Experimental study on the effects of LID measures on the control of rainfall runoff

Abstract

Low impact development (LID) measures are important for controlling pollution and reducing the rainfall runoff volume, but they need lots of experiments to determine optimal characteristics. This study established low-elevation greenbelts, permeable pavements, and green roofs to determine the effect of LID measures on the control of rainfall runoff in a lateritic red soils region by simulating rainfall or runoff, and the variables were mainly of grass type, pavement type, substrate thicknesses, and rainfall intensity. The results (43.54–94.00% volume reduction and 40.59–97.48% pollutant removal effectiveness of low-elevation greenbelt with 10 cm depth and 5 cm height gullies, 13.19–74.20% volume reduction and 64.04–99.90% pollutant removal effectiveness of permeable pavement with 36.4 cm thick graded gravel layer, and 8.63–24.40%, 19.22–37.26%, and 30.14–48.44% volume reduction respectively of green roofs with 30, 50, and 70 mm substrate thicknesses) implied that LID measures can effectively reduce rainfall runoff volume and pollutants in lateritic red soils regions.