Related Edison Environmental Center Publications

  • O’Connor, T.P., and Amin, M. (2015). “Rainwater Collection and Management from Roofs at the Edison Environmental Center.” Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment, 1(1), 04014001. 
     

    The U.S. EPA is under a presidential Executive Order (EO) (No. 13148, “Greening the Government through Leadership in Environmental Management”, issued April 21, 2000) to improve environmental performance. One of the ways the EPA researchers are addressing federal mandates is by managing impervious cover through a rainwater recovery system.

  • Brown, R. A., and Borst, M. (2015). “Evaluation of Surface and Subsurface Processes in Permeable Pavement Infiltration Trenches.” Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 20(2), 04014041. 

    The U.S. EPA is under a presidential Executive Order (EO) (No. 13148, “Greening the Government through Leadership in Environmental Management”, issued April 21, 2000) to improve environmental performance. One of the ways the EPA researchers are addressing federal mandates is by managing impervious cover through a rainwater recovery system. 

  • Lee, J. G., Borst, M., Brown, R. A., Rossman, L., and Simon, M. (2015). “Modeling the Hydrologic Processes in a Permeable Pavement System.” Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, (in press), 04014070. 

    The hydrologic performance of permeable pavement systems can be affected by clogging at the pavement surface and/or clogging at the interface where the subsurface storage layer meets the underlying soil. The objective of this paper was to evaluate changes in infiltration and exfiltration using three pressure transducers.

    A permeable pavement system can capture stormwater to reduce runoff volume and flow rate, improve onsite groundwater recharge, and enhance pollutant controls within the site. In this study, EPA developed A new unit process model for evaluating the hydrologic processes of a permeable pavement system. 

  • Factorial Study of Rain Garden Design for Nitrogen Removal

This study explores nutrient treatment in eight outdoor, unvegetated rain gardens based on the following factors: hydraulic loading (two sizes and two flow rates), presence of a subsurface saturated zone, and presence of an introduced carbon source.

A bench-scale experiment was conducted to test the drainage capability of media containing shredded newspaper layers as a carbon amendment. Stormwater was introduced at low and high rates to bins containing zero, one, and two layers of newspaper at varying depths. While there were differences in effluent volumes and flow rates between control and newspaper treatments, surface ponding occurred in all three treatments, suggesting that some other factor besides the newspaper had an effect on drainage properties.

Time domain reflectometers (TDRs) are sensors that measure the volumetric water content of soils and porous media. This study demonstrates the use of TDRs for quantifying drainage properties in low impact development (LID) stormwater controls, specifically permeable pavement and rain garden systems. 

Pervious pavement systems can be used to reduce stormwater runoff volume and are efficient at removing solids from runoff; however, the pollutant removal efficiency for nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants is yet to be determined due to either a lack of data or inconsistent results. Every site is different and care should be taken to examine site conditions, underlying soil characteristics, and local climate prior to determining if the installation of pervious pavement would be an appropriate best management practice for stormwater management at a particular location.

This research project investigates the performance of rain gardens in removing pollutants, and whether currently-accepted design standards can be adjusted to improve nitrate removal capabilities.