This Place Is BMPing: Thomas Jefferson University Plaza

Each week, we profile a BMP—short for Best Management Practices—to demonstrate how local businesses, organizations and neighbors are helping to keep our streams and rivers clean by managing stormwater on their property.

Image: Andropogon Associates, Inc.

The plaza outside Thomas Jefferson University's Dorrance H. Hamilton Building (located between 10th and 11th; Locust and Walnut streets) is an example of green stormwater infrastructure that's barely visible to the naked eye. The system constructed here collects water from the building's roof and air conditioner condensation and stores it in a cistern underneath the plaza. Just one inch of stormwater is enough to water the 1.6-acre plaza's plants and trees for a week. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Learn more about this stormwater BMP project, find it on a map and view photos at  the Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative project page.