Change Leader: Stormwater Research to Raise Its Profile, Encourage Collaboration

 

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Changing Perceptions

When Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS) decided to build its $65 million Engineering and Technology Center in Hilliard, Ohio, common business goals of increasing market share and profit, improving products and services, and creating a competitive advantage were certainly top priorities. However, it’s also hoped the recently unveiled center will encourage more collaboration among stormwater researchers and educators as well as increase public awareness and raise stormwater’s profile and perceived importance to match that of drinking water and wastewater.

King believes stormwater has historically been regarded as a nuisance that’s designed to “get it away from where you don’t want it, as quickly as possible,” while drinking water and wastewater were health concerns key to human survival. “Stormwater is the forgotten leg of the stool when it comes to the water cycle,” he adds.

This perception is changing for two reasons:

1. Stormwater is increasingly seen as a related and important part of the “total water” ecosystem that can play just as important a role and even help alleviate problems with drinking water and wastewater.

2. As drought and flooding conditions continue to worsen worldwide, the effects of stormwater are becoming much more evident to many more people.

King cites Hurricane Helene, which dropped 42 trillion gallons of water on the United States in September 2024. As that amount of water is nearly impossible for humans to grasp, he describes this analogy: “If you were standing at the side of Niagara Falls, and you wanted to watch 21 trillion gallons of water go over Niagara Falls, you’d be there for 21 months. That’s an unbelievable amount of water.”

At the same time, droughts and increased infrastructure costs have limited the amounts of traditional sources of drinking water and wastewater, such as treated reservoirs and groundwater, so stormwater is increasingly being turned to as another source that can be used for any water use. Rather than using expensive treated water, stormwater can be used to cool data centers and flush waste, and many municipalities are looking into and sometimes already using such systems.

One-Stop Shop

Before the research center opened, ADS conducted research and testing at multiple locations across the United States. The company wanted to create a singular place where its different functions—engineering, science, material science and testing—could be together in one location.

“The center enables us to move faster, accelerate markets and technologies, and bring those best-in-class stormwater products to treatment categories across the United States,” notes Stoneburg.

His favorite example is the hydraulic lab, which has approximately 90,000 gallons of underground storage with closed-looped, recycled water that enables faster development of treatment products and better control of the process. “State-of-the-art controls, valves and flow meters enable and unlock the best ways to qualify new products in the treatment space.”

Research Leader

The new research center also is a focal point of collaboration among utilities and researchers, and it has become a hub for leading professionals, including third-party institutions such as the Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio State University and many of ADS’ supplier customers.

“When information is shared, everyone benefits,” explains Stoneburg. “In the technology space, when we bring in individuals who may not be deeply embedded in our core technologies, but offer fresh perspectives on how to do things differently, that collaboration can spark new ideas and opportunities we hadn’t even considered.”

The building was specifically designed to be able to accommodate visitors to help share in the technological processes. The tour path allows guests to not need protective clothing or gear, because they’re not actually in the labs where people are working. “We designed the building in such a way that you could walk through it without disturbing the folks that are actually in the lab,” adds King.

“The reason we have this center is to get people together; collaborating, talking, thinking about stormwater as a valuable asset in companion to drinking water and wastewater,” adds King.