Industrial Stormwater

Depending on the nature of their operations, some companies are required to secure permits for discharging industrial stormwater. Achieving consistent compliance with many of these permits has become more difficult as benchmarks and effluent limits have been decreasing over time. WaterTectonics assists industrial stormwater permittees with evaluating treatment options and installing systems when necessary.

How WaterTectonics Supports Industrial Stormwater Permittees

Many industrial stormwater permit processes are iterative, and companies are encouraged to comply with stormwater permits through improved housekeeping (sweeping surfaces, etc.) and source control (covering raw materials, etc.) measures. When these remedies alone are not sufficient to achieve permit compliance, end-of-pipe treatment is often the next step for consideration. When companies reach out to WaterTectonics to recommend a solution, we begin by reviewing the existing water quality data and understanding what constraints may exist on site. From there, we identify candidate treatment alternatives for consideration and can prepare options for bench-scale testing, pilot projects, and full-scale systems. Bench-scale testing is recommended in most applications and provides an opportunity to better characterize customer source water, refine the treatment offering, and advise in more detail regarding potential operating costs. Once a system is selected and installed, WaterTectonics supports customers for the life of their system through a dedicated parts & service division.

Important Considerations for Industrial Stormwater Projects

The most common issues related to industrial stormwater runoff include fine sediment, dissolved metals, and specialty contaminants. For sites where fine sediment (typically, particulate material under 10 microns) is prevalent, it can be difficult to reduced total suspended solids (TSS) and/or turbidity levels to acceptable discharge standards without some level of advanced treatment. Where dissolved metals (metals that can pass through a 0.45-micron lab filter) are present, these parameters often require specific and targeted treatment for removal, whether through coagulation or advanced adsorption/filtration. Further, more specific water quality issues like COD (chemical oxygen demand), nitrates, and PFAS can each require treatment steps targeted to those items.