Webcast 5: Biochar: Applications and Research
Wednesday June 12, 2024 at 1 PM Eastern Time

Watershed and Stormwater Webcast Series

Speakers:
Ed Matthiesen, Principal, Senior Civil Engineer, Stantec
 

Biochar case study in field application for bacteria removal.
There are numerous Best Management Practices designed to remove conventional pollutants from stormwater, but very few that target bacteria. Biochar, a charcoal-like substance made via pyrolysis of organic material, has recently been gaining attention as a potential filter media amendment for removing bacteria. Sustainably produced and carbon neutral, biochar has been used to help fight climate change by sequestering carbon while simultaneously providing energy to plants and increasing crop yields.  Following a series of successful small-scale field trials that reduced E. coli concentrations in urban stormwater by 49-97%, the Coon Creek Watershed District, UCLA, Stantec, and the Cities of Blaine and Coon Rapids, Minnesota teamed up to construct two full-scale biochar- and iron-enhanced sand filters. Each filter is split into two identical cells, one with 30% biochar by volume added and one without. This design allows for head-to-head performance monitoring, testing the ability of biochar to remove E. coli while reducing nutrient and bacteria loading to two impaired creeks: Woodcrest Creek and Pleasure Creek. The combined filters are sized to treat runoff from 1.5 square miles of previously untreated drainage area before discharging to the two creeks and the Mississippi River.

Tom Miles Executive Director, U.S. Biochar Initiative