GREEN: Living wall breathes life into historic building in Ohio City

Flip a rain garden 90 degrees and what could you get? Something both striking and functional.

One beneficiary of the District’s Green Infrastructure Grant Program is the Striebinger Block building on West 29th Street in Ohio City.

The 1919 building boasts a “living wall” that is fed by rainwater collected from the roof and held in ground-level cisterns. During dry weather, the water is pumped up to plants mounted on the brick façade. Catch basins at the bottom of the wall also capture and recirculate water back to the cisterns.

The Living Wall joins other District-funded green infrastructure projects in Ohio City, including rain gardens at Transformer Station (also on W. 29th) and the nearly-completed West Side Market parking lot. Together, these projects are taking advantage of Ohio City’s redevelopment activity and great soils to promote on-site stormwater management and reduce stormwater in the combined sewer system.

Story by Yolanda Kelly and Michael Uva

RELATED NEWS:

• GREEN: 6 ways green infrastructure is taking root in Cleveland
• PROJECTS: 7 things to know about green infrastructure work in East Cleveland
• FUNDING: Funding opportunities for watershed groups and green infrastructure projects

WATCH | How it works: Permeable pavers at the Western Reserve Historical Society

It's not the first permeable-pavers project we've supported, but it's the first time we've had a truck dump a tank-load of water on one for a video.

The Cleveland History Center at the Western Reserve Historical Society recently completed a renovation of its parking lot with the support of a Green Infrastructure Grant from the Regional Sewer District. Green infrastructure components helped better manage stormwater runoff on-site and reduced the amount of stormwater entering the combined sewer system.

Stormwater Technical Specialist Dave Ritter and CHS Director of Operations Angie Lowrie tell us a little about the project as Dave explains how the pavers and gravel work together to filter and infiltrate runoff.

VIDEO: What's happening under Public Square in Cleveland?

Behind the concrete barriers and orange construction fencing at the corner of Superior and Ontario, there is an overwhelming amount of activity taking place to renovate Public Square.

Cleveland.com showcased aerial images of the site's progress in a recent story as crews rush to take advantage of good weather to stay on schedule for a 2016 completion. But what's happening underground?

Often overlooked is the infrastructure that will help improve water quality and manage stormwater at the same time, innovations that will increase greenspace on the site and promote sustainability.

Stormwater Technical Specialist David Ritter recently took us behind the barriers to give us an idea of how this "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity that began last October is taking shape and how sewer improvements have a positive effect on Lake Erie.

"The Sewer District saw this as an opportunity to manage stormwater in a highly urbanized environment," Ritter said, "and was able to work with [partners] to leverage the work that was already going on here at Public Square."

NOTICE: Water quality advisory posted at Edgewater as a result of early morning storm, overflow

This morning, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District posted a public advisory at Edgewater Beach, a result of a combined sewer overflow (CSO) event which discharged raw sewage into Lake Erie during this morning’s heavy rain storm.

Visitors—particularly children, the elderly and those in ill health—are advised to avoid contact with the water and debris.

“Edgewater is yet another example of why we need to continue to be aggressive in investing in our sewer infrastructure, particularly if want to continue to capitalize on the good work of the Cleveland Metroparks and those who are developing along the lakefront,” said Sewer District Chief Executive Officer Julius Ciaccia recently.

“Otherwise, to ignore the problems, like combined sewer overflows, stormwater run-off, failing septic systems, and illicit connections of sanitary sewage to storm sewers, that plague our local waterways would be irresponsible, and would squander the past investments made to keep our Great Lake great.”

Since 1972, the Sewer District has reduced the volume of CSO by half—from 9 billion gallons to 4.5 billion gallons—and continues efforts to reduce CSO from entering local waterways. The Sewer District has $3 billion plan—Project Clean Lake—which will further reduce overflows from 4.5 billion gallons to 500 million gallons by 2036 through the construction of large-scale storage tunnels, green infrastructure, and wastewater treatment plant upgrades.

#BuffaloSnow: 2011 video shows how rain and snow melt can overwhelm streams and sewer systems

Seven feet of snow followed by 60 degree temperatures and rain.

The conditions of Buffalo, NY seem almost surreal, but the area is preparing for flooding anticipated as streams and sewers are surely going to be stressed by the combination of warming temps, snow melt and stormwater this week.

Northeast Ohio faced a similar situation in February 2011. The snowfall totals then were nowhere close to the 80+ inches Buffalo faced last week, but the already saturated ground beneath a layer of snow-pack caused surface runoff volumes to spike, overwhelming sewers and streams.

NEWS: "Do not drink" water order in Toledo, surrounding communities is a sobering call to action

Early Saturday morning, Lucas County issued an alarming "Do not drink the water" alert affecting 19 communities and more than 400,000 residents. The directive is due to exceedingly high levels of microcystin, a toxin produced by toxic algae blooms.

While the alert is outside of our and Cleveland Division of Water's service areas, the action is related to events that affect many of our customers in Northeast Ohio, and the relationship is worth noting.

Toledo's news is a tragic example of the importance of protecting our water resources, particularly Lake Erie.

VIDEO: No, we do want you to see what we allegedly don't want you to see.

What was recorded and posted to YouTube in the style of an exposé is actually a great educational resource to better understand pollution sources and their impacts on Lake Erie.

YouTube user pmc291 recently posted this video to our Facebook page under a very ominous title, "NORSD NOT WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO SEE." It shows pollution along one of Cleveland's beaches near our Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Known as White City Beach, this area has suffered from several pollution sources for many years: Combined sewer overflows, storm sewers, sanitary sewer overflows, and storm debris. Each one deserves a few words about future clean-up efforts.

#neorsdGREEN: 4 cities making green part of the plan, and we're one of them.

As the country has turned its attention to green solutions to infrastructure challenges in recent years, there are cities and regions whose green work is already underway and blazing a trail others can follow.

In a new document released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Northeast Ohio is one of them.

San Francisco, Toledo, Cincinnati, and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District are four agencies who have incorporated green into their combined sewer overflow (CSO) control plans, and our efforts were highlighted as an example other cities might consider when planning to solve similar problems.

Greening CSO Plans: Planning and Modeling Green Infrastructure for Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control (v...

VIDEO: This guy kayaks into a DC sewer tunnel. It's educational, but don't try it at home.

This 8-minute video by EarthEcho International—featuring underground construction and a kayaking expedition into the bowels of a combined sewer—highlights the water-quality challenges of Washington, DC and what DC Water is doing about it.

Why is it relevant to Cleveland? It's a tale that reflects the same obstacles and solutions we face in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio:

• Lots of impervious surface.
• Combined sewers that discharge billions of gallons of waste into our environment every year.
• Extensive tunnel projects to prevent those overflows.
• Opportunities for green infrastructure as smart stormwater solutions.

Could be a good resource for educators or community groups. But we don't advise kayaking into combined sewer outfalls, so keep that in mind.