In
an effort to reduce the amount of polluted runoff reaching Puget Sound, the
Port of Seattle is hosting a two-year study site for two unique metal boxes,
which will bloom into rain gardens and help reduce pollutants.
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“The
Port of Seattle is working with many partners to restore Puget Sound.” said
Commissioner Bill Bryant. “There is no single solution to saving Puget Sound,
no silver bullet, but there are hundreds of different things we can do and this
is one of them.”
Moving
Green Infrastructure (MGIF) is a research/demonstration project to test the
water quality performance of two innovative stormwater treatment techniques, a
large “rain garden in a box” and a special soil mix with local, volcanic sands.
Water quality from a roof in an industrial port area will be tested before and
after going through the boxes to see how these two techniques perform. This
research/demonstration project is part of growing efforts to reduce the amount
of polluted runoff reaching Puget Sound, which is estimated to receive between
14 and 94 million pounds of toxic pollutants every year. Two large steel boxes,
called Splash Boxxes, are being installed at Terminal 91. These boxes are a
blend of rain garden and cistern, two practices referred to as low impact
development, or LID.
“LID
works,” said Amy Waterman of Gealogica, “resulting in 98-99% reduction in
runoff volume and 83-99% reduction in key pollutants.”
The
information from this study will help shed light on the potential for these
bioretention planter boxes to improve water quality of polluted runoff in
commercial/industrial areas and whether soil mixes used in rain gardens and
bioswales could be improved. One box is going to have a unique soil mix with
volcanic sands and the other will be a typical rain garden soil mix.
“We
developed Splash Boxx for just this type of industrial application,” said David
Hymel of Splash Boxx LLC. “We are very pleased to be able to provide the
delivery system that tests an exciting new bio retention soil mix design.”
“King
Conservation District in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities supported
this project with a grant for $49,700 because we think it is important to
explore innovative solutions for our stormwater issues,” said Sara Hemphill,
Executive Director, King Conservation District.
The
water going into each box from the roof runoff will be tested once a month
during the rainy seasons for phosphorus, nitrogen, bacteria, zinc, and copper. Splash
Boxxes are part of an innovative stormwater research and demonstration project
funded by King Conservation District and managed by Sustainable Seattle through
a contract with Gealogica LLC. The Port of Seattle is providing the site
for two years.
Read
more from the Port
of Seattle newsroom.
Rain garden in a box image via Splash
Boxx.