Norwalk - Wilton Tree Festival - Sat. May 21, 2011 11 AM - 3PM

Hope you can make it!  This looks really cool!

Norwalk-Wilton Tree Festival

Saturday, May 21 11 AM - 3PM

Cranbury Park - Grumman Avenue, Norwalk, CT

Free Admission and Refreshments

Door Prizes

Fun for the Entire Family - Rain or Shine

Tree Rope Climb

Face Painting

Scavenger Hunt

Seedling Giveaway

Door Prizes

Tree Pruning Demos

Tree Spade Replanting

Trees - to - Boards sawmilling

Tree Identification Contest

And More!

Sponsored by:  

Norwalk Tree Alliance

City of Norwalk

Town of Wilton

Wilton Garden Club

For more information: 203-854-3200

Norwalk Tree Alliance

Wilton Garden Club

TerreKleen hydrodynamic separator installed at Eastchester DPW Yard - TK27

All of the action started at about 
9:00 AM yesterday morning 
at the Eastchester, NY DPW yard.  Here is the 
TerreKleen ready for installation.

The hole where the TerreKleen is being
 installed is already prepared.

This is the base which installed quickly.
The white pipes and red hose
are the manifold system.  Confined Space
Entry is NOT required on the TerreKleen.  This
will mean a significant short and long term
cost savings.

 

This is the mid-section.  Tight installation
since the TerreKleen had to fit right up
against the outlet pipe.  The left
side of the unit is the primary chamber
where large sediments, trash and oil
will be contained.  The plates on
the right side of this picture shows
the stacked inclined plates where
small sediments will settle out.

The riser is on in no time.

The top stacks in no time.
Total installation time:  approximately 1 hour.

New Oil Water Separator for Rye Brook DPW!

It was a bit chilly this morning when we arrived on site at the Rye Brook DPW garage on West William Street.  As the representative for Terre Hill Stormwater Systems, we wanted to be on site for the delivery.  One particular word comes to mind.... BURRRRRRR.  Yes, folks, it was COLD!!!!


The trucker was already on site and preparing the unit for easy off-loading from the truck.

See all of the white stuff?  At this point,
it has been so cold is solid ICE!!!

The yellow color is a special
liner that will protect the box.

Here it is.... the oil/water separator and the lid.
This unit will be installed in the ground in the
next few days.

Engineering Career Expo for High School Students

We are excited to be volunteering on the committee that is organizing the 8th Annual Lower Hudson Valley Engineering Expo.  This expo is designed to show high school students what a career in engineering can be.


To that end, we are reaching out to corporations, engineering firms, government organizations, engineering societies as well as college and universities so students can find out:


1- What is an engineer?
2- What do engineers do?
3- What kind of job opportunities are available to engineers?
4- How can these kids "get there"?


Last year this event hosted 1,500 students and 35 colleges/universities.


Our special guest speaker is Marshall Brain - Founder of "How Things Work" a program on Discovery Networks.


8th Annual Engineering Expo Details:
Date: Sunday, April 3, 2011
Where: White Plains High School, White Plains, NY
Time: 11AM - 4PM


If you can help support us by sponsoring a booth, please let us know.
If you know a student that would benefit by attending, please let them know.
Attendance is FREE.  


Registration opportunities and full details are on our website: www.BeAnEngineer.Org


It is going to be a GREAT day for the kids!!!
Hope to see you there.

Engineering Expo for HS Kids - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - White Plains HS

We are excited to be volunteering to help pull together the 8th annual engineering expo designed to show middle and high school kids what engineering is.  Kids will have the opportunity to speak with engineers, find out about the diverse career paths available through engineering and how they can "get there".  The expo is scheduled for Sunday, April 3rd at White Plains High School.


Many local engineering firms, businesses, government agencies will be represented at the expo.  Additionally, a number of colleges and universities will be on hand to discuss their engineering programs as well as college finances.  (Last year we had about 1500 students attend and 35 college programs were represented)


Attendance is free.


The special guest at the expo will be Marshall Brain, Founder of "How Stuff Works" a program on The Discovery Channel.


If you are a company and can help sponsor the event, if you are a college/university and you can exhibit at our event or you are a middle or high school student that wants to learn more about engineering careers, please come to our great website and register!  www.BeAnEngineer.org


Hope to see you there!  Should really be a great day!

