Which one of the following site drainage strategies filters wastewater and mimics the function of local ecology?

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Kara Zhang

September 13, 2023 21:38

SWALE OR CONSTRUCTED-WETLAND

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  Soha Sabet September 16, 2023 16:17

  constructed wetlands help mimic the local ecology and help filter water into soil. swales are smaller so can't really help with local ecology.

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  Todd Shwayder September 25, 2023 20:01

  swales mostly slow and/or direct the drainage of water running down a slope giving it time to sink into the ground instead of eroding the soil and washing away.  it's just the shape of the ground, not necessarily what the ground (filtering material) is made up of.

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  Sean Engle September 28, 2023 16:42

  Another way to look at this is that swales basically do a smaller version of the same function that detention and to some extent retention ponds do.  That is, their function is to temporarily deal with storm water - either giving it time to soak into the ground or be fed into a storm water system at a slower rate than it would otherwise go.

  Constructed wetlands on the other hand, are often a response to the US Army Corps of Engineers requirement for development of a property.  We had one of these wherein there were several smaller wetlands in the area that the owner wanted to develop, and to do it, the USACE required us to construct a single, larger wetland elsewhere on the property to make up for those we were removing.   In the end, the new wetland was set apart/protected from the developed area, had a additional water source coming from the roof of the new building elsewhere on the property, and was monitored for health and well being.

  The old original smaller wetlands and the newer constructed wetlands both worked as filters and infiltration agents of course, but they also provide habitat, etc.  So they do mimic nature on multiple levels. 

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