Press Release | Office of the Mayor | Westland Installs "Parjana" an Innovative Infiltration System to Mediate Storm Water

For Immediate Release | Official Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

36300 Warren Road | Westland, Michigan | 48185

Office 734.467.3200 | Fax 734.422.1230

WWW.CITYOFWESTLAND.COM

Westland Installs "Parjana" an Innovative Infiltration System to Mediate Storm Water

Westland, MI (March 1, 2018] - Various locations in the north parking lot of the Jefferson Barns Community Vitality Center in Westland used to flood during rain storms and the City had been looking for a solution.

" Mayor Wild understands what Albert Einstein appropriately noted that 'we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them'," said Ramzi El-Gharib, P.E., Director of Westland's Department of Public Service. " That's why he decided to pilot this innovative approach last fall . Parjana's technology was like no other we had seen."

Parjana Distribution, a Detroit, Michigan-based groundwater management company has created a paradigm shift in water management. "Our technology mediates the variances between drought and flood events," said Greg McPartlin, Co-founder of Parjana. "Not eliminating them but simply mitigating the variances between the peeks and the flows."

The City installed a state-of-the-art infiltration enhancement technology to capture storm water and to accelerate groundwater recharge. The result is a reduction of standing water on city roads and other property, ultimately improving public safety.

"We are very pleased that Parjana's 'green technology' solution is in line with our green initiatives in the city," said William R. Wild, Mayor. "Their solution to reduce standing water and storm water runoff is very innovative and we are among municipalities worldwide installing the same technology."

Parjana's proprietary and environmentally friendly system, that mitigates the need for extensive drainage tunneling and infrastructure, allows for rain water to flow through a series of EGRP (energy groundwater recharge product) devices buried below the surface that are designed to re-distribute the water throughout the ground soils in an expedient manner.

"Mayor Wild believes in the potential of Parjana and is following the lead of the City of Chicago and a global software company headquartered in Redmond, Washington said McPartlin. "Visionaries like Mayor Wild are looking to the future and imagining how storm water could be managed in the future, not just how it is being managed today."

The technology presents an opportunity to re-imagine how storm water can be managed on a holistic basis by treating rain as an asset and re-imagining how communities, like Westland, can evolve and create a new future.

About Parjana

Parjana®Distribution is a Detroit based company that believes water should be treated as an asset instead of a liability and that they are a part of the solution to our global water issues. Established in 2012, Parjana®Distribution delivers innovative solutions to improve water infiltration and mitigation through the use of the EGRP®, which allows water to travel and infiltrate naturally. Though we started in Detroit, Parjana has hundreds of projects around the world. For more information on Parjana, please visit www.parjana.com .

For more information, please call Aubrey Berman at (734)467-3200

Westland, Michigan is the state's 10th largest municipality, with a population of over 84,000 people who exhibit a great deal of pride in their All-American City. Westland has a thriving business community along with beautiful residential areas. The citizens enjoy a wide array of amenities and a quality of life that is second to none.

In 2014, Westland was rated as one of 24/7 Wall Street's America's Best 50 Cities to Live, offering residents and visitors an ideal blend of single-family affordable homes, apartments and condominiums, great schools, and access to numerous outdoor activities. Public safety is delivered by full-service, professional law enforcement and firefighting personnel. Westland Police Department, whose motto is protect and serve, provides emergency dispatch services to four cities and over 100,000 residents; the Westland Fire Department are licensed paramedics who responded to over 9,000 calls for service last year, about 85% being medical based. They never forget their mission of preserving life and property.

Westland is well-known as the premier destination for shopping and dining in Wayne County with hundreds of shops and restaurants anchored by the Westland Shopping Center, one of the country's original four regional malls.

Infinite opportunities are available in Westland for the recreation aficionado including, more than 40 parks and 1,500 acres of trails, a 9-hole golf course, hockey arena, athletic fields, playscapes, a Farmers and Artisans Market and more. One of Michigan's most environmentally friendly cities, Westland has a progressive curbside recycling program with one of the highest participation rates in the nation and the City is raising the bar for cultural experiences with the placement of public art throughout the City.

The City is served by two public school districts; Wayne-Westland Community Schools serving 12,000 youth was recently named one of the Best School in Michigan by WXYZ-TV and is the proud recipient of 14 Golden Apple and two Michigan Blue Ribbon Exemplary School Awards. Livonia Public Schools, educating nearly 15,000 students, is proud of their MEAP/MME scores that exceed state averages and the District has also earned Golden Apple and Michigan Blue Ribbon Exemplary School Awards.

The City provides competitive incentives for those who are interested in investing in Westland, making it one of the hottest investment markets in the region. Our Fast-Track to Business Team, which consists of key decision makers who work diligently on a development plan will "cut the red tape" and expedite the approval process for new business development.