Bella Vista “Soaks Up”
Tired of Streets in Bella Vista Philadelphia flooding and riddled with puddles when it rains?? Me too! Thanks to the “Green Street Initiative,” part of the Philadelphia Water Department, there has been a successful effort to improve the city’s sewer infrastructure and reduce the amount of storm water that enters it. On May 10th Philly’s first porous street was unveiled in the heart of Bella Vista on Percy St. between 9th and 10th! Percy St. was completely reconstructed with a new sewer system, main and piping. Construction of the city’s first porous street cost $330,000!!! The new street is made of special permeable materials including porous asphalt that is specially designed to allow water to soak through the surface. This will eliminate storm-water runoff. Beneath the asphalt is a layer of stone that will act as a storage area for the water until it can slowly soak into the soil. When heavy rain soaks our neighborhood the water treatment plants cannot accommodate all the water and consequently the toilet and storm water flows together into the city’s rivers. This can happen 50-60 times a year but will be drastically reduced with the help of these special “soaking streets!” The city will complete its second porous street on Webster between 13th and Broad later this spring.
Zach Skidmore
www.CenterCityHomes.com / 215.901.7844
Prudential Fox and Roach REALTORS®
530 Walnut St., Suite 260 Philadelphia, PA 19106
