Water Management

From: The Problem of Urban Stormwater Pollution

Polluted runoff rivals sewage plants and factories as a source of water contamination. One of the biggest causes of water pollution occurs when rainwater and snowmelt wash over city streets, parking lots, and suburban lawns and pick up toxic chemicals, disease-causing organisms, and dirt and trash. This problem is called urban stormwater pollution. Recent studies have found that urban stormwater rivals and in some cases exceeds sewage plants and large factories as a source of damaging pollutants. Two hundred years of unregulated, unmanaged urban stormwater have contributed to many severe public health problems and expensive natural resource losses in the United States. Left unregulated and uncontrolled, urban stormwater:

pollutes drinking water sources, filling in reservoirs with clogging silt and oxygen-robbing nutrients and contributing to drinking water emergencies
fills in navigable waterways with contaminated sediment, leaving us with increased dredging and spoil disposal costs
closes or shrinks lucrative rockfish, shad, flounder, crab, oyster, and other commercial fisheries due to chemical contamination, oxygen starvation, and the resulting loss of habitat
fouls beaches and other recreational waters, causing losses in revenues from declines in boating, fishing, duck hunting and coastal tourism
scours smaller stream channels and dumps huge gravel and silt loads, ruining fish and amphibian habitat
obliterates small streams, springs and wetlands during development (these natural waterbodies are sources of clean ground and surface water and serve as habitat for aquatic life)
damages homes and businesses during the flash floods common where stormwater is left uncontrolled

What is storm water?
Storm water is water from precipitation that flows across the ground and pavement when it rains or when snow and ice melt. The water seeps into the ground or drains into what we call storm sewers. These are the drains you see at street corners or at low points on the sides of your streets. Collectively, the draining water is called storm water runoff and is a concern to us in commercial and industrial sites as well as your neighborhood because of the pollutants it carries. The substances that enter the storm drain system are rarely treated at all. Anything poured into a gutter or a storm drain, such as used motor oil or antifreeze, generally flows directly to the nearest river or large body of water. What are common contributors to storm water pollution? When it rains, oil, antifreeze, detergents, pesticides and other pollutants get washed from driveways, backyards, parking lots, and streets into storm drains.

What does any of this have to do with the Solar Roadway?

We received about 130 inches of snow two years ago here in northern Idaho. While we dreamed of having Solar Road Panels heating our driveway, we realized that just melting the snow wouldn't be enough: the resulting water would just run off the sides of the heated surface, refreeze, and lift the panels through what's known as heaving. In short, it would damage our new driveway.

A solution had to be found to remove or relocate the runoff water. We consulted with some water and forestry experts on the matter. We learned that if we could move water just 200 miles, then we could virtually eliminate any drought conditions in the U.S. In our research, we also learned of the damage caused by contaminated stormwater entering our waterways.

We're experimenting with a solution to relocate stormwater. First, to a water treatment facility, where necessary. Then, to whatever location the filtered water is needed.

After particulates are filtered out by something similar to a French drain, the storm water is stored below ground in storage tanks where it can't freeze. When it reaches a certain level, it is pumped along the Solar Roadway though a series of check valves (controls the direction of the water - for instance, north or south) to the water treatment facility. Once treated, the clean water is then pumped through a similar system along the Solar Roadway to the desired locations such as agricultural centers and aquafers.

Pollutants are removed, our waterways are safe, farmers are happy, and aquafers are resupplied.