Project Details

Cedar Park Texas has been one of the fastest growing regions of the country. With a housing boom in full swing, retail always follows. Velsa Ranch Retail Center at 12301 West Parmer Lane, hired Kimley-Horn & Associates in Austin Texas to assist in design and permitting. Due to the project proximity to the Edwards Aquifer, the project had to adhere to some of the strictest regulatory requirements in the state. While an early adopter of automated controls, Kimley Horn and it’s team initially designed a bioretention system into the property to meet the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualities sediment load reduction requirements, but pivoted to batch detention once the potential cost savings were realized.

What Convergent Water Technologies Provided

Convergent Water Technologies supplied the SmartPOND Outfall Valve and Inlet Riser Screen for the Velsa Ranch Retail BCenter. SmartPOND was built for simplicity. It’s extensive CAD Library with TCEQ Approved Drawings make it easy to specify, it’s “plug and play” design only requiring simple pipe connections make it easy to install and it’s intuitive construction and disconnects make it easy to service and maintain. It is because of this, smartPOND is the engineers #1 choice for specified batch detention systems.

Why The Engineer & Developer Chose SmartPOND

Velsa Ranch chose the smartPOND Outfall Valve for several key reasons:

• Cost –For Vesla Ranch, the original bioretention system would have cost $240,000. This did not include the walls that encased the system. SmartPond was installed for less than $60,000
• Constructability – For Velsa Ranch, to make the footprint work, Structural retaining walls were needed around the stormwater pond. Due to bioretention design requirements, an extra 3-feet of depth was needed, requiring an 8-foot wall. smartPOND allowed them to shallow the pond to 4-feet deep
• Warranty – Al SmartPOND systems come with a one year warranty from the date of activation
• Maintenance and Monitoring – During that 1-year warranty period, the system is monitored remotely and maintained. After the year is up, there are options available for long term maintenance and monitoring

By incorporating SmartPOND into the Velsa Ranch Retail Center stormwater management plan, the engineer not only saved his developer well over $200,000, he also gave the end user a lower cost long term maintenance obligation over the biofiltration system that was initially designed.