce recommendations for selecting and sourcing effective fungal species. It could also be used to develop mixing ratios for fungal-amended media mixes and provide suggestions for maintaining fungal-amended biofilters. Using fungal additives to improve current stormwater biofiltration practices could significantly reduce surface water pollution in Minnesota’s watersheds, rivers, and lakes.