TerreKleen hydrodynamic separator now improving stormwater runoff at Waccabuc, NY

It was a beautiful day in Waccabuc, Westchester County, NY.  Getting the TerreKleen installed at this site has been a long term project and finally, this past Thursday was the day.  The day of our first of two installations at this site.   We arrived at about 8 AM and the TerreKleen was already on site.

The installation site was right on the edge of a large open field.   Here is a picture of the hole that has been prepared for installation.  The contractor had done a lot of work prepping the installation site the day prior so for the most part, upon arrival, the unit is ready to be installed.  

Contractor makes some final checks and adjustments, re-confirms the gravel bed is level and cleans out some mud that has accumulated overnight.  When everything is confirmed ready for installation, the TerreKleen is lifted off the truck and manipulated into place.

Here is the TerreKleen getting installed into place.  A crane easily lifts the unit into place.  The TerreKleen arrives fully assembled eliminating any additional work that needs to be done on site.

Here is the riser getting installed.  Again, it is a very easy operation - the crane simply lifts the riser and installs it on top of the base of the TerreKleen.  

TerreKleens install quickly as they are designed to assemble on-site with each section manufactured to fit on top of each other.

In about an hour, the TerreKleen is installed and ready to work.  It will remove sediments, trash, debris and oils.

For more information about the TerreKleen or if we can assist you with information about hydrodynamic separators, please contact us at www.stormwaterworks.com

Meet us at these upcoming stormwater tradeshows!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

CCM - CT Conference of Municipalities - Booth 424

(Open to Municipal Officials Only)

Hartford, CT

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

10th Annual Southeast Stormwater Tradeshow 

Dutchess Manor, Beacon, NY

Click here for more details

Thursday, October 14, 2010

North Country Stormwater Tradeshow
Roaring Brook Resort
Lake George, NY

Let us know if you need details! 

TerreKleen Hydrodynamic Separator (water quality treatment vault) Inspection

Wow - what a great week!  We had our first post installation inspection of the TerreKleen hydrodynamic separators that we installed in Stamford back in November.  I thought these pictures quickly and easily tell the whole story:

The first picture shows the trash that is contained in the TerreKleen.  This trash will be trapped here until these units are maintained/cleaned out.

With trash and debris trapped in the primary chamber of the TerreKleen, this second picture shows the "working" section of the unit.  Stormwater  travels through a screen and onto

the stacked inclined plates (you can see the plates on the right side of the picture).  These plates help smaller sediments fall out.

The TerreKleen design is based on solid engineering principals developed by Allen Hazen in 1905.  This technology was developed to separate sediments from water in the drinking water industry.  The effectiveness of stacked inclined plates (Lamella plates) is well known and recognized as more than 100 years later, this technology is still widely used for sediment separation in the drinking water industry.  The TerreKleen has simply adapted this technology to efficiently separate sediments from storm water runoff.

Here is brief information about Allen Hazen , his education at MIT, his career, contributions and impact on the water industry.  Here is a link to some of his published works.

Another benefit to this client? TerreKleen maintenance / cleanout will NOT require confined space entry!

It feels good to know that this trash has been prevented from littering Long Island Sound this summer.

If you have questions about the TerreKleen, hydrodynamic separation, particle size distribution, trash control or stacked inclined (Lamella) plates, feel free to give us a call!

Article: Nitrogen Pollution Crisis in Westchester

Was out and about today and this headline "Nitrogen Pollution is Choking Westchester" grabbed my attention.  I've never seen The Westchester Guardian newspaper before, but this issue, Thursday, April 15, 2010 had an in-depth 2 page article about Nitrogen Pollution (the history, causes, dead-zones, an example of how nitrogen has taken its toll on a lake in Westchester, and a map detailing dead zones caused by nitrogen around the globe.)  Very interesting article with references to further research and numbers to take action on nitrogen pollution.  The newspaper in PDF format will download with this link

New York State limits water intake at a number of industrial facilities

This article written by Ken Moran appeared in the New York Post April 7, 2010
Here is the link to the actual article : A move in the right direction

In a move that could save millions of fish and their eggs, New York State has curtailed water intake at a number of power plants and other industrial facilities.

The DEC's proposal calls for power plants and other facilities that use water for cooling purposes to recycle and reuse that water through a process known as "closed cycle cooling" technology. This will greatly reduce the amount of water withdrawn from New York's rivers or other water bodies such as Long Island Sound and minimize the amount of fish, fish eggs and larvae destroyed in the process.

The federal Clean Water Act and state regulations require that decisions on what type of cooling-water-intake system to employ at a specific facility be based on the best technology available for minimizing environmental impacts.

