How Should Property Managers & HOAs Deal With Stormwater?

Stormwater management is likely one of the more specialized areas of responsibility you face if you manage a homeowners association or other property here in the DMV and DC area, and there’s a lot that goes into it. Extreme weather is becoming more common, and even a typical rainstorm can pose a risk to your property without proper stormwater systems in place. iSTORMWATER’s expert engineers can help you protect your property investment from structural rot and mold, avoid citations from local agencies, support the well-being of your local community, and keep commercial tenants and apartment renters happier. Here’s how.

Basics of Stormwater

Did you know that rain causes billions of dollars in damage in the United States every year? It’s the result of stormwater runoff or the extra water that flows over the ground. It occurs when heavy rain collects on top of impervious surfaces (such as rooftops, driveways, and parking lots) that don’t allow the water to seep into the ground or follow a natural path to larger waterways.

The main concern is flooding, but stormwater runoff also threatens water quality. Any substance that falls on these surfaces, such as engine oil on a driveway, animal waste on a sidewalk, or pesticides on a sports field, can be washed away during heavy rain into the closest storm drain and directly to natural water sources used by both humans and wildlife. This is a serious pollution concern.

What Are the Sources of Stormwater?

Pollution From Rooftops

Rooftops are a commonly overlooked source of stormwater since people don’t spend a lot of time looking at them. However, they easily collect tree leaves, litter, and other debris within their gutters. If this waste isn’t regularly cleaned out, it will eventually get swept into your neighborhood storm drain.

Why is that a problem? Other than the risk of potential clogs, this waste also carries pollutants within it — pollutants that would normally have been filtered out by soil. Without that step, bacteria begin to grow and create an oxygen-free zone that pushes species of fish out. It also makes the area nearly unusable for commercial or recreational purposes — not something you want to happen near your property.

Yard Flooding

Have you ever noticed pools of water in your property’s yard after heavy rain? Stormwater that has nowhere to go and is too abundant to be absorbed into the ground poses a serious flooding threat that shouldn’t be ignored.

Even in cases where you expect your insurance to cover flood damages, it’s important to realize the damages of unmitigated flooding can extend far beyond what’s covered by your insurance. Customer vehicles in underground parking, nearby land contaminated by runoff after a flood, erosion that only shows itself years later when part of your floor collapses — the list of risks goes on and on. This can happen even if water never accumulates!

It’s also worth noting the expansion of regulations requiring commercial stormwater management and flood mitigation across the country. It’s becoming more mandatory, and if you don’t meet the requirements, you could end up with a violation.

Clogged Storm Drains & Basins

Storm drains on private roads within a homeowners association’s area or a commercial property owner’s land must be unobstructed and maintained so that stormwater runoff is properly kept off the street as designed.

Clogged basins are most often caused by a lack of maintenance. When not maintained, these drains often get clogged with debris, such as leaves and dirt. When this happens, the nearby roads can be flooded.

What Is a Stormwater Notice of Violation?

A Notice of Violation can come as the result of a routine county inspection or anonymous complaint. Some possible reasons why your property might have received an NOV include:

Improper site preparation
Changes to local conditions
Neglect or improper maintenance

If you get a Notice of Violation in the mail, you have no choice but to comply. Failure to correct the issues outlined in your NOV within the allotted time could result in civil penalties (fines) of hundreds or even thousands of dollars per day that the violation occurs.

For Notice of Violation assistance in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, please call iSTORMWATER at (443) 699-2828 or contact us online.

Are Homeowners Associations Responsible for Stormwater Drainage?

Yes. When a neighborhood or subdivision is built, the developer and contractor are responsible for designing and implementing an effective stormwater management system that prevents flooding and water pollution from unfiltered runoff. However, the obligation to maintain and keep the system in good repair usually passes on to the homeowners association once the development has been completed.

Are Property Managers Responsible for Stormwater Drainage?

After a private property has been built and there is no homeowners association that exists, it’s the responsibility of private property owners to maintain it.

How iSTORMWATER Can Help

iSTORMWATER can help your homeowners association or property management tackle stormwater violations quickly and cost-effectively. We can then provide stormwater management inspections to help you avoid any more violations in the future.

