Redmond Rain . . . can be beautiful art!
As you visit this site, you will see a remarkable stormwater treatment system. At first look, you can see a planted area with some steel channels resting between the plants. If you look at it more, you may notice the area is shaped like a giant leaf. The leaf design is inspired by the native Sitka Willow (Salix sitchensis). When it rains, water is pumped out at the base (petiole) of the leaf and flows up the central channel (midrib) before branching out to the side channels (veins). Water spills out across the ground (lamina). As the water lands on the ground, it spreads out among the real plants and soaks into the special treatment soil.
FTF: Grngutang
NE 40th Street Water Quality Facility
The stormwater in question is flowing from nearby NE 40th Street and State Route 520. With all the cars on those streets, the stormwater carries with it oils, grease, dissolved metals, sediments, tire dust (6PPD-quinone), phosphorous, and other nasties that come off cars and our streets. As the water soaks through the soil, these pollutants are bound into the soil and the roots of the plants growing there. The water leaving the facility has been transformed into clean water to once again bring life and abundance to salmon in Villa Marina Creek and kokanee in Lake Sammamish.
Thanks for all the fish!
The City of Redmond built this facility in partnership with Microsoft and the King County Flood Control District to improve water quality from roadways like WSDOT's SR520 and Redmond's NE 40th Street, in an effort to roll back the legacy pollution from our streets to improve water quality for generations to come.
How to get here
Bonus points if you arrived by transit. The train runs from this station to downtown Bellevue, and buses connect from all over the place. In a year or so we look forward to seeing this site connected to Seattle, the airport, and the world!