As a result, rainwater bounces off and collects as runoff, picking up impurities—including infectious bacteria from animal waste as well as harmful pesticides and fertilizers—on the way to municipal storm sewers, which in turn eventually empty into local bodies of water.
But we can make this runoff more effective for our environment.
Minimizing this runoff means that more impurities will remain in local soils where they can be broken down more easily into their constituent elements than if they are concentrated downstream.
To achieve this goal, landscape architects have developed so-called “green roofs,” which use living plant matter and soil on top of a building to absorb, collect and reuse rainwater while preventing runoff. Many buildings employing green roofs are able to find abundant uses for the water they collect, from watering exterior plants at ground level to flushing toilets inside.
Minimizing this runoff means that more impurities will remain in local soils where they can be broken down more easily into their constituent elements than if they are concentrated downstream.
To achieve this goal, landscape architects have developed so-called “green roofs,” which use living plant matter and soil on top of a building to absorb, collect and reuse rainwater while preventing runoff. Many buildings employing green roofs are able to find abundant uses for the water they collect, from watering exterior plants at ground level to flushing toilets inside.
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