A fountain and green space at the Greenfield Avenue and First Street intersection will beautify the neighborhood while serving as an experiment in green infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The project, to be completed in October, includes a 30,000-gallon, underground cistern and four reflecting pools flanked by planter boxes. In a technique called \u201cforced wetland,\u201d recirculating water will spill into the fountain after being forced up through the roots of the plants. Plant filtration removes many contaminants from polluted urban runoff, which often contains substances such as gasoline, fertilizers and harmful microbes from pet waste.<\/p>\n
Called the Greenfield Avenue Gateway, the project is the first in a series of demonstration sites planned in the city\u2019s harbor district to improve water quality in Milwaukee\u2019s frail estuary and help keep storm water from overwhelming the sewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an ecological fountain for the 21st<\/sup> century, fed by rainwater,\u201d said Jim Wasley, a 51ÁÔÆæ professor of architecture who designed the site. \u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve worked on a storm-water project that captures the water and recirculates it while also cleaning it.\u201d<\/p>\n The fountain and public space sit between a new development with shopping and apartments, also under construction, and busy roads at the intersection. Storm water from the adjacent building\u2019s rooftop will feed the fountain system.<\/p>\n Wasley hopes to raise funding that will allow the addition of three new water technologies, including one created by David Garman, 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s associate vice chancellor for water technology, research and development, and research associate Marcia Silva.<\/p>\n Their invention removes phosphorus from the water without the use of chlorine or other chemicals. This keeps algae from growing on the surfaces of the pools.<\/p>\n Garman and Silva propose adding a material called modified zeolite encased in a sort of \u201cteabag\u201d that will be suspended in the pools.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is doubly charged so it attracts elements like phosphorus, but also chemicals like ammonia,\u201d Garman said. The patent-pending technology, developed through the Water Technology Accelerator at the School of Freshwater Sciences, has already been licensed to a Chinese company through the 51ÁÔÆæ Research Foundation.<\/p>\n Two other technologies that could be piloted at the fountain site include:<\/p>\n Contributors supporting the project include the City of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and Wangard Partners, developers of the shopping center that hosts the fountain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal isn\u2019t just to manage storm water,\u201d Wasley said. \u201cIt\u2019s to transform the way people experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A fountain and green space at the Greenfield Avenue and First Street intersection will beautify the neighborhood while cleaning the environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":836,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174,175],"tags":[],"section":[139,143],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[264],"uwmnews-feed":[152],"class_list":["post-34883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-research","section-science-technology","section-water-environment","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-water","uwmnews-feed-freshwater-sciences"],"yoast_head":"\n\n