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.

Public comment period for NYS storm water manual has been extended to Feb. 3

The NYS DEC invites public comments for their storm water manual which is currently being updated. The public comment period has been extended until February 3rd. Here is the link

Sustainable Strategies for Stormwater Planning and Design Workshop and Tradeshow

We hope you will meet us next week at the Sustainable Strategies for Stormwater Planning and Design Workshop and Tradeshow.

This workshop is sponsored by the Westchester County Soil and Water Conservation District / Dept of Planning and New York City Soil and Water Conservation District.

Meet us:
December 2, 2009
Westchester County Center, White Plains, NY
Cost $95.00
Educational Credits: 5.25
Register is Lisa Vasilakos from Westchester Dept of Planning: 914-995-3780

Stop by and see us!

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.

Cleaner storm water in 45 minutes! (The quick and easy installation of a hydrodynamic separator)

Our first hydrodynamic separator (water quality treatment vault) was installed yesterday in Stamford, CT. This separator will capture trash, sediment, debris and also contain oil.
The TerreKleen is a modular system that installs in about 45 minutes. Here are some pictures showing the installation.

The unit arrived on site via flatbed truck at about 8AM. The crane arrived shortly after. Setting up the crane and final site preparations took about an hour. Around 9AM, the crew started to prepare the unit for installation by attaching these hooks to the TerreKleen. They used these hooks to secure the first section.














The crew wants to get this unit installed as quickly as possible. The installation site is in a tidal area and the tide is starting to come in. The crane operator lifts the TerreKleen off the truck and moves it toward the hole where it is getting installed. The ropes will assist in guiding the unit.

The working part of the TerreKleen is successfully installed. As you can see, the TerreKleen is a two chamber system.
The first chamber (near side) is designed to capture: sediment, trash, debris and will contain oil.
The second chamber (far side) houses the stacked inclined plates. Stacked inclined plates have been widely used in the potable drinking water industry for the past 80 years. Their use give the TerreKleen the largest sedimentation surface area in the smallest area footprint. Once sediment is captured in the second chamber, they will not re-suspend regardless of flow rate.



















In a few minutes, the riser is installed and we can move on to the final piece.















A few more minutes and the top is positioned for installation.














45 minutes later.....TerreKleen hydrodynamic separator installation is complete! All that is left now is to hook up the pipes and back fill around the unit.

More projects are planned. We will keep you posted.

Stormwater Management Including Discharges from Newly Developed and Redeveloped Sites

Stormwater Management Including Discharges from Newly Developed and Redeveloped Sites
Information Collection Request (ICR) for proposed rulemaking

EPA is proposing to disseminate a survey to owners, operators, developers, and contractors of developed sites, owners and operators of municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), and states and U.S. territories, which is designed to inform a rulemaking to strengthen stormwater regulations and to establish a comprehensive program to reduce stormwater from newly developed and redeveloped sites. Stormwater discharges from developed sites can harm water quality through increases in stormwater volume and pollutant loadings into nearby waterways. Generally, as sites are developed there is an increase in areas where water cannot infiltrate, so stormwater volume increases. The resulting stormwater flows across roads, rooftops, and other surfaces, transporting pollutants that are then discharged into waterways.

EPA intends to propose a rule to control stormwater from, at minimum, newly developed and redeveloped sites, and to take final action no later than November 2012. In order to support the rulemaking EPA is proposing to require three separate questionnaires focusing on gathering data about current stormwater management practices, including those used at newly developed and redeveloped sites. EPA’s proposed survey would gather data from three groups: 1) the owners, operators, developers, and contractors of newly and redeveloped sites; 2) the owners and operators of municipal separate storm sewer systems; and 3) states and territories. The draft survey would require detailed information about stormwater management and control practices, local regulations, and baseline financial information.

On October 26, 2009, EPA signed a Federal Register notice announcing its intent to submit a Information Collection Request (ICR) for the three questionnaires to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

EPA is requesting comments on the proposed Information Collection Request, including the associated burden estimate, but is NOT requesting completion of questionnaires at this time. The proposed ICR will be open for public comment for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

Here is the link for more information on the EPA website