PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF PRIVATE 
GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE

Billy Nichols
Civil Engineer, Office of Watersheds - Philadelphia Water Department

&

Nicholas Manna
Civil Engineer, AKRF, Inc.

Monitoring, Analysis, and Research Support (MARS)

ABSTRACT:

Green stormwater infrastructure is a critical component to Philadelphia’s efforts to reduce combined sewer overflows, and private stormwater management practices capture an increasingly large share of runoff in Philadelphia. These private sites often retain and infiltrate water from large parking lots and warehouse roofs and have geometries and features that differ from right-of-way SMPs. Property owners receive credit for functioning and compliant stormwater management, and PWD is monitoring select sites to understand performance and assure compliance. PWD collects and analyzes data to identify trends and recommends solutions for non-compliant sites. Billy Nichols and Nicholas Manna of the Office of Watersheds Monitoring, Analysis and Research Support (MARS) group will share specific findings and wider trends regarding these private SMPs.

SPEAKER BIOS: 

Billy Nichols serves as a civil engineer in the Monitoring, Analysis and Research Support (MARS) group under the Office of Watersheds within the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD). The responsibility of MARS is to assess the performance of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in the City of Philadelphia to improve system function and inform planning and design to meet the City's Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) known as Green City, Clean Waters. Prior to PWD, Billy served as a graduate research assistant with the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership at Villanova University. Research experience involved monitoring and maintaining intensive instrumentation systems at three green stormwater infrastructure sites in the City of Philadelphia. Research topic focused on modeling an operational urban rain garden to optimize performance. Billy worked for four years as a consulting engineer with Greeley and Hansen LLC and maintains professional engineering licenses in Illinois and Pennsylvania. Consulting experience includes secondary treatment design, nutrient master planning, odor control design, combined and sanitary sewer overflow investigations, consent decree negotiation assistance, hydraulic modeling, lift station design, and hazardous material investigation.

Nicholas Manna is a civil engineer for AKRF, Inc. consulting full-time with the Monitoring, Analysis, and Research Support (MARS) group under the Office of Watersheds within the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD). Nicholas analyzes and manages green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) data for MARS. Prior to this contract, Nicholas designed and scoped GSI in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Nicholas earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Drexel University. He collaborated with MARS for his Master’s thesis, which focused on modeling rain garden performance.

Engineers:

This seminar does qualify for 1.0 Professional Development Hour (PDH). A Certificate of Attendance will be available for AWRA-PMAS members only. The meeting price for non-members who wish to receive a Certificate of Attendance for the PDH is $10.00 ($3.00 for meeting + $7.00 for certificate).  

Please note: Presentation is to be given through Zoom at the link below. PDH's will be issued through PDFs. Please allow extra time to register through Zoom and get software set up. Presentation will start at noon. Early participants will be in a Waiting Room until noon. Participants must email AWRA.PMAS@gmail.com to request PDH Certificate after the event.

Presentation at:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89340821312

Thank you!