Free Consultation

iSTORMWATER’s engineers and land management experts design, build, retrofit, maintain, and repair the stormwater systems you need. Our customized drainage solutions for apartment complexes and office buildings help owners deal effectively with storm runoff. From environmentally friendly infiltration trenches that redirect water to bioretention that uses plant material to temporarily store and treat stormwater, our inventive technicians are here to protect you from possible property damage. Our full-service company also provides cleanup and compliance solutions.

Don’t put your HOA at risk by neglecting stormwater management. Contact iSTORMWATER today, and we’ll create a customized plan for your property’s specific needs.

The 5 Methods for Managing Stormwater Runoff Volume

Stormwater runoff, or extra water that flows over the ground, occurs when heavy rain collects on top of impervious surfaces (such as rooftops, driveways, and parking lots) that don’t allow the water to seep into the ground or follow a natural path to larger waterways. This inevitably causes problems like flooding, erosion, and habitat degradation.

That’s why it’s imperative to include stormwater management when developing commercial spaces. While you should always check your state and local regulations for specific requirements, here are five general methods to consider for managing stormwater runoff.

Infiltration Trenches

Since stormwater runoff is unable to permeate the surfaces it collects on, one option is to redirect the water into the soil. This is what infiltration trenches do. These shallow trenches are about three to 12 feet in depth, and filled with aggregate in order to accumulate the rain and send it into the earth. It’s important to note that infiltration trenches are dependent on factors like soil type, location of nearby buildings, and land slopes. They are also often used in conjunction with other practices since the trenches alone aren’t enough to handle excessive runoff. Still, this is an environmentally friendly solution that keeps water from being wasted.

Permeable Pavement

Another way around an impervious surface is to use pervious materials instead. Permeable pavement is designed with spaces in the pavement surface that sits on an aggregate sub-base over the soil. This allows water to pass through the pavement rather than collect dangerously on top. The water can then be collected and treated or simply returned into the ground below.

Underground Detention Facility

This particular option is a below-ground stormwater structure (collection tanks, basins, etc.) that is often buried beneath parking lots and roadways, making it ideal if there is insufficient space for an above-ground solution. The primary purpose is to manage the quantity of stormwater runoff. A stormwater detention facility collects the water and then releases it at a controlled rate into the sewer or local aquifer. These storage containers can also attach to filters that remove chemicals, oil, sediment, and other pollutants that would otherwise flow into rivers and streams.

iSTORMWATER can maintain your underground stormwater detention facility. Contact us online or give us a call at (443) 699-2828 to schedule services in Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Permeable Pavers

Similar to the permeable pavement discussed earlier, permeable pavers are another option with built-in voids (this time between each paver) to manage stormwater runoff. The aggregate underneath filters the water and directs it to the soil. This type of paver can also be used in conjunction with a storage facility to harvest the water for other uses.

Bioretention

Bioretention utilizes plant material and microbes to temporarily store and treat stormwater before it is discharged or infiltrated. Also referred to as bioretention filters, bioretention cells, or rain gardens, these facilities remove suspended solids, metals, hydrocarbons, and bacteria from stormwater runoff using a combination of absorption, filtration, volatilization, ion exchange, and microbial decomposition. The use of specific plants, trees, and shrubs allows bioretention systems to mimic an upland forest floor, the ideal ecosystem for treating runoff.

These systems are extremely versatile and can be adapted to fit many different development contexts, applications, and climates. It’s a popular low-impact development (LID) practice that can satisfy local stormwater requirements while using space already designated for landscaping.

Stormwater Service in the DMV

Interested in learning more about stormwater runoff management? Don’t hesitate to call the professionals at iSTORMWATER. We proudly serve Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC by offering both preventative stormwater maintenance and flooding mitigation services that can save you money and possible property damage.

For your free consultation, contact us today!

What is an Impervious Surface?

Roads. Parking lots. Sports fields. Patios. Rooftops. Sidewalks.

These surfaces are all around us and are generally considered useful constructs in everyday life. But they also pose serious environmental hazards.

Known as impervious surfaces, these areas may slow or prevent water from soaking into the ground. As a result, more water is forced to run off the land.

Why Are Impervious Surfaces a Problem?

When rainwater can’t soak into the ground, it collects above ground and then rushes into storm drains. This creates threats to the quality and even quantity of water in urbanized areas where impervious surfaces are abundant.

