Xylem Partners with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service and Auburn University to Monitor Storm Water Impacts from a Residential Development

Global Water Instrumentation (GWI) (Sacramento, California), a division of Xylem (White Plains, New York), has teamed up with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service (Auburn, Alabama), the Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (Auburn, Alabama), and the Auburn University Department of Biosystems Engineering to study hydraulic, hydrologic, and water quality changes during the transition of forested land to a residential “low impact development” (LID) subdivision. The research was done to measure the effectiveness of LID best management practices ability to mimic pre-existing hydrologic conditions. Furthermore, the studies were designed to evaluate the collective pollutant removal efficiency of the development to determine the practicability of attaining local total maximum daily load established nutrient criteria.

The team of researchers designed a monitoring plan to study pre-existing, active-development, and post-construction storm water runoff volume and quality. Water quality samples were to be obtained during qualifying events of 0.75 inches of rainfall over 24 hours. A combination of 45° v-notch weir was installed to obtain precise discharge measurements.