| News
and Progress Report
Last updated on June 26, 2008
Bookmark this page and check back for updates on projects and announcements about events and site tours!
News
Press Release 6-8-07: Green Roof Grand Opening
Press Release 9-28-06: Green Roof Installation
Press Release 6-26-06: Silver Lake Demonstration Complete
Press Release 1-20-06: Silver Lake Construction Begins
Press Release 8-29-05: LID
Subdivision Demonstration
Press Release 7-18-05: Silver
Lake LID Retrofits
Demonstration 1: LID Subdivision
The developer of Partridgeberry Place, the Martins Companies, completed construction of the key LID features in December 2006.GeoSyntec Consultants completed a preliminary feasibility study on runoff monitoring at Partridgeberry Place in February 2008. Subsequent to the findings of this study, GeoSyntec developed a full monitoring plan for the site that will:
- Characterize runoff patterns from the developed portion of Partridgeberry Place for a variety of storm sizes and intensities;
- Simulate runoff patterns from a conventional subdivision on the same site for the same storms, using EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) techniques and original site plans from before the site was re-designed as a cluster subdivision;
- Monitor flows at the outlet to a small undeveloped catchment basin in the adjacent forest, to examine the ability of the installed LID techniques to “mimic natural hydrologic conditions.”
Monitoring will take place throughout the summer of 2008 and a final report will be published in the fall of 2008.
On May 15th, 2008 The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Ipswich Planning Department partnered with the Martins Companies to host a tour of Partridgeberry Place for interested planners, conservation commissioners, and other interested parties.
Click here for updated site photos
Demonstration 2: Green
Roof
The green roof design was completed by K.J. Savoie Architecture. In September of 2006, the green roof, including a waterproof membrane, a drainage mat, filter fabric, soil medium, and 10 species of plantings (primarily sedums) were installed by Magco, Inc. of Jessup, MD. USGS completed the monitoring design and installed equipment in November 2006 to monitor the quality and quantity of runoff from both the green roof and the conventional roof at Ipswich Town Hall, which is adjacent to the Whipple Annex. Data from storms will be collected throughout the summer of 2008. Tours to view the green roof from the roof of Town Hall are available with permission from Town Hall.
A dedication of the completion of Whipple Riverview Place (the new name of the building upon completion of its redevelopment) was held in June 2007.
Click here for updated site photos; Click here to view the educational sign created for the site
Demonstration 3: Permeable Paving Materials in a Parking Lot
Design was completed by GeoSyntec Consultants of Acton, Massachusetts and construction was completed by Cali Corporation of Natick, Massachusetts. A public ceremony was held in June 2006 to celebrate the completion of this stormwater improvement project. Following construction, infiltration tests were conducted on all permeable materials and confirmed that infiltration rates met or exceeded specifications. USGS conducted preconstruction monitoring of groundwater beginning in the summer of 2005 and resumed sampling upon the completion of project construction in June 2006. A ceremony celebrating the installation of the LID features was held in June of 2006. Speakers included Wilmington Town Manager Michael Caira, State Senator Bruce Tarr, State Representative James Miceli, EPA Watershed and Nonpoint Source Branch Chief Gerald Potamis, and DCR Commissioner Stephen Burrington. Groundwater quality sampling continued for one year, post-construction, concluding in June 2007. Analysis of the data is ongoing and a published report is expected in June 2009. Following installation of the LID features on neighboring streets and at the beach parking lot, 2006 saw no summer beach closures due to fecal bacteria at Silver Lake for the first time in seven years. In 2007, the beach saw its second consecutive year of no closures due to fecal bacteria, but had one closure due to a bloom of cyanobacteria, a type of algae that can be toxic to humans.
