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Alec,
Most bacteria tested (fecal bacteria) are tested as an indicator of more dangerous organisms and the excess nutrients they consume. If there’s less nutrient then there should be less bacteria, visa versa.

There’s much to be said for how a team markets their project here as well. I must say that Turenscape’s projects carry a lot of impact – “Art of Survival” by Dr. Yu in its full glory is something to behold. I think it is very important to note that in most cases Turenscape has had to convince the local governments in China to do these projects…[Read more]

Thank you, very very very interesting article..I love your web page.

Typically, for a permanent/tenure track position, there has to be a national search advertised on websites, professional journals, etc. I would recommend looking at the following websites:
CELA
EDRA
ASLA

Most of the deadlines have already passed, but you never know if something will open up.

As for getting connected to universities – I would…[Read more]

I’ll let my absence of commentary here be my comment.

No need to apologize Trace. I enjoy a lively discussion. There are no easy answers to complex questions.

wow! ALL the projects I work on ultimately drain to a city system, hopefully having been treated first – and that includes projects in Orange Virginia..

Sorry if I mistook humour for truth..

All right, all right, over-reacted..Alec you should write headlines, it definitely got my attention..to say the least..Apologize for over-reacting..Toilet…[Read more]

Word.

Sorry Trace. I guess I joined the discussion late, so I don’t have the full picture.

Most of mine never left the university world other than for part time associations with private firms (for resume?). The ones that did get real world experience were more demanding of discipline. Maybe from their backgrounds, or maybe it was their nature, I really don’t know.

ALL drainage is absorbed on site on our projects. Only very few municipal systems have some old networks of pipes, but no one can add to those even if they wanted to. We use rain gardens, bioswales, catch basins into leach pits or other infiltration devices. It all replenishes the groundwater on site. Preferably, it is filtered through vegetation,…[Read more]

Wow. I maintain that the title of my discussion accurately describes my conundrum. Furthermore, my description of aforementioned conundrum was specific in it’s wording. Thanks all.

Thanks Roland. This is exactly the same conclusion I reached. We already have a constructed wetland at the end of this treatment chain that I am convinced will remove 65%-90% of the bio-nasties. The grey water hits 2 rain gardens and travels 1000 lf down a swale to the wetlands. I was hoping to find factual proof that the rain gardens and swale…[Read more]

Roland, I don’t know if we are taking this to extreme – Alec is saying it is impossible to verify the science behing filtration, by stating that it might be fiction. This leaves the topic way broader than just his specific situation.

Alec,
I’d recommend you look into constructed wetlands rather than swales or raingardens. These might be more along the lines of what you need for the splash pad. I found this article on BMP’s and bacteria removal, though: http://www.stormh2o.com/may-2008/bacterial-research-bmps.aspx
To summarize the article, rain gardens are somewhat effective at…[Read more]

I feel like I’ve seen several teaching position openings advertised in the past few months on ASLA’s job board and elsewhere. I know CSU was hiring at one point recently.

A little off topic, but in what aspaect of the profession do you see yourselves teaching? What interests you?

Nice website Brent. Did you build it yourself?

NR-

I don’t think…[Read more]

And also, Andrew, while you may not have worked on any projects that swale stormwater out to the ocean, my point was that almost all old systems go right out to the water, river, ocean, whatever. Retrofitting has been done, but man when it rains in San Diego, the stormwater, and frequently the sewage, for that matter, is dumped right out in the…[Read more]