Grantee Research Project Results

2014 Progress Report: Taking it to the Streets: Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Philadelphia Communities

EPA Grant Number: R835558
Title: Taking it to the Streets: Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Philadelphia Communities
Investigators: Ballestero, Thomas P
Institution: University of New Hampshire
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2017 (Extended to September 30, 2020)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2013 through September 30,2014
Project Amount: $992,759
RFA: Performance and Effectiveness of Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management Approaches in the Urban Context: A Philadelphia Case Study (2012) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Water

Objective:

This project proposes to build municipal capacity in the greater Philadelphia urban watersheds for Green Infrastructure (GI) by engaging local and regional stakeholders in a planning and implementation process that is supported by science-based resources and up-to-date relevant technical information. This will be accomplished by: 1) forming and working with a multi-sector project Advisory Board that will guide the implementation of the project goals with the project partners; 2) increasing municipal familiarity with the design, construction, and maintenance of green infrastructure practices through the installation of high impact, high-visibility demonstration projects; 3) increasing municipal capacity to implement green infrastructure by identifying existing social/ economic/ knowledge/ technical barriers and prioritization of strategies; 4) developing partnerships within and between government and other stakeholders in the City; 5) clear tracking of green jobs and job opportunities associated with GI implementation; and 6) targeting outreach and dissemination of technical and informational resources through approaches identified and prioritized by the Advisory Board.

Progress Summary:

Personnel from the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (UNHSC) attended various meetings coordinated by the EPA project officer. UNHSC personnel also met in Philadelphia with personnel from the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) to visit PWD stormwater installations and review design procedures and solicit guidance from PWD in their design of systems.

UNHSC located, designed and constructed a Philadelphia tree trench system to manage stormwater from 0.58 acres of parking lot on the UNH campus. Based on the low soil infiltration rates measured at the site, a detention/slow release system per PWD specification was sized. As in similar PWD systems in Philadelphia, although the outlet pipe was installed, no outlet orifice was drilled in its endcap, and therefore the only exit for water from the system is infiltration or evapotranspiration. Over the 146 day period, the system only filled to the outflow pipe once, as a result of 2.25 inches of precipitation. During the 146 day period, 15 inches of rain fell and of that, 86% of the runoff volume infiltrated. The volume balance result demonstrates the conservativeness of static design versus the real dynamic hydrology of these systems. An important derivative of this data is that rather than the 10,000 green acres that City believes is necessary to meet their Consent Agreement, by enforcing static green infrastructure designs the City may be able to achieve combined sewer overflow (CSO) reductions with much less acreage.

At the referral of PWD the UNHSC is collaborating with the Stormwater Management Incentive Program (SMIP) awardee the Friends of Chester A. Arthur Elementary School (FoCA). UNHSC had numerous correspondences with FoCA and have a written MOU for collaboration. UNHSC met with FoCA representatives and school staff in summer 2014. The FoCA SMIP award is part of a much larger project to re-landscape the existing asphalt playground and parking lot. As such up to now the FoCA focus has been soliciting and hiring a landscape architect for the planning and design. UNHSC will perform all stormwater aspects and collaborate/synthesize its efforts with the selected landscape architect.

Future Activities:

For the period 11/18/2014 through 11/18/2015, monitoring of the Philadelphia tree trench will continue and be augmented with flow and water quality monitoring. In addition, we will design an experiment to study microbiological characteristics and performance. This effort will include water sampling, analysis by plate techniques as well as analysis by Amplicon sequencing to identify and understand which organisms are present at each synoptic event and location.

Water level data from the Philadelphia tree trench will be studied to test the hypothesis of infiltration out the sides of the system. Additional small diameter, driven wells may be added to expand on this hypothesis.

Hydrograph data from the Philadelphia tree trench will be used to calibrate a stormwater management model (SWMM) model to represent the actual performance of these systems, and then this method used to explore via SWMM model the Wingohocking watershed, especially how static sizing implications address CSOs and how much green acreage is necessary to meet CSO reduction targets.

PWD also has introduced to six Philadelphia schools awarded SMIP grants. UNHSC will design the stormwater systems and monitor as part of the proposed efforts. Assistance with FoCA will continue. All interactions with these schools will also lead to STEM educational efforts with school faculty, staff, and students.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 44 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

stormwater, Philadelphia, green infrastructure;

Relevant Websites:

University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.