Click here for updated site photos; Click here to view the educational sign created for the site
Demonstration 4: Lake Water Quality Improvement Using LID Retrofits to Replace Conventional Stormwater Discharge
Design was completed by GeoSyntec Consultants of Acton, Massachusetts, and construction was completed by Cali Corporation of Natick, Massachusetts. USGS conducted preconstruction monitoring of stormwater volumes and water quality beginning in the summer of 2005 and resumed sampling upon the completion of project construction in June 2006. Sampling for changes in water quality and discharge quantity continued for 15 months, post- construction, concluding in October 2007. Analysis of the data is ongoing and a published report is expected in June 2009. Following installation of the LID features in this neighborhood and at the beach parking lot, 2006 saw no summer beach closures due to fecal bacteria at Silver Lake for the first time in seven years. In 2007, the beach saw its second consecutive year of no closures due to fecal bacteria, but had one closure due to a bloom of cyanobacteria, a type of algae that can be toxic to humans.
In June of 2008, project coordinators held a Raingarden Maintenance Work Day with residents in the neighborhood where the raingardens were installed, to educate them about the function of the raingardens and introduce them to the maintenance requirements necessary to keep the gardens attractive and functioning. Residents were able to pick from a variety of plantings to spruce up the raingardens nearest their homes.
Click here for updated site photos; Click here to view the educational sign created for the site
Demonstration 5: Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater Recovery, Inc. completed installation of 39 small- and medium-capacity tanks on residential properties in the town of Wilmington in the fall of 2005. Season kick-off meetings were held in spring 2006 and 2007 and participants learned about the context of the study and discussed system maintenance. Data collection on the volume of rainwater used at each household was conducted through the summers of 2006 and 2007.
Rainwater Recovery also installed a 200-gallon system at an “Outdoor Classroom” at the Winthrop Elementary School in Hamilton. Parents and children at the school learned about rainwater harvesting during a volunteer “work day” in September 2006, shortly after the system was installed.
An underground 8,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system was installed by Rainwater Recovery at the Boutwell Elementary School in Wilmington in April 2007, to offset some of the irrigation demand of an adjacent ball field. When the storage vault is empty, the system automatically switches to a municipal back-up supply. The rainwater system is anticipated to meet approximately 80% of the field’s irrigation demand.
A project close-out meeting was held with residential participants in May 2008. Attendants celebrated the conclusion of the data collection, listened to preliminary study results, filled out feedback surveys, and heard tips on eco-friendly landscaping techniques.
Analysis of savings from the residential systems is underway and a report is expected in spring 2009.
Click here for updated site photos
Demonstration 6: Soil and Turf Amendments at Municipal Athletic Fields
A moisture-retaining soil amendment (zeolite) was applied to one of the four fields at Ipswich River Park in North Reading in the spring of 2006 and again in the summer of 2007. Water demand at this field was compared to that of an adjacent field without the soil amendments, but with virtually all other characteristics identical between the two fields. Analysis of savings is underway and a report is expected in spring 2009.
Continuous soil moisture recording equipment was installed on site as well, however high groundwater tables and electrical failure of the equipment resulted in the inability to collect data during much of both summers in 2006 and 2007.
Click here for description of zeolite treatment
Demonstration 7: Water Conservation Retrofits and Appliance Rebates
The rebate and audit/retrofit programs are ongoing components of Reading’s overall Water Conservation Plan. The town is also conducting an ongoing outreach and public education campaign on water conservation and the rebate program. As of August 2007, the town had issued 1,119 rebates for toilets and washing machines to 1,042 households and had provided 638 water-saving devices as part of water audits for 153 residential customers.
Recently, the town expanded their rebate program to offer rebates for rain barrels and expanded their audit/retrofit program to include outdoor use. However, at the time of data analysis, these features of the program lacked sufficient data for their inclusion in our evaluation.
Analysis is underway of the water savings associated with the two programs, and a report is expected in spring 2009.
