Invisble Structures, Inc. Products and the Los Angeles River, by Brandon Perkins

The future image of the Los Angeles River is a phenomenal transformation from the concrete drainage way that currently is the river. Eventually decorated with a string of open grass space for park play, grassy-lined river edges for strolling, widened pedestrian-friendly streets abound with vegetation and trees, and even parking areas shaded by tall trees and shrubs, the Los Angeles River will truly be a remarkable sight. Beyond the obvious recreational opportunities the revitalized river will provide, such green spaces and even parking lots could be the silent medicine that revitalizes the river to a functioning vein within its watershed.

New sustainable technologies, such as product lines by Invisible Stuctures, Inc., lie unseen beneath grass, gravel, and pavement, yet help reunite urban developed areas with nature’s water cycle, a feat unseen by typical impervious surfaces and structures. With proper planning, a simple parking lot can be transformed into a water-purifying system with options of recycling the water for irrigation, releasing excess purified water into a nearby drainage-way or stream, or detaining the water for seepage into the ground, and eventually into an aquifer.

Currently along the Los Angeles River, impervious pavements and roads usher oils, heavy metals, salts, and other pollutants directly into the concrete channel of the river during a rain event. With limited vegetation or areas available for water to seep into the ground, the first flush of water from roadsides and pavements essentially gets dumped into the river and flushed directly out to sea. Virtually none of the pollutants get filtered and without groundwater recharge, much of the natural water cycle is lost.

The product line by Invisible Structures, Inc. accounts for the serious downfall of impervious pavements, and instead supplies an array of permeable paving alternatives that double as filters from the first flush of rain. In essence, the fundamental unit behind the Invisible Structure product line is a series of thin-walled adjacently connected cylindrical columns made from polypropylene plastic. Depending on the precise function of the technology (whether under a parking lot, gravel, or grass) the exact shape of the unit slightly varies. Pertaining to the Los Angeles River, the unit used beneath parking lots, called the “Rainstore3,” could have some of the most exciting possibilities.
If engineers employed “Rainstore3” beneath parking zones along the Los Angeles River, the invisible structure could be stacked to a height of 2.5 meters beneath the surface of the parking lot. Because the Rainstore cells are engineered to have a 94% void, the cells function as an underground water retention (or detention) basin while also supporting heavy traffic loads.

When connected to a series of filters, inlet pipes, and outlet pipes, the true green possibilities unlock. For example, the Kitsap Fair and Events Center in Bremerton, Washington installed “Rainstore3” and other Invisible Structures, Inc products to ameliorate flooding issues in their playing fields. After the installations, not only did flooding stop, but rainwater collected in the “Rainstore3” cells was recycled for irrigation, replacing the use of 2 million gallons of potable water per year.

Regarding the Los Angeles River, captured rainwater could also be reused for irrigation, but the green potential does not end there; the system could be used for water filtration and groundwater recharge. If rain fell on a parking lot above installed Rainstore cells, the asphalt of the parking lot could channel the water into numerous surface drains. A sediment filter set beneath the drain could filter oils and runoff debris from the rainwater before the water entered an inlet valve leading to the Rainstore cell system for storage or water detention. Without the use of an impervious lining around the cell system, water would seep into the ground and potentially recharge important aquifers. Finally, excess water from the Rainstore cell system would drain through an outlet pipe, providing filtered water for irrigation or release into the Los Angeles River to help support riparian ecosystems. Currently, runoff released into the river adds to the polluted system of the river, but with filters installed in conjunction with Invisible Structures, Inc products, it seems that reversing the ecological state of the Los Angeles River may not be so far-fetched after all.