This document discusses the role of green infrastructure systems for managing wastewater at a watershed scale. It begins by outlining the historical patterns of water movement through uplands and lowlands, and how contemporary development has reversed these patterns. It then describes various green infrastructure strategies that can replicate natural hydrology, including green roofs, porous pavements, bio-retention systems, rainwater harvesting, wastewater recycling, and native landscaping. The document provides examples of these strategies and concludes by discussing a new paradigm in wastewater treatment using lagoons and floating mats of bacteria to polish wastewater in a low-cost, low-energy manner.

1. Gray vs. Green:
The Role of Watershed Scale Green Infrastructure Systems for Waste Water Management
James Patchett, FASLA, RLA, LEED AP Raj Rajaram, PhD, PE Ron Doetch, Agronomist
Founder & President Senior Project Manager Managing Partner
Conservation Design Forum, Inc. C.C. Johnson & Malhotra, P.C.(CCJM) Solutions in the Land

2. The Foundation for Restorative Design “Begins with Water“
Water is the Driver of Life

5. Re-circulation through
evapo-transpiration
Shallow ground water flow
Aquifer recharge

6. Constant, clean discharge flows, year round to sustain stable surface water hydrology
with constant water temperature and chemistry
Historical Patterns of Hydrology
Recharge Zone: Uplands
Discharge Zones: Lowlands – rivers, streams, ponds, wetlands

7. Water in Contemporary Urban, Suburban & Rural
Environments
Traditional Stormwater Management Approach:
Collect and convey water away from the site just as
quickly and efficiently as the law will allow through
enclosed storm sewer systems designed with
concentrated points of discharge that generate a
velocity and volume of flow that is nearly
impossible to mitigate.

8. According to USEPA, 40-60% of nitrogen applied to lawns ends
up in surface and groundwater systems

9. Reversed hydrological pattern results in runoff containing sediments, oils, greases,
salts, fertilizers, pesticides, and higher water temperatures that inundate historical
systems adapted to completely different hydrological and water quality conditions
Contemporary Hydrology
Upland becomes discharge zone
Natural wetlands are expected to function as recharge zones

10. [Photos taken or compiled by Dr. Tom Weingeist]
Iowa floods of 2008

11. GREEN INFRASTRUCTUREGREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Living ecologies functioningLiving ecologies functioning
cooperatively with technology tocooperatively with technology to
optimize the performance of an entireoptimize the performance of an entire
system to balance water, carbonsystem to balance water, carbon
cycling, energy, and nutrients locallycycling, energy, and nutrients locally

12. 1. Green roof systems
2. Porous pavement systems
3. Bio-retention systems
4. Rainwater harvesting and re-use
5. Wastewater recycling and re-use
6. Native landscape systems
Distributed Rainwater Management Strategies for all
land use cover surfaces with applications appropriate
for scale and context;
Replicate natural hydrology and provide multiple
benefits on all land use surfaces:
Integrated Green Strategies

13. Green Strategies
Green Roof Systems
Chicago City Hall Green Roof
Chicago, Illinois
ASLA Green Roof
Washington DC

14. Green Strategies
Porous Pavement Systems

15. Green Strategies
Bio-retention Systems

16. 0.1 inches/hr
0.2 inches/hr
6 in.
12 in.
0.1 in/hr
0.2 in/hr
0.1 inches/hr
0.2 inches/hr
6 in.
12 in.
0.1 inches/hr
0.2 inches/hr
6 in.
12 in.
0.1 inches/hr
0.2 inches/hr
6 in.
12 in.
0.1 in/hr
0.2 in/hr
Porous pavement + bioswales/rain gardens

17. Green Strategies
Rainwater Harvesting and Re-use Systems

18. Green Strategies
Wastewater Harvesting and Re-use Systems

19. Green Strategies
Native Landscape Systems

20. Bio-Diverse Prairie Restoration for Bio-mass, Grazing, Seed, and Plant Production

22. Iowa’s Green Streets Pilot ProjectIowa’s Green Streets Pilot Project
West Union, IowaWest Union, Iowa

23. Integrated water , energy, and utility systems

31. Charles City Green Streets
Charles City, Iowa

32. Ann Arbor Municipal Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan

33. Villa Park Police Station
Villa Park, IL

34. Villa Park Police Station
Villa Park, IL

35. Lutheran General Hospital Patient Tower
park ridge, illinois
Client: Advocate Health Care
Completion: 2009
LEED Gold, 2010
Team: Cannon Design, Gewalt Hamilton Associates
© OWP/P

36. Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Park Ridge, IL

37. Lutheran General Hospital Tower
Park Ridge, Illinois

38. Johnson Controls Headquarters
glendale, wisconsin
Client: Johnson Controls, Inc.
Completion: 2009
Awards: Wisconsin Builder Magazine Top Projects award, 2009
LEED: Platinum (anticipated)
Team: Gensler

39. Johnson Controls Headquarters
Glendale, Wisconsin © Gensler

41. Johnson Controls Headquarters
Glendale, Wisconsin

42. Kresge Foundation Headquarters
troy, michigan
Client: Kresge Foundation
Completion: 2006
Awards: Michigan ASLA Merit Award, 2009
ACEC NY Honor Award, 2007
Michigan Barn Commission Award for Innovative Use of Barn Reuse, 2007
AIA Chicago Distinguished Building Award, 2006
LEED Platinum, 2007
Team: Valerio Dewalt Train, Farr Associates, ARUP

44. Kresge Foundation Headquarters
Troy, MI
Porous paving parking lot

45. Iowa State University College of Design
Waubonsee Community College Walsh College
Education: colleges + universities

46. Iowa State University College of Design

47. Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center
glenview, illinois
Client: The Glen Development Corporation
Completion: 2007
LEED Platinum, 2007
Team: Wight and Company, Phoenix Architects, Bluestone + Associates

48. Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center
Glenview, Illinois

49. Parsons Park
chicago, illinois
Client: Chicago Park District
Completion: 2010
Team: Terry Guen Design Associates

50. Parsons Park
Chicago, Illinois

51. Queens Botanical Garden
flushing, new york
Client: Queens Botanical Garden
Completion: 2002 (master plan), 2009 (administration building and gardens)
Awards: Illinois ASLA Merit Award, 2009 (administration building and gardens)
New York Green Building Design Award, 2004
Illinois ASLA Merit Award, 2003 (master plan)
LEED Platinum, 2008
Team: Atelier Dreiseitl, BKSK Architects
© Jeff Goldberg/Esto

52. © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Queens Botanical Garden
Flushing, New York

53. © Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Queens Botanical Garden
Flushing, New York

54. Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest, IL

56. Lake Cook Courts
Highland Park, IL

57. Residential Porous Pavement and Rain Garden Application
Elmhurst, IL

60. McDonalds Green Prototype
Chicago, IL

61. Rotational Seed &
Biomass
Production
Rotational
Grazing
Organic produce
Sustainably
harvested
woodlot
Restorative Agriculture
Unsustainable
Row Crop Agriculture

63. Whole-System Food and Farming
Future
Ronald G. Doetch – 6.25.2016
“we can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind
to our blindness.”
― Daniel Kahneman

64. Restorative Agriculture
Food system planning integrated with GI:
-Improved Economy/Revenue for Ag. Land
-Enhanced Ecology/Water Balance
-Healthy Food and Ag. Products for Local Markets

65. Tears of the Food System

67. Product Sector

68. What’s right with our
agricultural system
Abundant supply for most people
Contributes $1 trillion to economy
13% of GDP
Employs 17% of labor force
Food, Fiber, Feed, Fuel, Fun, FLOW of
ecological services – value =
worldwide GDP

69. In the Midwest, 34” of rain falls annually. 19 gallons per
square foot. Nearly 1 million gallons per acre per year.
An additional 1% organic matter per acre will hold an
additional 16, 000 gallons of water per acre. Midwestern
soils have been depleted from 4-6% SOC to 2.0%.
By increasing the water absorption through improved
soil quality of all of the cropland in the Mississippi River
Basin by just 2”, that water retention would be the
equivalent of…
Fresh Water

