A Basin in Balance: Examining the Impact of Stormwater Basins on Water Quality
Location
CoLab, COM 173
Start Date
30-4-2026 9:30 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
As part of a campus-wide sustainability initiative in 2010, JCCC constructed a stormwater treatment system to treat runoff water from its parking lots. As rainfall flows over pavement and parking lots, it collects pesticides, motor oils, heavy metals, and other forms of chemical pollution before it is funneled into our rivers and streams. The basin interrupts the flow by temporarily holding the runoff, allowing layers of the natural filtering system to remove contaminants before water is released back into primary water sources. Our sample was collected from the south side of the basin after a period of rainfall. The experiments we performed aim to reveal the impact of stormwater basins on improving the quality of runoff before it travels back into our water systems. We examined the water quality using various experimental methods, comparing our results to the safe ranges recommended by the EPA. The absence of nitrates, nitrites, lead, and other heavy metals in our data indicates that the stormwater basin is effectively limiting the pollutants it was designed to remove.
A Basin in Balance: Examining the Impact of Stormwater Basins on Water Quality
CoLab, COM 173
As part of a campus-wide sustainability initiative in 2010, JCCC constructed a stormwater treatment system to treat runoff water from its parking lots. As rainfall flows over pavement and parking lots, it collects pesticides, motor oils, heavy metals, and other forms of chemical pollution before it is funneled into our rivers and streams. The basin interrupts the flow by temporarily holding the runoff, allowing layers of the natural filtering system to remove contaminants before water is released back into primary water sources. Our sample was collected from the south side of the basin after a period of rainfall. The experiments we performed aim to reveal the impact of stormwater basins on improving the quality of runoff before it travels back into our water systems. We examined the water quality using various experimental methods, comparing our results to the safe ranges recommended by the EPA. The absence of nitrates, nitrites, lead, and other heavy metals in our data indicates that the stormwater basin is effectively limiting the pollutants it was designed to remove.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Lori Slavin.