Example of a completed tree box filter
(Source: Americast, Inc.)

Tree box filters can be used to meet all of your stormwater management goals, meet regulatory requirements for new development, protect and restore streams, control combined sewer overflows, retrofit existing urban areas and protect reservoir watersheds. ¹

By emphasizing natural processes and micro-scale management practices, tree box filters are often less costly than conventional stormwater controls.  Working at a small scale allows volume and water quality control to be tailored to specific site characteristics.  Pollutants vary across land uses and from site to site, therefore the ability to customize stormwater management techniques using tree box filters is a considerable advantage over conventional management methods.  Tree box filters provide the added value of aesthetics while making efficient us of available land for stormwater management.  Typical landscape plants (shrubs, ornamental grasses, trees and flowers) are used as an integral part of the filtration system.  They can fit into any landscape scheme thereby increasing the quality of life in urban areas by adding beauty, habitat value, and reducing urban heat island effects.  

References

¹ Virginia Dept of Conservation and Recreation Stormwater Management Program http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_&_water/stormwat.shtml

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