Tag Archives: storm water retention

The Anatomy of a Stormwater Retention System

Stormwater RetentionThe purpose of a stormwater retention system is just that – to retain as much of the rainwater in the native soil as possible while facilitating proper filtration of any excess runoff during storm events.

The retention system allows any excess runoff from the site’s parking lots during rain events to be filtered then directed to the city’s storm drain. At the recently completed project for RBC Transport Dynamics, the city storm drain empties into the Pacific Ocean.

This project has a bio-swale and permeable concrete. Permeable concrete is often referred to as “magic concrete” in viral video stories, like this one.

In the video below, 1,500 gallons of water is dissipated in 5 minutes. It’s not magic – it’s engineering!

What is this system, you ask?

Let’s break it down.

You may want to click over to our Facebook Page to see all of the photos and detailed captions or just click through on this SlideShare.

Have you ever seen this type of parking lot?

There’s a lot more to a parking lot than meets the eye!