City officials, community partners, and the Philadelphia Water Department celebrate the completion of the first in a series of stormwater-friendly GREEN STREETS as part of "Green City, Clean Waters" -- the City's innovative and environmentally sustainable plan to improve the health of our waterways.
Next to the Schlisser Recreation Center and ultra green Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (KCAPA), the street features tree trenches that divert runoff from the street into an underground infiltration structure and rain gardens that help capture, filter, and absorb stormwater.
City officials, community partners, and the Philadelphia Water Department celebrate the completion of the first in a series of stormwater-friendly GREEN STREETS as part of "Green City, Clean Waters" -- the City's innovative and environmentally sustainable plan to improve the health of our waterways.
Next to the Schlisser Recreation Center and ultra green Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (KCAPA), the street features tree trenches that divert runoff from the street into an underground infiltration structure and rain gardens that help capture, filter, and absorb stormwater.
When it rains in the City of Brotherly Love, problems soon follow because more than half the city has "combined" sewers - pipes that carry both storm water and sewage. When it rains, the system fills quickly. The surplus, which includes raw sewage and road oil, backs up into basements and gushes untreated into rivers through 164 overflow pipes.
Instead of going the route of many other cities and building miles-long, multibillion-dollar tunnels to hold storm-water overflows--and then pumping it back into the system when the rain stops--Philadelphia's 20-year stormwater management plan is based on "green infrastructure" and offers benefits that can be appreciated above the ground.
Philadelphia's plan envisions transforming the city into an oasis of rain gardens, green roofs, treescapes, and porous pavements, which advocates say is cheaper than tunnels and makes for a more liveable, prettier city with higher property values and better community health.
When the East Falls Development Corporation began planning a parking area adjacent to the Schuylkill River, locals wanted it done an environmentally sensitive way. Rather than directing runoff into storm drains and sewage pipes, the lot was designed so that rain water would flow into a natural garden area to be held and cleaned before being slowly released into the River. Besides managing runoff, it's added value to the neighborhood and proved to be a whole new way to connect the environment to people's behaviors at home.
At first glance, the area surrounding the Waterview Recreation Center in Philadelphia's Germantown section seems ordinary enough--but in reality, it's comprised of a number of "green infrastructure" techniques that keep water out of the storm drains. During heavy rainfalls, when the city's combined sewer system can be easily overwhelmed, porous sidewalks, tree trenches, and a flowthrough planter manage the water as it falls. That helps protect local rivers and streams.
Living roofs, rain gardens, trees, and permeable surfaces can transform cityscapes into oases of green. Philadelphia's long term long-term stormwater management plan relies on above the ground greening rather than hidden storage tunnels and tanks.
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