Civil and Environmental Engineering students working on sustainable stormwater solutions for E2 courtyards

Did you ever wonder where the water ends up after it goes through the grate? When rain falls and snow melts on the UW campus, most of that water travels through pipes to Laurel Creek. All the salt, sediment, and goose poo that we see lying on the ground go with it, which degrades the quality of water in Waterloo Park and beyond. It turns out that water from this particular grate also has to go under a building, meaning the whole courtyard could look like a dirty swimming pool in an intense storm. Imagine instead that we can design a system to reduce the amount of water sent through pipes, clean it, and use the water to create an urban oasis, right in these same courtyards. The 4th year class of ENVE/CIVE 583 (Urban Water Systems) is taking this on as a design challenge. We hope to use their designs to help create a more sustainable campus.