NOAA holding public listening sessions to guide new aquaculture policy

Thought this was really cool!  NOAA is looking for recommendations from the public to help develop a new national policy for sustainable aquaculture.  First date is in New England in Narragansett, RI coming up April 14th, 2010. 

Here is the link for the NOAA webpage.

NOAA will hold six listening sessions in April and May to hear recommendations from the public that will help the agency develop a new national policy for sustainable marine aquaculture. Marine aquaculture is the cultivation of marine organisms, such as shellfish and finfish, for food and other products.

Dates for the listening sessions with NOAA officials are as follows:

• April 14 in Narragansett, Rhode Island
• Time: 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
• Location: University of Rhode Island Narragansett Bay Campus, Coastal Institute Building, Hazard Room, 1st floor
• Address: 215 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI 02882
• April 19 in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Time: 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
• Location: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District Building
• Address: 7400 Leake Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118
• Note: You must present a U.S. government-issued photo ID to enter this building.

• April 22 in Seattle, Washington
• Time: 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
• Location: Seattle Aquarium
• Address: 1483 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98101

• April 27 in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Time: 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.
• Location: Ala Moana Hotel
• Address: 410 Atkinson Drive Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

• April 29 in Menlo Park, California
• Time: 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.
• Location: U.S. Geological Survey Visitors Center Conference Room
• Address: 345 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Park, California 94025
• Note: You must present a U.S. government-issued photo ID to enter this building.

• May 6 a national call-in hosted by NOAA
• Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (Eastern)
• Note: A toll-free call-in number will be posted closer to the date.

Beginning April 6, the agency also will accept public comment through the Web. Instructions for submitting comments electronically will be posted on this website.

After the listening sessions, NOAA will analyze the public input and develop a draft national policy for review and public comment. Once that process is complete, the agency will issue the new NOAA aquaculture policy. NOAA’s goal is to issue a new national policy that will enable sustainable marine aquaculture within the context of the agency’s multiple ocean stewardship missions and broader social and economic goals.

From Storms to Sewers - lecture/program about Long Island Sound

Last night I attended the "Storms to Sewers" program in Greenwich, CT at the Bruce Museum.  WOW!  There was really a great turn-out for this program.  I am guessing there were 100 or so people in attendance.  The whole presentation was extremely well presented by Leah Schmalz from Save the Sound/CT Fund for the Environment.  In a very short period of time, she clearly communicated all of the issues that affect The Sound.  The topics covered included: a look at the watershed, Long Island Sound Study, sources of pollution, oxygen levels in the Sound, low impact development, rain barrels, nutrient loading, trash control, the status of projects such as sewer separation and waste water treatment facility upgrades, and stormwater authorities, FUNDING and MORE.  It really was an excellent program and at the end, there were a lot of good questions from a very active and interested audience.

By the way, a quick websearch revealed a fact sheet (from 2005) put together by the EPA.  Click here for the link.

Long Island Sound Citizen's Summit sponsored by Save the Sound and CT Fund for the Environment is coming up on May 7th - we will be a vendor there.  Hope you can make it.

Storms to Sewers program - March 31st - Hope to see you there!

STORMS TO SEWERS:
A Program on CT's New Programs for Clean Rivers, Open Beaches, and a
Healthy Long Island Sound

Promising new policies and innovative funding solutions for stormwater
management are floating to the surface-- and just in time.  Insufficiently
managed rainfall can wreak havoc by creating flooding, raw sewage
discharges, shellfish bed and beach closures, and contributing to low
oxygen levels in Western Long Island Sound. As older cities find increased
challenges in combined sewer overflow separation and municipalities
throughout Connecticut look to fund their compliance with the Clean Water
Act’s stormwater requirements, inventive solutions with increased job
potential are needed. Specific issues to be discussed include: stormwater
impacts, stormwater authorities, green infrastructure, and the CT Clean
Water Fund.

Presented by
Leah L. Schmalz, Director
Legislative and Legal Affairs
Save the Sound, a program of Connecticut Fund for the Environment
These stormwater forums are provided, in significant part, by support from
the Fairfield County Community Foundation

When:  Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Time:  7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where:  Bruce Museum
100 Museum Drive
Greenwich, CT

This program is presented free of charge to public.
It is being co-sponsored by the Town of Greenwich Conservation and Planning
and Zoning Commissions, and the Bruce Museum.

TerreKleen Hydrodynamic Separator is NJCAT Verified!

Big day for improving stormwater!

