Testing of Ultra-Urban Stormwater Best Management Practices

About the report:

Ultra urban areas where conventional best management practices (BMPs) are neither feasible nor cost-effective present a challenge to stormwater management. Although new BMPs have been developed for such space limited environments, the field performance of these technologies is still largely undocumented. This study monitored the field performance of four ultra urban BMPs: three oil and grit separators (Isoilater, Stormceptor, and Vortechs Stormwater Treatment System) and a bioretention area. Storm sampling data for each site were analyzed to calculate the removal efficiency for each constituent monitored. Because the Vortechs system was installed improperly, its removal efficiency results in this study are not reliable. Therefore, the system could not be fully evaluated. The results of the study are site specific. The performance of the BMPs was affected by varying factors. The study, thus, concludes that the data and study site conditions must be evaluated carefully before results can be extrapolated to compare the relative and potential performance of a particular BMP under different site conditions.

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