A Sustainable Community-Based Approach to Reducing Non-Point Source Pollution in the Village of Bellwood, Illinois
The Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Village of Bellwood and the Illinois EPA are demonstrating how the Calumet region can reduce flooding and create beauty. The project is designed both as a demonstration for emulation throughout the region and as a research site to gain performance data for use by engineers and regulators to design green infrastructure.
Background
Founded in 1900, the Village of Bellwood is a suburb of Chicago and located 13 miles west of Chicago’s Loop business district. Bellwood is in the watershed of Addison Creek, which flows from Bensonville through Elmhurst, Northlake, Stone Park, Melrose Park, Bellwood, Westchester, and Broadview and joins Salt Creek, a major tributary of the Des Plaines River. The Addison Creek watershed is heavily industrialized, leading to frequent flooding and water quality challenges. Approximately 40 percent of Bellwood is located in the Addison Creek floodplain, although most flooding is shallow.
Many homes in Bellwood have sump pumps so the frequent high groundwater levels do not cause damage to basements. One of the important issues in Bellwood that is addressed by the project is the illegal connections of sump pumps to the sewer system. This practice leads to filling of sewers with clean stormwater prior to a storm so that the capacity needed to handle runoff is diminished. Homeowners elect to connect to the sewers to avoid wet areas in their lawns. By demonstrating that the sump pump discharges can be handled in attractive rain gardens, enforcing of the ban on connections can be more effective.
Site description
The research site selected in Bellwood consists of two rain gardens that receive runoff from the same roof, that of the Village’s practice firing range at the Department of Water facility at Madison Street and Eastern Avenue. The two gardens were constructed adjacent to the Illinois Prairie Path, a well-used bike and hiking trail that extends 55 miles from the Des Plaines River to the Fox River. Each 140 square-foot rain garden is fed by a downspout from the roof that crosses the top of an underground water supply reservoir to the garden.
Garden Design and Monitoring
The two rain gardens in Bellwood are designed to compare the efficacy of native plants’ absorption of stormwater versus the absorption capacity of turf grass. The gardens are located at the Bellwood Water Department and two of the three downspouts on the building are connected to each garden in an effort to control roof drainage. Each garden is built into the side slope of a berm around the water supply reservoir using timbers and a fabric liner to maintain a level surface. Each garden is filled with an identical, amended soil mix composed of topsoil, course sand, and compost. The west garden contains turf grass sod retained from the garden construction. The east garden contains three species of native grasses and wildflowers.
Little Bluestem Schyzachyrium scoparium
Prairie Dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis
Prairie Dock Silphium terebinthinaceum
The gardens were designed by Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. and constructed by Emerald Site Services, LL.
The Bellwood Lions Club volunteered to assist in the planting of the native garden. The photograph below shows the volunteer work day on October 6, 2007 when planting the garden was completed. The two gardens are shown after construction was completed.
Bellwood Lions Club volunteers take a break from planting before the Fire Department waters the rain gardens.
Bellwood Rain Gardens — Left — East Garden containing native plants
Right — West Garden containing turf grass
The gardens were designed by Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. and constructed by Emerald Site Services, LL.
Rainfall data and the performance of each rain garden is obtained with an on-site rain gauge and two monitoring wells and a soil moisture meter in each garden. Each piece of equipment is configured to record data at five-minute intervals; the data will be downloaded at least once every thirty days. The monitoring wells each contain a water level meter. One will be used to quantify the amount of water stored above the ground surface in the bioswale and one to document the water level in the subsoil beneath the bioswale. A soil moisture meter is installed at a depth of approximately 6 inches in the engineered soil portion of the swale. The monitoring system was installed and the monitoring will be conducted by Hey & Associates, a consulting firm with experience monitoring other best management practices in Chicago.
Monitoring began in October 2007. The equipment, after initial testing, was removed in November to prevent damage from freezing and was put back into operation in May, 2008.
The total cost of materials, labor and plants for the two rain gardens was $10,800. The project also incurred additional design and engineering costs of $3,500.
Public Involvement
Officials and staff of the Village of Bellwood were key participants in the selection of the site and design of the facilities. Volunteers from the Bellwood Lions Club installed the plants in the east garden and the Bellwood Fire Department brought water to the site following planting.
The Village of Bellwood and the Center for Neighborhood Technology are developing a plan for several other demonstration gardens, and programs are continuing at festivals and schools to make people aware of the benefits of rain gardens.
Link to Photo Gallery.
