Water management of record record rainfall events. Combine passive sand filtration treatment, integral water storage of 2.5 gallons per square foot, stored water reuse through sub-irrigation and a drainage pipe that cannot plug and you have the world’s best water management system to address erosion and drainage issues. For additional information on its impact see the IECA paper and Drainage dynamics Paper in the resource section.
The EPIC system is an advanced form of Sand Hydroponics. Publicly introduced in 1999, it is a scientific breakthrough in how plants are grown, watered and provided with nutrients. In large scale installations throughout the world, especially in desert climates, sustainable projects from landscaping, sports fields, and in agriculture the system showed reduced water usage by 50-80% when compared to drip or sprinkler systems, used less fertilizers yet produced a larger quantity and better plant quality. Watering frequency is also reduced to once per week watering in desert environments when temperatures exceed 90°F.
Multi-functional parks and fields create opportunities beyond traditional turf-grass recreation and beautiful landscaping. EPIC systems enable parks and fields to function as a storm-water treatment system, with irrigation needs reduced to 50-85% less water than traditional top-down systems. Collaboration with EPIC enables parks and fields to save costs in water use, eliminate single –serving land uses, decrease grey infrastructure and provide added value in all green spaces. EPIC systems provide a non-pressurized, gravity driven irrigation and exceptional drainage system that has no moving parts, no surface emitters or drip lines to vandalize or damage.
Green landscaping around homes not only improves aesthetics and home values, but actually reduces the ambient temperature near the homes and buildings by better than 10 degrees. This reduces the cooling degree day calculations and reduces electrical energy of air conditioning units. An AC unit works less by bringing in cooler air contributed from adjoining evapo-transpiration of plants and landscapes. While conventional trends dictate xeriscape landscaping for perceived water savings, EPIC systems can actually provide lush landscapes with even less potable water use. All landscaping irrigation needs in EPIC systems for sub-divisions or individual lots can actually be accomplished through storm water capture and retention techniques and even supplemental reuse of shower water without public health issues or concerns.
The unique and proven properties of EPIC technology will become the eventual new standard in Leach Line Construction as the technology becomes more widely known by Health Department Regulators and tried with an expanding consumer base. Capillary rise brings moisture to the aerobic root zone for efficient microbiological degradation and nutrient distribution to plants. What is yucky to humans is yummy to plants. EPIC delivers moisture and nutrients to plant root zones without human exposure. The simplicity of design, the reliance on gravity and capillary physics as the operating forces, and cost savings in installation and subsequent maintenance will make EPIC the technique and product of choice by design engineers, owners, and installers.
An inch of rain over a one square foot surface produces 0.62 gallons of essentially pure distilled water. Yet culturally and from a civil engineering perspective the traditional ingrained philosophy is that storm water is a waste product that must be removed and shed from the property as quickly as possible. The philosophy evolved to elaborate systems that move water away from developed property. EPIC systems opened the doors for efficient capture, passive treatment and reuse of storm water directly. The system acts as a pre-filter for run-off prior to storage and then flips as a 100% efficient irrigation system during dry periods. EPIC systems are true water management of a valuable resource. At a retail cost of $1.00 per gallon for distilled water, what is the value lost on your property from the next rain event?
Whether you are building a green or perfectly level tee boxes that are never sprinklered from above, or in need of drainage pipe that never plugs your bunkers or low lying areas then EPIC is a must. The unique and proven drainage and irrigation properties of EPIC technology will become the eventual standard in Golf construction once the technology becomes more widely known and tried with an expanding consumer base. The simplicity of design, the reliance on gravity and capillary physics as the operating forces, and cost savings in installation and subsequent maintenance will make EPIC the product of choice by architects, owners, and superintendents.
The EPIC system has the versatility to grow any plant on a green roof, not just succulents. The total weight at saturation is 120 lbs per square foot plus the weight of vegetation and trees. The green roof can act as your storm water management and offset ambient temperature reflection caused by the urban heat island effect.
The EPIC Solar Distiller converts contaminated water into clean, distilled, drinking water by a simple, passive, thermal process using the Sun. Each unit produces +/- 4 Liters (1 gallon) per unit per day. Many units may combine linearly to scale up distilled water volumes. The EPIC solar distiller operates passively, by recirculating water slowly by solar pump. Saline or contaminated water wicks into a shallow EPIC sand profile by capillary rise. The profile is isolated within a thermal space, to be heated by the sun via glass and mirror. Condensation forms on the glass and mirrors to be collected and stored in drinking vessels.
In 2004, EPIC representatives gave a groundbreaking presentation to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Annual Conference. The revolutionary topic demonstrated was salt water irrigation, without salt buildup, using the EPIC system. There are over 72 different species of salt tolerant trees, shrubs, flowering plants and turf grasses. Saline tolerant plants are propagated from local tidal pools and able to grow in the washed sand profile of the EPIC system. A solar pump recirculates ocean water passively, at low flow, for the plants to extract water from the EPIC profile for growth. Excess saline drains back to the ocean, without excessive brine concentrations. EPIC essentially creates an artificial tidal pool, growing landscapes from ocean water.
The unique and proven properties of EPIC technology gives additional water treatment and reuse options for Health Department Regulators and Water Treatment Plant operators. Black water has been demonstrated to be safely reused for landscape plants with the EPIC system. Capillary rise brings moisture to the aerobic root zone for efficient microbiological degradation and nutrient distribution to plants. What is yucky to humans is yummy to plants. EPIC delivers moisture and nutrients to plant root zones without human exposure. The simplicity of design, the reliance on gravity and capillary physics as the operating forces, and cost savings in installation and subsequent maintenance will make EPIC the technique and product of choice by to reduce impact on waste water treatment plants while reducing the need for potable water in landscape irrigation.
