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Urban Street Design Guide Index

Urban Street Design Guide
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Flow-Through Planters

Flow-Through Planters

Flow-through planters are hard-edged stormwater management facilities with an impermeable base.

Appropriate for infiltration-preclusive or high-density urban areas, flow-through planters treat water by allowing runoff to soak through its soil matrix and filter into an underdrain system.

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Flow-through planters treat water by allowing runoff to soak through its soil matrix and filter into an underdrain system.

Recommended

Use native plantings that can handle seasonal flooding and require minimal irrigation.
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Optional

4 Structured footing may be needed given sidewalk or street conditions to prevent lateral movement of the walls of the flow-through planter.
5 Discourage pedestrian trampling and reduce soil compaction by using low barriers or hardy vegetative ground covers. Barriers may be designed into the planter structure as streetside seating.
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Critical

1 Locate flow-through planters on non-infiltration areas, constrained sites next to buildings, areas with setback limitations, poorly draining soils, steep slopes (>4%), or areas with contaminated soils.
Use appropriate media composition for soil construction. The engineered soil mixture should consist of 5% maximum clay content.
2 Install a perforated pipe at the base of the facility to collect the treated runoff.
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3 Use a raised drain to divert stormwater that exceeds the water quality event directly into drain system.
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Install a downspout inlet or other conveyance sized for the water quality event and located to maximize treatment within the planter.
Provide a maximum 6-inch ponding depth for typical plant palettes. Deeper ponding depths require specialized planting palettes and should be avoided.
The drain rock layer must be clean and wrapped in filter fabric to protect the void space in the drain rock layer.
The planter must be designed to drain within 24 hours.

References

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  • Charles River Watershed Association. “Stormwater Planter.” Low Impact Best Management Practice (BMP) Information Sheet (2008): 26-27.

Adapted from the Urban Street Design Guide, published by Island Press.

References

References for Flow-Through Planters: 1 found.