You are here:
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT: STORMWATER SOURCE AREA TREATMENT DEVICE - VORTECHNICS INC., VORTECHS® SYSTEM, MODEL 1000
Citation:
NSF INTERNATIONAL. ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT: STORMWATER SOURCE AREA TREATMENT DEVICE - VORTECHNICS INC., VORTECHS® SYSTEM, MODEL 1000 . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-05/140, 2005.
Description:
Verification testing of the Vortechnics, Inc. Vortechs® System, Model 1000 was conducted on a 0.25 acre portion of an elevated highway near downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Vortechs is designed to remove settable and floatable pollutants from stormwater runoff. The Vortechs® Model 1000 maximum operating flow rate is 1.6 cfs (720 gpm). The verification challenge included collecting influent and treated effluent samples during 18 qualified storm events. A qualified storm event was defined as a minimum of 0.2 inches of rainfall, where representative sample aliquots are collected throughout the duration of the event and composited into a flow-weighted composite sample. The influent and effluent sampling areas were equipped with automated samplers and flow monitoring devices to collect and monitor the flows entering and exiting the system. The verification testing concluded that the system was capable of removing approximately 35 percent of sediment as determined by the total suspended solids (TSS) analytical procedure and of removing approximately 61 percent of sediment as determined by the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) analytical procedure. Particle size analysis conducted on stormwater samples showed the runoff entering the Vortechs® contained a large proportion of sediment smaller than 62.5 µm. The Vortechs® also removed a small amount of total and dissolved phosphorus, total calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc. The system was cleaned before the start of verification testing, and after the completion of the 16-month verification period. Maintenance consisted of vacuuming sediments from the sediment chamber. At the end of the verification period, approximately 120 lb (dry weight) of solids were removed from the sediment chamber.