Bioswales – Green Infrastructure
Innovation is at foot in the world of bioswales. And for good reason.
But what really is a bioswale?
It’s a type of “green infrastructure” which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines as the use of natural vegetation, landscape design and engineered techniques that retain, absorb and often cleanse storm water runoff, and route excess water away from where it can do damage.
75% of the case studies show the cost of green infrastructure, such as bioswales, is the same or less than standard “gray” projects emphasizing pipe, concrete, and sometimes pumps. The benefits of green infrastructure to owners of large estates, however, take this to a whole new level; costs are no longer the central and only reason.
Besides purifying and filtering our precious water, degrading toxins in pesticides, increasing wildlife and biomass, increasing trees thereby improving microclimates, green infrastructure will help to beautify our urban and rural lands while making them more healthy to live in, on or near.
It’s no wonder that New York City is planning on installing 2000 bioswale green infrastructures. Portland has over 1300 bile swales and frequently has visitors from across the nation and from other countries observing and learning.
Green infrastructure, fundamentally, is not new.
Living Bioswales meld the functionality of green infrastructure, the living ecosystems of the entire site, with imaginative beauty and artistic flow.