Demonstration 8: Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers
AquaSave LLC installed 25 weather-based irrigation controllers in the summer of 2005 – 15 at residential homes in the Town of Reading and 10 at municipal ball fields in the towns of Reading, Middleton, Hamilton, North Reading, and the City of Peabody. All residential participants were invited to attend season kick-off meetings in spring 2006 and 2007 to learn about the context of the study, reflect on experiences from the previous season, and receive information on data collection and system operation for the current season. Pre-installation (2003 and 2004) outdoor water use records at both the residential (2nd meters) and municipal sites were compiled, where available. Post-installation water-use records were collected over the summers of 2006 and 2007, for pre-post comparisons. Additionally, outdoor water use (2nd meter) records of non-participating residential customers were collected for the same historical period and throughout the study to serve as a control group. Analysis is underway of the water savings associated with both the residential and ball field applications of this technology, and a report is expected in spring 2009.
A project close-out meeting was held with residential participants in April 2008. Attendants celebrated the conclusion of the data collection, listened to preliminary study results, provided feedback about the systems, and heard tips on eco-friendly landscaping techniques. Additionally, individual “conclusion interviews” were held with each of the five municipal partners in the spring of 2008 to present preliminary results and receive feedback on the systems.
Demonstration 9: Water Meter Replacements and Monthly Water Billing
As of June 2006, 500 radio-read meters were installed in the town of Topsfield. Monthly billing for these customers with radio-read meters began in June 2006 and a public education flier was mailed to these customers in January 2007. Monthly billing continued through October 2007. The rest of the town’s residential customers continued to be billed semi-annually throughout this period. Historic water use records (2000 – 2005) were obtained for both those in the monthly-billing experimental group and for all other residential customers. Assessor’s data were used to compare the groups and select an appropriate control group from among the non-participants. After the switch to monthly billing for the experimental group, water use data for both groups continued to be collected through November 2007.
Analysis is underway to determine if monthly billing affected water use. However, in both summers 2006 and 2007, Topsfield implemented strict outdoor watering limits for significant periods of the summer, and preliminary analysis suggests the effect of these watering restrictions may mask any potential effect from the monthly billing. A report of the analysis is expected in spring 2009.
Watershed Modeling
The Hydrological Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) model was developed for the Ipswich River Watershed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and published in 2000. USGS is using data collected from the demonstration projects, as applicable, to adjust this model and evaluate hypothetical impacts of applying the demonstration LID and water conservation techniques widely over the watershed, in various combinations. A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) consisting of hydrologists, water suppliers, river advocates, and regulators was convened in January 2008 to guide the development of scenarios to be evaluated with the model. Following recommendations of this TAC, USGS revised the model’s “baseline” (against which other scenarios will be compared) to adjust for new water withdrawal regimes in the towns of Reading and Wilmington. Reading recently eliminated all its in-basin withdrawals and began purchasing its complete drinking water supply from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), which derives its water from reservoirs in central Massachusetts. Wilmington is in the process of replacing approximately 1 MGD of its in-basin supply with purchases from the MWRA. Preliminary results suggest these reductions in in-basin withdrawals have a notable impact on flows in the headwater reaches of the watershed. An initial round of scenarios was selected by the TAC and a second round is under development. Modeling analysis is expected to be completed by fall 2008 and a report is expected in June 2009.
Public Outreach and Education
A variety of outreach materials have been developed, or are in progress, including a project overview fact sheet, brochures, signage, presentations, and a web site. Educational signs were installed at Silver Lake and at the green roof in July 2006 and June 2007, respectively. Lawn signs were installed at each residential Rainwater Harvesting and Irrigation Controller Switch site to enhance visibility of the demonstrations. The Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) hosted an Ipswich River Restoration Conference in November 2005. IRWA also produced a Handbook for Municipal Managers in the Ipswich Watershed which was distributed to watershed communities in the spring of 2006 (a web portal for the hand book, including web-based fact sheets and active links can be found at: http://www.ipswichriver.org/waterwise/).In cooperation with a coalition of North Shore organizations and the Massachusetts Bays Estuary Association, IRWA also launched Greenscapes North Shore, a campaign focusing on environmentally friendly landscaping. Lastly, tours of demonstration sites have been conducted for interested planners, engineers, regulators, government officials, businesses, and interested citizens. Additional signs, tours, workshops, and a legislative forum are planned for the coming year.
| 
