Maintenance Obligations

Many owners or property managers wonder what their maintenance responsibilities are and how they can be enforced by the regulatory authorities.  We happened upon this maintenance agreement on EPA’s website that is a “typical” maintenance agreement.  These agreements usually run with the land and allow the municipality to maintain or repair the facility if he owner refuses – often then having the power to assess the costs as an addition to the owners anual property tax.

Take a look at the sample agreement  here:

D2b-Ablemarle.pdf (application/pdf Object).

Clogged Pipe – Part 1

These inflow pipes always have water backed up into them which, in this case, made them an ideal location for a pretty aggressive tree. A swamp willow’s roots started growing inside the pipe, and even though the tree was cut down, the roots inside the pipe kept growing and trapping sediment – eventually clogging the pipe. The water back up probably helped sediment settle and build up as well.

Submerged inflow pipes

We began by attempting to jet out the pipe. This means loosening the clog with a jet of water while the vac truck sucks out whatever has been dislodged. Usually this is quite effective, but the dense tree roots made this job more complicated. We’re going to return to the job site with a new plan of attack…

Clogged pipe

FRONTLINE: poisoned waters | PBS

A definite eye-opener, worth the time to view.

FRONTLINE: poisoned waters | PBS.

Every year, Puget Sound suffers an oil spill equal to more than half an Exxon Valdez. It just happens drop by drop.

Amazing statement.  Read it here:

via Local News | Stormwater’s damage to Puget Sound huge, report says | Seattle Times Newspaper.

SWM Facility Embankment Repair – Barrel Relining

One of the exciting aspects of working in stormwater is coming up with unique ways to solve repair problems. At this site, the existing outfall pipe was corroding causing water to erode the soil along the outside of the pipe, a condition known as piping. Eventually, it caused a sinkhole that was visible from the surface. This condition can lead to a failure of the embankment with catastrophic results. Check out this video of a failure.

Positioning the new lining

Rather than dealing with the high cost and disturbance of replacing the entire pipe, we lined the corroding corrugated metal pipe (CMP) with a smooth walled HDPE pipe. The pipe we used was Snap-Tite manufactured by ISCO Industries. Made specifically for this purpose, this pipe actually improved the hydraulic performance of the barrel while significantly extending the lifecycle of the structure. The void between the two pipes was pumped with grout. Of course, the sinkhole was also repaired with compacted clay.

With our design/build approach, we reduced the owner’s cost significantly while accelerating the schedule.