Tour of the Ashevillage Institute Demonstration Site Part 3

If we need the extra storm water for our system we can open the cleanout at the end of the pipe and let the water through. A slide valve would be more appropriate for this purpose but also more expensive.

Tour of the Ashevillage Institute Demonstration Site Part 2

Storm water runoff travels through our 4" pipe at a 2% grade.

The first flush of water that comes from a storm carries the most pollutants. The dirty water first flush is diverted into a 50 gallon barrel. The 50 gallon barrel has a 1/2" hole drilled in the bottom side to let the water slowly drain out between rain events.

For every 1mm of rainfall that's diverted through a first flush system 50% of the pollutants are removed.