Background
Pollution on roadways gets washed into gullies and then into the nearest water course. This pollutes the local rivers and lowers their water quality level. Dublin City Council want to investigate possible solutions to reduce this pollution from roadways getting into the rivers, using green infrastructure methods.
Solution
Dublin City Council are looking at 9 pilot sites in the Dodder and Santry catchments, to trial different green infrastructure methods to treat the road runoff before it enters the rivers. The performance of the green infrastructure measures will also be monitired to establish how effective they are at treating road runoff pollutants.
Benefits of Solution
The benefits of using green infrastructure is that it can treat pollutants before they enter the river or water course. This will improve the water quality in the local river. They also slow the flow of water to the river, which will reduce flood events. They create a biodiversity friendly environment which can improve the amenity value of the space. They are also an adaption measure for climate change. Once the pilots are completed, Dublin City Council hope to rollout successful methodologies to many other locations in the City Council and elsewhere.