Operation, Maintenance & Change-out
The Ultra Urban Filter should be serviced as needed to remove sediments and debris, according to expected debris accumulation. The sediment and debris can be quickly vacuumed out of the modules through the mouth of the drain with conventional maintenance equipment. For example, a curb inlet with four to five Ultra-Urban Filter modules can be serviced within 10 minutes in typical installations.
Under normal operating conditions the entire recyclable Ultra Urban Filter should be replaced every 1–3 years depending on its deployment and the pollutant (hydrocarbon) loading.
Catch basin cleaning is an integral part of any comprehensive stormwater management plan where closed drainage systems are present. The frequency with which catch basins are cleaned should be based on the site specific factors, accumulation volume and quality.
If a catch basin is located in a residential area with low traffic, good street sweeping, minimal possibility of illegal dumping etc. then cleaning may not be required for several months. However, if it is in an urban area with street sanding during winter, high pedestrian traffic with restaurants (trash etc) and perhaps leaf litter, catch basin cleaning may be required more frequently.
AbTech suggests that the customer initiate a plan for regularly scheduled inspections to determine areas with higher accumulations and/or contaminant potential and base your cleaning program on those site-specific situations. [I.e. maintenance facilities, loading docks, intense vehicular-land-use.]
Servicing
The service requirements for the Ultra-Urban Filter center around three activities:
1. The condition of the Ultra-Urban Filter unit itself, structural integrity,
2. The quantity of solid material accumulated in the Smart Sponge filtration media,
3. The condition of the Smart Sponge filtration media, whether the hydrocarbon absorption capacity is attained.
Most environmental service managers tend to focus upon all three activities when it is tasked with providing the maintenance.
To vacuum out accumulated debris from the Ultra-Urban Filter, you could consider the purchase, renting or hiring of a service entity with a solids vacuum cleaning "Vactor" unit. These are truck mounted units and may provide you with services such as storm drain maintenance and cleaning. A lower cost option is to purchase, rent trailer or hire mounted portable units. The Vactor units should have sufficient suction to vacuum wet debris, the ability to reduce down to 3 – 4 inch diameter hose (to fit below safety bars that may run across curb opening applications). It should also come with a pressure washing attachment.
In conjunction with the cleaning activities servicing should also consider the ability to weigh the filters, and to coordinate events within inspection activities.
This will allow for a physical check of the Ultra-Urban Filter as well as the ability to check the condition of the Smart Sponge.
How often do the Ultra-Urban Filters need to be changed?
Proper maintenance will prolong the efficiency of the Ultra-Urban Filter. The recommended change-out is therefore a function of the Smart Sponge saturation rate. Since every storm drain is different, the best indicators are by visual inspection (the Smart Sponge filtration media will turn yellow, brown and then black) or by its weight (the filter will increase in weight equal 1-3 times its initial Smart Sponge weight). This corresponds to a maximum 40-pound increase in the CO1414 and maximum 60 pound increase in the weight of the DI2020, excluding sediment, trash and debris. Please contact AbTech for other sizes. In normal deployments the range is from a 1-3 year life cycle.
Click on the links below for installation documentation on our drain inlets and curb openings:
Disposal/Recycling Options
As local conditions, product use, and exposure can vary widely, the end user must determine the most appropriate disposal method for a spent Smart Sponge® or Smart Sponge Plus® product. However Smart Sponge® samples saturated with hydrocarbons both in the lab and in the field have been tested according to the EPA’s Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure ("TCLP"). These tests show that Smart Sponge® is a "non-leaching" (i.e., non-detect or "N.D.") product. As a result, Smart Sponge® technology can afford many cost effective and environmentally friendly disposal options.
The following waste disposal and resource recovery industries have accepted spent Smart Sponge® products for disposal and/or recycling:
Waste-to-Energy Facilities - A specialized segment of the solid waste industry has used spent Smart Sponge® as an alternative fuel in the production of electricity. WTE is acknowledged at the federal level as a renewable energy source under the Federal Power Act, Title IV of the Clean Air Act and is a participant in the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Program.
Cement Kilns - This industry has used the spent Smart Sponge® as an alternative fuel in the production process of Portland Cement. This process is considered a beneficial reuse of waste products. The BTU value of spent Smart Sponge® is consistently above the average acceptable levels set for this high temperature.
Landfills - As discussed above, spent Smart Sponge® products have been classified as a solid waste and have been accepted at Subtitle D Landfills.
Please keep in mind that, depending upon local conditions, product use, and exposure, a spent Smart Sponge® product could contain one or more of a wide range of contaminants that may impact available disposal options. As a result, generators of spent Smart Sponge products must have their waste analyzed, tested, and classified to determine the appropriate disposal method.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to call us at:
1.800.545.8999
480.874.4000
