There are many older cities across the country that have combined sewer systems and New Brunswick, New Jersey is one of these cities. Combined sewer systems are sewers that collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater all in the same pipe. Such sewer systems experience overflow when precipitation occurs due to the large volume of water in the pipes. Rutgers University’s College Avenue campus, located in New Brunswick, experiences flooding when rainfall occurs as a result of this infrastructure. The flooding causes erosion of grasses and plant life along the sidewalks, creates pools of distilled, polluted water along pedestrian walkways and streets, and contributes to water pollution and non-point pollution. If Rutgers University College Avenue Campus implemented rain gardens and bioswale designs it would help regulate flood water, aid in stormwater management, and assist in decreasing pollution and the effects it has on the environment.

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Placing rain garden-bioswale designs along the street of College Avenue will significantly help with flooding and pollution concerns. Such designs absorb and filter stormwater as well as the excess amount of flood water as a result of the combined sewage system. By placing my rain garden-bioswale design along the length of College Avenue it will collect this surplus of water, which is most-likely polluted. Rain gardens help with slowing down runoff with the naturally occurring processes of filtration and absorption. Rain garden-bioswale designs aid in filtering water runoff before it gets to the water table and by absorbing pollutants that can be harmful when in abundance. Such pollutants can include nitrogen and phosphorus, which the plants and microorganisms of the garden need, and carbon dioxide which plants intake for photosynthesis. Rain gardens are needed in urban areas such as the College Avenue campus due to the built, impervious surfaces throughout the area.