Wetland Filter
Artist – Mark Brest van Kempen
We have come up with a temporary project that touches on some of the drainage and clean water issues that might be addressed in permanent design elements (such as rain gardens) in the final design of the Benicia waterfront.
Because we can’t do any excavation or major alterations of the site for a temporary project, we have opted to created a scaled down working model showing what bio-filtration does. This will show some benefits of both a constructed element such as rain garden and also what the nearby wetlands are doing every day.
The attached illustration shows the basic idea. A holding container is periodically filled with water from a variety of sources around Benicia (creeks, run-off, etc). We are planning a number of “fillings” from individual sources (week 1: water from a local creek, week 2: water from run off source, etc). The gathering of the water and the transfer of the water into the piece can be a series of community events.
This water then slowly trickles through a labyrinthine planting of wetland plants and is then collected in a covered container. The water may be recirculated through the wetland several times using a solar pump. We are hoping to get some interest to test the water before and after treatment.
The project will not only educate the public about the role of plants in water filtration, it will also draw attention to the state of some water sources that flow into the Carquinez Strait.
The scale of the piece will be approximately 20′ wide wetland (the configuration may change, i.e. a more oblong design may be more appropriate to the site than the circular design shown). Vertical holding container will be approx. 12′ high (out of easy reach).
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