VCASE Faculty Awarded $194,583 to Improve Stormwater Control Measures

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $194,583 to a team of Villanova University College of Engineering faculty as part of $23.2 million in grants for 109 statewide watershed protection projects. The funding will support improvement of current watersheds, reduction of stormwater runoff and acid mine drainage, and educational programs, among other environmental efforts. Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering John Komlos, PhD, will serve as PI for the Villanova project, which includes a forensic analysis and retrofit of an aged infiltration trench stormwater control measure (SCM). 

The three-year project will investigate and quantitatively address how failure occurred in an infiltration SCM, and will redesign and rebuild the aged infiltration SCM incorporating improved technologies. “The use of SCMs is widely accepted throughout Pennsylvania as a solution to stormwater runoff issues, but little research has been performed to optimize the long-term use of these technologies,” says Dr. Komlos. “It is exciting to be at the forefront of this new area of research, which will enable the next generation of SCMs.”

Serving as Co-PIs on the project are Associate Professor Bridget Wadzuk, PhD; Professor Andrea Welker, PhD; and Professor Robert Traver, PhD. Dr. Traver is Director of the Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering (VCASE), through which this research will be conducted. In the past decade, VCASE has received more than $1 million in PA DEP grants for stormwater related research.