Earlier this morning, I had a chat with an old friend of mine from college. He recently finished his MBA in the United States, studying a host of architecture- and real estate-related subjects (obviously, I don’t remember what he specifically studied, ugh, caring-about-friend’s-life fail). One of his classmates was very concerned about the environment, and my friend, who we shall hide behind the name, Mack, as in Return of the Mack, shared with me important, albeit somewhat expensive, technologies that are starting to gain influence in the United States for optimum storm water management.
I’ve always said the simplest, cheapest, and easiest way to help ease the problem of massive flooding is to encourage more water absorption solutions, i.e., more gardens! Trees and plans in parks and home gardens beautify any place and can help reduce runoff. However, there are also other available solutions to deal with what we’ve been dealt – cough cough, poor urban planning and an overloaded urban sewage system, cough cough – that we can take a look into.
Pervious pavement “addresses important environmental issues and supports green, sustainable growth by capturing stormwater and allowing it to seep into the ground.” It…
- Recharges groundwater
- Reduces stormwater runoff
- Meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stormwater regulations
- is among the Best Management Practices (BMPs) recommended by the EPA for the management of stormwater runoff
- Creates more efficient land use by eliminating the need for retention ponds, swales, and other stormwater management devices
- Pervious concrete percolates stormwater into soil, recharging aquifers and preventing polluted runoff from overwhelming streams and lakes.
- Impervious concrete roofs support green landscaping, reducing water runoff and reducing heat island effect.
Portland, Oregon, has a committed storm water resource here, if you’d like to learn more about how private citizens can do their part in storm water management.
This blog entry will continue to expand as I find more information on other stormwater/floodwater solutions that I think may be adaptable to the local situation here in Metro Manila.
