The EPA estimates the U.S. has $13 billion in wastewater infrastructure. Fast Company explains how innovations in wastewater management using natural processes will change everything.
Christopher Mims writes that new systems that strategically use plants and dirt in addition to concrete will transform wastewater infrastructure "...from passive conduits for water into dynamic systems that store and manage it like the tissues of desert animals."
"Green infrastructure tries to control runoff on-site, rather than sending it below, through the use of "bioretention cells" and rain gardens, which absorb and filter the water into collections of plants and artificial wetlands."
Mims says combining these processes with a smart grid, wastewater can be stored for use and moved around when needed.
Read the full story: How The "Internet Of Things" Is Turning Cities Into Living Organisms
Nevada breaks ground on state's first wastewater-to-drinking-water plant
After initial treatment, the water will sit in a groundwater aquifer for years to filter further before it is pumped into the city’s tap water.
NYC plans sewer upgrades after back-to-back floods
The city is working to expand sewer capacity and improve other stormwater storage and capture systems to prevent flooding.
Denver is building a sewage-powered thermal energy network
A proposed thermal energy network will harness heat from the earth and from wastewater to power renewable heating and cooling systems.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello