I-Corps: Storm Water Redistribution Device

该 I-Corps 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，允许业主充分开发土地以获取经济效益，同时满足监管要求，同时保护我们赖以供水、环境效益和娱乐的水资源。目前，土地所有者使用可开发土地来管理雨水。该项目将考虑如何最好地利用整个场地的土壤来管理雨水，并腾出更多场地用于开发。通过分散我们建造建筑物、道路和停车场时自然集中的径流，更多的水可以渗入地下。通过这种渗透，地表吸收的污染物可以被土壤去除，而不是直接流入溪流。渗透的水流到地下进入溪流，并提供野生动物所需的连续溪流。将径流分配到建筑物和人行道周围的土壤中还可以帮助防止径流进入许多老社区中发现的雨水和生活污水综合下水道，从而使老化的基础设施继续发挥作用并减少综合下水道溢出。这个 I-Corps 项目将产生一种新的解决方案，改变雨水径流的管理方式；改善水质并维持野生动物所需的溪流基流，同时降低成本并需要更少的空间来满足许可要求。该解决方案由专门构造的装置组成，用于减慢水流并改变水流方向，使其渗入周围土壤。核心技术基于既定的原则，即材料的尺寸、混合和排列方式决定液体的流动方式。该解决方案已获得专利，因为它采用了新的、创新的方式来构建和部署这些简单的材料（即，将沙子和砾石放置在景观美化中常用的土工织物管中），从而允许水在三个维度上流动。集中径流，例如从停车场流出的加速水流，被该装置拦截，首先被减慢，然后被引导到土壤中，或者向左或向右移动到下一个装置部分。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in allowing property owners to fully develop their land for economic benefit, while satisfying regulatory requirements and, at the same time, protecting the water resources that we rely on for water supply, environmental benefits and recreation. Currently, land owners use developable land to manage storm water. This project will consider how to best use the soil throughout the site to manage the storm water and free up more of the site for development. By spreading out runoff that naturally concentrates when we construct buildings, roads and parking lots more water can soak into the ground. With this infiltration, pollutants picked up on the land surface can be removed by the soil rather than flowing directly to a stream. Infiltrated water moves underground to streams and provides the continuous stream flow needed by wildlife. Distributing runoff to the soil surrounding our buildings and pavement can also help keep runoff out of the combined storm and sanitary sewers found in many older communities, allowing the aging infrastructure to continue to function and reducing the combined sewer overflows.This I-Corps project will result in a new solution, transforming the way storm water runoff is managed; improving water quality and maintaining stream baseflow required by wildlife, while decreasing costs and requiring less space to meet permitting requirements. The solution consists of devices that are specially constructed to slow down the flow of water and redirect it in a way that allows it to seep into the surrounding soil. The core technology is based upon the well-established principle that the size, mix and way materials are arranged determines the way liquids flow. A patent for the solution has been issued because of the new, innovative way of constructing and deploying these simple materials (i.e., sand and gravel placed in tubes of the geotextile fabric often used in landscaping), allowing water to be directed in three dimensions. Concentrated runoff, for example the accelerated flow of water off a parking lot, that is intercepted by the device, is first slowed and then directed down into the soil or is moved left or right to the next device segment.