The Stormwater Blog 

By now, you’ve probably heard of triple bottom line accounting, a full cost accounting approach considering the economic, environmental and social impacts of a decision or more poetically, the three P’s: people, planet and profit. In the stormwater infrastructure planning world, as in many other urban planning arenas, this approach is gaining popularity.

VIDEO POST
This short video explains how rainwater harvesting is a logical and feasible approach to managing stormwater runoff using example usage for a typical commercial office building.

The primary credit applicable for the Stormwater Management StormFilter^® is Credit 6.2, Stormwater Design - Quality Control, under the Sustainable Sites category. There is one credit point allowable under this category for qualifying BMPs.

VIDEO POST
This patented technology is employed by the Stormwater Management StormFilter in order to prevent surface blinding, ensure use of all media, and prolong cartridge life. In principal, the system siphons stormwater runoff through its cartridge.

As an industry, we’ve acquired a vast amount of knowledge about stormwater, its adverse impacts and the best management practices (BMPs) implemented to mitigate them. However, the spirited debate with regard to whether the field or the laboratory is the best arena for evaluating BMP performance refuses to yield to consensus. Here are some of the arguments for and against laboratory testing...

There are many aspects of stormwater filtration. Here, we discuss media surface area, surface vs. bed filtration, media hydraulic conductivity and flow control, performance data and longevity.  And how it can help you choose the right stormwater filter system.

 If more than one type of infiltration system meets your project requirements, your decision may be cost driven. It’s important to maximize the storage efficiency in the available space at the lowest possible cost.  Here's a cost comparison of CMP and chambers...

Irrigation is the most common application for harvested water. Treatment requirements are lower, which makes the harvesting system simpler, and the demand can quickly drain the cistern to make room for the next storm event. However, relying solely on irrigation for net-annual runoff reduction is rarely enough. In most locations, there is significant rainfall and irrigation is unnecessary. To get meaningful runoff reduction on a net annual basis, engineers will need to find additional applications beyond irrigation.

The Stormwater Blog was created in the spirit of sharing information with the stormwater community (and the stormwater curious) and we feel it is important to pass on valuable resources, both locally and internationally.

With LID, not all solutions are created equal. There is a hierarchy in the regulations for what is the preferred technology. So it’s not so much is it approved or not approved… there are certain preferred technologies that must be considered first, and if that doesn’t work, you consider the next option in preference. This is a huge difference in conventional stormwater regulations, which says technologies must be approved by state of local jurisdictions – and then everything is on a level playing field.