Feb 15
2010

Everyone is now talking about LEED certification.  It now seems that anyone involved in land development is certified as a LEED AP.  The trouble is, the U.S. Green Building Council is only now requiring that one have experience with a LEED project before one can be certified.  Also, there are many aspects to the program that have little to do with site development and stormwater in particular.

Fortunately, the good people at the NC State University Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department have an alternative education program.  They have started Low Impact Development (LID) certification program.  LID is a set of techniques, which can be associated with LEED, that seek to mimic the natural hydrology of a site and to efficiently use the natural water resources associated with it.  As a result, there is a lot of emphasis on the use of channels instead of pipes, infiltration instead of detention, and storage of water for non-potable use.  I am attending the “FastTrack Certification” seminar from Tuesday, February 16th to Thursday, February 18th.

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Dec 2
2009

NCSU BAEThe North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) requires that those involved in the preparation and implementation of Erosion and Sediment Control plans be certified.  One can either be a Certified Professional in Erosion Sediment Control (CPESC) or Certified Professional in Storm Water Quality (CPSWQ), or one can be certified by NCDOT.  The Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) department at NC State University is in charge of the certification program.  There are different levels and related workshops at which one can be certified.  Tuesday, I attended the Level IIIa workshop, which is said to apply to “E&SC/Stormwater plan designer(s)”.  There is a test at the end to ensure the competency of certificate holders.  The results of my test have yet to be announced.

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Oct 2
2009

Philly.comThe Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that their fair city is implementing a novel strategy to reduce their problems with combined sewer overflows.  Instead of making the pipes and wastewater plants larger to handle the stormwater runoff, they are retrofitting Low Impact Development (LID) practices to reduce the runoff in developed areas.  There are to be widespread installations of bioretention facilities, permeable pavement, green roofs, and other technologies.  The plan will cost $1.6 billion, but it should end up saving money in the end.

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Aug 16
2009

I have recently had the opportunity to extend my modeling capabilities by learning SWMM5.  The training that I went through was a web-based course offered by Computational Hydraulics International (CHI), who offers their own SWMM software toolset that goes by the name of PCSWMM.  The training included the following SWMM capabilities and uses:

-Hydrologic routing using RADAR, rain gages, or synthetic events.

-Steady state and dynamic  hydraulic modeling of piped and open channel networks.

-Event-based and continuous modeling.

-Detention pond design.

-Land use – based water quality modeling and evaluation of best management practices (BMPs).

-Sanitary sewer dry weather flow (DWF) and rainfall derived inflow and infiltration (RDII).

-Sensitivity, calibration, and error analysis.

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Jul 2
2009

And now for some local news.  The main source of drinking water in Raleigh, Falls Lake, has had some problems with nutrient levels and algal blooms.  The Neuse River, on which Falls Lake is located, already has a set of rules to regulate nutrient levels in stormwater runoff.  However, due to the sensitivity of the problems at Falls Lake, a combination of state and local officials in Wake County are pushing a plan for a speedier cleanup of the lake through the State Legislature.  This has great potential to affect Durham County, however, as much of the pollution appears to originate there.  The likely result would be an accelerated and expanded plan of retrofits to existing development to treat stormwater runoff.  It is also a potential double whammy for Durham too, as Jordan Lake, to its south, is currently undergoing development of a similar plan.  The difference for Durham, however, is that it uses Jordan Lake as a drinking water source.

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