70. The amount of water that
flows over Niagara Falls in
a YEAR!

74. $36 Billion Market

75. World Fertilizer Consumption,
1950-2013

76. Grain Production Per Ton of
Fertilizer, 1950-2013

77. Corn Usage

78. Resulting in the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone.
This phenomena grows to approximately
5000 square miles each spring…
The nutrient inputs create excellent food conditions for
phytoplankton blooms, which upon death, create rich food sources
for bacteria. The bacteria consume excessive amounts of
dissolved oxygen- resulting in hypoxia and thus creating dramatic
changes in food chain relationships, loss of biodiversity and high
aquatic species mortality.
Iowa and Illinois alone are credited with creating as much as 35%
of the nitrogen pollution ending up in the Dead Zone.
Each spring enormous quantities of dissolved nutrients (nitrogen)
are transported from the upper Midwest into the Gulf of Mexico…

79. Upstream
Resources
Downstream
opportunities

80. Soil Health is the critical success factor

81. Take Nitrogen from the Air
“Free-living” bacteria, fungi and organic enzymes. These beneficial bacteria
include:
Desulfovibrio Azotobacter vinelandii
Anabaena cylindrica Rhodobacter capsulatus
Nostoc commune Escherichia intermedia
Rhodobacter sphaeroides Bacillus macerans
Klebsiella pneumoniae Bacillus polymyxa
Clostridium Rhodopseudomonas palustris

82. LEAD SPONSORS
Our Mission
To empower landowners with
knowledge and resources to
effectively improve the
conservation of water.

83. Solutions in the Land, LLC
Food and farming are one system -
Resources are more than adequate –
We just have to learn how to manage
In Conclusion -

84. A New Paradigm in Wastewater Treatment

86. Audubon Society Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
Naples, Florida

87. After channel treatment, the water will be diverted to a lagoon for further polishing by Lagoon Restorers.
This low cost, low energy method of water polishing has proven to help meet current as well as emerging EPA
discharge parameters for the removal of more complex contaminants of concern such as personal care
products, pharmaceuticals, and most recently restorers have proven effective at the removal of petroleum
hydrocarbons. The floating restorers can be sized and configured to accommodate any volume of
wastewater discharge and incorporated into a wide range of lagoon types and shapes. This versatility
facilitates the use of restorer systems as an integral component of a whole new concept in wastewater facility
design.
Step 1 - Restorer Lagoons

88. Tyson Chicken Plant - Berlin, Maryland
Large scale industrial wastewater restorer application.

89. Omega Center for Sustainable Living
rhinebeck, new york
Client: Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
Completion: On-going
Awards: AIA/COTE Top Green Project Award, 2010
LEED: Platinum (anticipated)
Team: BNIM, John Todd Ecological Design, The Chazen Companies
© Omega Institute

90. Omega Center for Sustainable Living
Rhinebeck, New York
| Air flow | Energy flow | Water flow
© BNIM

91. Omega Center for Sustainable Living
Rhinebeck, New York

92. Restorative Water
Solutions
Pure Water Systems
Therapeutic
Anti-Microbial
Innovation

93. RWS Technology
•Powerful broad spectrum Antimicrobial
Properties
•Patented Technology + Proprietary IP
•Inherent safety/non-leaching
Octadecyldimethyl(3-trihydroxysilylpropyl) ammonium chloride

94. How it Works
Applied to Any Surface Flexible Permanent Bond
Pathogen Attracted to
Positively Charged Spike
Pathogen is Electrocuted

95. RWS Technology is Effective
On a variety of substrates including silica beads, metal, and sand, our base
molecule inactivates a large number of pathogens more effectively than any other
system we have seen.

96. Water/Liquid Filtration
•EPA registered “Sanitect”
•A Water Purification Revolution
•Elimination of water & liquid borne pathogens
•Non leaching to parts per billion (PPB)
•Non-Electric, Passive systems for potable or irrigation water
•Scaleable: point of use - municipal

97. James Patchett
(630) 559-2025
jpatchett@cdfinc.com
www.cdfinc.com
CDF
22 Years of Sustainability