Kambah Pond is a bioretention basin located adjacent to Kambah Shops. This offline system diverts stormwater from the existing system, into the treatment pond, where water slowly filters through the treatment process.
Stormwater pollution is a concern for all urban areas. It consists of visible pollution, such as litter and rubbish, and less seen pollution such as sediments, and nutrients including Nitrogen and Phosphorus. These unseen pollutants can cause algae blooms, disrupt natural ecological processes, and reduce water quality therefore reducing amenity for water users.
Kambah Ponds consists of a sediment forebay where stormwater is first directed during rain events. The sediment forebays main job is to slow the velocity of stormwater which results in sediment dropping out and falling to the bottom of the pond. There are water-loving plants (macrophytes) which are planted around the sediment forebay which also help improve water quality.
The pond is where most of the nutrient removal happens. Nutrient removal is a misleading term as what happens is a mix of physical, chemical, and biological processes that covert, change or transform the Nitrogen and Phosphorus which the stormwater has collected as it follows across the catchment. The macrophytes planted around the edge of the pond help facilitate nutrient removal through providing a home to a biofilm around the roots of plants which contains bacteria which process the nutrients into other forms.
Kambah Pond has a treatment area of 2,400m2 and holds up to 2,800m3 of water. Each year it will remove over 28,000kg of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Suspended Sediment from the stormwater flowing into Village Creek.
It is right near the Kambah Shops and has seating and a viewing platform.
