Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2006
The influence of extensive vegetated roofs on runoff water quality
Berndtsson JC, Emilsson T, Bengtsson LAbstract
The influence of extensive sedum-moss vegetated roofs on runoff water quality was studied for four full scale installations located in southern Sweden. The aim of the study was to ascertain whether the vegetated roof behaves as a sink or a source of pollutants and whether the age of a vegetated roof influences runoff quality. The runoff quality from vegetated roofs was also compared with the runoff quality from non-vegetated roofs located in study areas. The following metals and nutrients were investigated: Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Pb, Zn, NO3-N, NH4 - N, Tot-N, PO4-P, and Tot-P. The results show that, with the exception of nitrogen, vegetated roofs behave as source of contaminants. While in lower concentrations than normally found in urban runoff, some metals appear in concentrations that would correspond to moderately polluted natural water. Nitrate nitrogen is retained by the vegetation or soil or both. Apart from the oldest, the studied vegetated roofs contribute phosphate phosphorus to the runoff. The maintenance of the vegetation systems on the roofs has to be carefully designed in order to avoid storm-water contamination; for instance, the use of easily dissolvable fertilizers should be avoided. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reservedKeywords
Extensive vegetated roofs; Heavy metals; Nutrients; Runoff quality; Urban; SedumPublished in
Science of the Total Environment2006, volume: 355, number: 1-3, pages: 48-63
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Authors' information
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Landscape Management and Horticultural Technology
Bengtsson, Lars
Berndtsson, Justyna Czemiel
UKÄ Subject classification
Landscape Architecture
Fish and Aquacultural Science
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.02.035
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/9902