The primary concern is flooding. Impervious surfaces cause irregular runoff, which can erode and change the structure of existing streams. Since water flows more quickly off these surfaces, flooding becomes a more regular and more intense occurrence downstream.

Impervious surfaces also threaten water quality. Any substance that falls on these surfaces – such as engine oil on a parking lot, animal waste on a sidewalk, or pesticides on a sports field – can be washed away during heavy rain into the closest storm drain and directly to natural water sources used by both humans and wildlife. This is a serious pollution concern.

What Can You Do?

Those in urban areas can help reduce the impact of impervious surfaces by minimizing their footprint at home and work. This can be done by using alternative materials (such as mulch, gravel, uncemented brick or grass pavers), green scaping rooftops with planting, and reducing the square footage of structures like decks, patios and parking lots on your property. Steps like these can help control flash flooding and pollution in our waterways.

If you have concerns about impervious surfaces creating unsafe conditions around your home or business, don’t hesitate to call the professionals at iSTORMWATER. We offer both preventative stormwater maintenance and flooding mitigation services that can save you money and possible property damage. We offer a free consultation, so contact us today!

For stormwater management services in Maryland, Northern Virginia, or Washington, DC, call iSTORMWATER at (443) 699-2828! 

Why Stormwater Preventative Maintenance Is Important

Stormwater management is a critical component of area maintenance for any large building or commercial structure, but many managers and owners overlook it right up until uncontrolled stormwater creates serious problems.

Minimize water pollution

A key role of stormwater management is the minimization of water pollution from contaminated runoff, flooding, etc. If you don’t control how water flows through the area, then it’s very easy for soil contaminants, oils in parking lots, backflow from flooded sewers and drainage systems, etc. to get into waterways.

In urban environments, the risks of pollution due to unmanaged stormwater becomes even greater, with runoff continuing far longer along concrete and asphalt than it would across soil, plants, etc.

Prevent sewer system overflow

Sewer systems in any urban area can be overwhelmed with the right combination of factors, which can create massive issues for the area when the waters recede. The contents of storm sewers aren’t generally something you want contaminating the local area, much less city sewer lines that leak or are damaged by flooding. By controlling stormwater before it hits public drainage and sewer systems, you greatly minimize the risk of an overflow in your area.

Avoid flooding

Flooding can be catastrophic for any building, so it behooves savvy owners to take what steps they can to avoid it. Proper management of stormwater can greatly minimize the risk of flooding near you, though no system can completely erase the possibility of a storm-of-the-century-level flood overwhelming it. Flooding doesn’t just occur because enough water arrived, in most cases; it happens because the water didn’t leave quickly enough. Stormwater management can make sure that in most cases, water doesn’t accumulate fast enough to become a serious problem.

Mitigate soil erosion

Even in areas where flooding is unlikely due to the slope of the land or other factors, allowing large volumes of water to flow unchecked can lead to expensive damage to soil, and anything sitting on that soil, due to the power of erosion. The best-built structure in the world can’t remain standing when the soil beneath it rinsed away by years of unchecked water flow. And in cases where the surface appears fine but erosion occurs beneath it, you face the very serious risk of seemingly spontaneous sinkholes appearing.

Although most cases of soil erosion aren’t as dramatic as a parking lot sinkhole consuming customers’ cars, even minor erosion events can create pricy damages your business could be on the hook for, ugly blemishes that lower the value of your property, and direct damage to your belongings.

Adhere to regulatory standards

Federal and regional authorities are increasingly concerned with the different factors we’ve mentioned here. Soil erosion, pollution of land and water supplies, damage to local sewer systems, and flooding can all occur at increased frequency due to poor planning in the development of land. To mitigate these risks, mandated stormwater management is becoming more common, and regulations of this nature will likely grow in number in the years ahead.

Companies that get ahead of these regulations and set up stormwater management on their own schedule will be in a much better position should best practices become legal mandates in the future.

Parting Thoughts

Stormwater management isn’t just good for the area around your property, it’s good for your property and your bottom line in the long run. Without stormwater management, you leave everything to chance — and that’s a gamble that’s eventually going to cost you big.

Consider adopting a stormwater management service like iSTORMWATER while you still have time to make that decision!