TerreKleen  went through a lengthy process and a lot of testing to get certified through NJCAT.  The testing protocol is very precise and the NJDEP testing guidelines were strictly followed .We were excited today to receive NJCAT verification letter!   We would be happy to speak with you about the TerreKleen and how this hydrodynamic separator can improve your stormwater runoff in the smallest area footprint!

Click here to read more about the TerreKleen.

Cigarette Butt Litter

After reading the Keep America Beautiful report on litter and thinking more about the toll it takes on our economy and our communities, I have been more focused and more observant about litter. We followed-up on Friday with a meeting with the Keep America Beautiful folks and spoke further about their programs and one of the issues that was specifically mentioned was cigarette butt litter. While I have seen more than my share of cigarette butts out in the field, I was unaware that 1 in 5 pieces of litter is actually a cigarette butt.

After our meeting, I did a little more research and looking around and found an LA Times article "Fuming Over Cigarette Butt Litter" (written by David Lazarus, November 30, 2008) citing that the City of Los Angeles picks up 600,000 cigarette butts a month and more than 7 million butts per year.

Virginia Beach exceeded its budget to clean storm drains by $3,000,000.00 and a significant portion of this amount was due to cigarette butts.

Once in the environment, it is important to remember that cigarette butts don't disappear. 95% of all butts are made from cellulose acetate that don't break down. Butts easily travel through storm drains and end up in local rivers, lakes and streams. Ultimately, they can be mistaken as food and pose a threat to marine and wildlife.

Cigarette butts are a significant source of pollution. While education and access to proper ashtrays/disposal is key, cigarette butt littering is rampant. While we have never been approached specifically to target cigarette butts, this is one of the types of trash that we can prevent from entering the stormwater systems.

For more information about cigarette litter, click here
For a look at how we can help you improve your storm water quality, click here

Trash Control - tales from the stormwater dark side

As mentioned, in yesterday's blog entry, trash and litter effect everyone and as reported in the Keep America Beautiful report, the direct costs to the US economy is a staggering USD 11.5 Billion per annum. I am still trying to wrap my head around that one - I mean, YIKES and WOW!!!! (and NOT in a good way).

In addition to educational programs, adding more trash receptacles in more convenient places and aiming to change social behaviors, another way to improve stormwater runoff is by helping contain fugitive trash and litter.

This picture shows the collection area of our TerreKleen hydrodynamic separator and about 12 months of trash collected and contained from the parking lot of a big box store. The maintenance team can easily access the collection area by removing the grates or manhole covers on top. Trash is collected by vac truck and disposed of in accordance with state and local guidelines.

Trash control - an $11.5 billion dollar problem and a major contaminant for stormwater

Stormwater contaminants are, for the most part, usually the same. The issues that we typically see in our business center on: heavy metals, hydrocarbons, phosphorous, and sediment loading. Another MAJOR issue our clients have is TRASH CONTROL.

It might not be an issue that you have thought about, but I spent some time this afternoon looking to see if anyone had calculated the amount of trash and debris that finds its way into Long Island Sound. While I didn't find information specifically targeted for Long Island Sound, I did find a nation-wide study funded by the non-profit organization, Keep America Beautiful, detailing the volume of trash/litter found in the US, the toll it takes on the American economy and behaviors that contribute to littering. The results of their survey were released on December 3, 2009.

Some shocking key findings from their report:

Litter conservatively costs our nation $11.5 billion per year. These are direct costs, including cleanup and prevention programs, and are carried largely by businesses and taxpayers. Not included in this figure are significant indirect costs:

• Decreased property values. 93% of homeowners, 55% of real estate agents and 90% of property appraisers surveyed stated that a littered neighborhood would decrease their assessment of a home’s value
• "Opportunity Costs” such as decreased commerce and tourism in blighted areas
• Health effects and related costs of littered environments

The study concludes that at least 51.2 billion pieces of litter are left on roadways in the U.S.; an average of 6,729 pieces of litter per mile.

Cigarette butts comprise 38% of all items littered on the highways, streets, parks and playgrounds (in urban, suburban and rural areas of America).

The Keep America Beautiful Report detailed littering behaviors, identified factors that encouraged littering and made suggestions on how to reduce litter. I think it is an important report and encourage you to read their findings in full. For executive summary and full report, click here.

More on trash control tomorrow.

Easy retrofit solution for stormwater systems and trash control

One of our municipal clients here in CT contacted us one day because he was often called by a local resident with complaints about trash, bottles, cans and other debris which had been thrown out car windows and would travel through the storm water system and end up in this resident's wetlands/backyard. The area is more of a suburban almost rural area, so you can imagine that all of this trash was even more visible and a real eyesore to anyone driving by. The resident was just plain tired of cleaning up after everyone else and the town needed a long term solution, extremely low maintenance solution to correct the problem. What could we suggest?

After a quick survey of the area, we saw the offending storm structure and realized the best alternative in this case would be our self-cleaning, stainless steel, wedgewire screen and orifice place.

If you are not familiar with wedgewire screens, they are very cool and have a wide range of applications - not only as trash and debris screens at hydro plants around the world, but also as fish exclusion in ponds/streams and another common use is in detention ponds to prevent trash/debris and small animals from getting into the system.

In this case, sediment, trash and debris would be prevented from entering the system, yet water could still flow through the system at high flow rates. It was an easy fix for this problem and the complaints stopped!

The top picture shows the screen after the first major rain storm. You can see the leaves stuck to the screen. When the system dries out, the leaves will fall off. The system is constantly working.

The picture of the red grate is the top of the structure and if the water gets high enough, it will flow into the system this way.

Our screens are highly engineered and designed for site specific applications.

Hold the Salt, Pass the Brine -upcoming meeting on de-icing

Being involved in stormwater, we attend a lot of environmental meetings. There was an excellent meeting we attended in 2006 on brine systems. We got an invitation to attend a follow-up meeting on this topic and it is coming up on Friday, December 4th. These meetings are sponsored by Westchester County Parks - their Conversations on Conservation series. Meetings are always educational and instructive. Here are the details. I hope you can make it.

Hold the Salt, Pass the Brine
Environmentally Friendly Methods for De-icing our Roads
Friday, December 4th, 2009
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
8:00 AM registration
Location: Greenburgh Public Library
300 Tarrytown Road
Elmsford, NY

Topics covered:
Benefits of De-icing with Brine
Michael Simone, Supt Highways, Town of Carmel, NY

Environmental Impacts of traditional vs. Modern De-icing
Jim Reed, Reed Environmental Enterprises Inc.

Impacts of Road Salt on the Environment and Organisms
Dr. Stuart Findlay, Aquatic Ecologist, Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies

Joseph "Bud" Nicoletti, Commissioner of Public Works, White Plains, NY will be moderating

RSVP by December 2nd: 914-864-7047

We wrote an article on the last meeting and posted it on our website. Click here
to read about the last meeting. Hope to see you there!

Stormwater vault installation to improve storm water runoff that goes into Long Island Sound

We had our second installation of the TerreKleen Water Quality Treatment Vault get installed in Stamford this week.

The TerreKleen is unique in that this hydrodynamic separator utilizes stacked inclined plates to assist sediment to fall out. The first chamber is designed to capture large sediment, trash/debris, and contain oil. The second chamber contains stacked inclined plates. Stacked inclined plates have been widely used in the drinking water industry for the past 80 years. This technology has been adapted to the storm water industry.

The installation went smoothly and quickly. Here are a few pics...

This picture shows the hole where it will be installed. The markings show the positioning where the unit will go.



TerreKleen is made of 3 pieces. The TerreKleen is assembled in-place as each piece stacks on top of each other.

In this picture, you see the "working section" of the TerreKleen hoisted off the flat bed truck with a crane. The first section of the installation is getting positioned over the hole and being aligned for installation.

The site is being re-developed. The building behind will be re-furbished.

The second section, the riser, has been lifted off the tractor trailer and is getting positioned into place. It will install directly on top of the first section. Each of the three sections are designed to "interlock" together.

The lines attached to the crane's lifting chains assist in the alignment.






The riser section installs very quickly right on top of the working part of the TerreKleen.

TerreKleen can be easily sized for any size project. The installation is the same for any unit. While this picture shows the smallest TerreKleen unit (approx. 4'W X 6'L in size), available, TerreKleen is easily sized for any size project. No matter the size of the project, the TerreKleen takes advantage of the efficiency of the stacked inclined plates to maximize sedimentation surface area in the smallest unit footprint.

One more piece and the installation will be done.






Better not blink, the top is quickly installed!

This client requested manhole covers for the top. Other clients prefer manhole grates.










Installation complete and lifting rings are removed. Contractor will connect all of the inlet and outlet pipes and backfill around the unit. Then, unit is ready to work.

If you have any questions about this installation or any of the other storm water products in our line, give us a call. Click here to get to our website.