Water Containment

TreePeople Center Underground Cistern
Los Angeles, California, USA

BACKGROUND
Based in Los Angeles, California, TreePeople is a non-profit organization that addresses urban issues such as water and energy conservation, flood prevention and storm water pollution. The TreePeople Center for Community Forestry is a state-of-the-art environmental education campus currently under construction in California's Coldwater Canyon Park.

Designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating, the center features a 250,000-gallon underground concrete cistern. The largest of its kind in the continental United States, this tank will capture rainwater to irrigate the center's gardens and forests. Once completed, the cistern will be covered with landscaping, including an elaborate labyrinth. Since access for maintenance and repairs will be next to impossible, the owners needed a permanent waterproofing solution for the structure.

SOLUTION
Because conventional waterproofing membranes deteriorate over time, the center's owners opted instead to use Kryton's Krystol Internal Membrane™ (KIM™) and the Krystol Waterstop System™. When added to the concrete mix, KIM cures to form crystals that f i l l the spaces between concrete particles, permanently waterproofing the structure. KIM also reacts with incoming water to self-seal any small concrete cracks, providing lasting protection against leakage from any direction. By eliminating costly repairs and maintenance, KIM will provide worry-free waterproofing for the life of the cistern.

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