Dry Wells

12/20/25

“How can we create underground storage chambers that infiltrate stormwater into the earth?”

Stormwater can overwhelm any municipality, whether it’s in the Borneo rainforest or the Kalamari Desert. People need a way to manage it as it enters. So what if we were to use a pipe to collect stormwater from a roof or catchment basin, place it in an underground tank filled with filtering aggregate material punctured by void spaces for the water, and encase it in a semi-permeable structure that allows water to infiltrate out? Well, this is the idea behind Dry Wells. Dry wells can mitigate stormwater flooding and help recharge nearby aquifers. Operators should install dry wells away from low hydroconductive soils, high groundwater table aquifers, polluted sites, and building foundations.

Image credit: https://gloverlandscapes.com/

• Earth/Climate science
• Engineering
• Urban Systems