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Recyclers News Press
Rain gardens
are deep basin gardens usually in
landscaping at commercial businesses that retain and
draw runoff for use in watering plants and to retain it
onsite. A basin is dug at the location of the landscap-
ing garden (actually can be in a grassy area too) then
the hole is filled with mulch and then topped with soil
and plants the “sinkhole” will draw water and retain in
the porous material until it is used by the plants. For
problem areas near the customer parking, a facility
may dig even deeper and add rock before the mulch
layer to get a better draw affect. I can think a few sal-
vage yards that could use a rain garden in their front
yard or ditch!
Rain Garden at University of Iowa
Photo courtesy of
Green roofs
are more labor intensive initially but very
rewarding way to retain runoff. By adding a thin layer
of soil and high water-retaining plants such as Sedum
(in many varieties) the green roof basically offsets the
building’s negative impact on storm water.
Street planters
are a simple concept of placing an
open grate or planter box that does not have impervi-
ous concrete below it. The runoff will flow into the
planter and not to the storm drain. The trick of course
is to resist the urge to build up the planter box thus
diverting the water back to the concrete. I cringe when
I see a retail parking lot with raise beds especially
while I wading through rain water to get inside!
Infiltration basins
work on the same concept as a
rain garden but are augmented with more engineering
controls like in-flow and out-flow drainage pipes or
storm water culverts that direct the runoff to stagnate
disconnected pond for infiltration or evaporation.
“Clean water is essential to keeping our
families and the environment healthy.” EPA
Porous pavement
, both asphalt and concrete, allow
runoff to filter through the pavement mimicking natural
movement of rain water through infiltration but allow-
ing the modern
convenience
of hard surface
for parking
and walking.
Porous pave-
ment is also
called pervi-
ous pavement
and may
seem counter
intuitive but
has been in use
successfully
since the envi-
ronmental
movement be-
gan! Those
facilities with a
large area of
concrete may
need to en-
hance the porous pavement with underground storm
water retention systems.
Permeable pavement in Dubuque Green Alley
Photo courtesy of
Reduce Runoff
Slow It down
—
Spread It Out
–
Soak It In
