Slow It, Spread It, Sink It

published May 5, 2008
Slow It Spread It Sink It
In alliance with the Environmental Affairs Department (EAD) Storm Water pollution prevention initiative, a local research center, Materials & Applications(M&A), has joined forces with the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce (SLCC) Green Committee to present a set of guidelines and workshops for small businesses.

The workshops are being held at a Silver Lake business, All Shades of Green, where the changes taught in the class will be installed as part of the class over the first three Saturdays of May.

These workshops and the basic concepts they teach will encourage designers, architects, and property owners to think creatively about solving challenges in the urban environment in highly efficient ways.

The stated goal of the workshops is to diminish the amount of water that flows off urban properties and into the storm drains - where it then flows down the Los Angeles River and into the ocean.

In times of peak flow, the river carries 183,000 cubic feet of polluted water per second out to the Pacific Ocean - 14 times the flow of NY's Hudson River.1 It can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, leaving no chance for pollutants to settle out in the river before hitting the bay.