Monroe county and the City of key west Florida are preventing Stormwater Pollution

Videos taken yesterday (below) show pollution that Monroe County and the City of Key West are PREVENTING from entering storm drains and discharging to local waterways.

Items captured include:

• Cigarette butts

• Leaves and grass clippings (these contribute to nutrient pollution such as phosphorus and nitrogen)

• Plastic bottles

• Metal cans

• Paper

• Rubber and other plastics

It also costs Public Works departments less money to sweep/collect organic matter (nutrients) and litter when it is on the street, when compared to removing it from catch basins, canals or the ocean.

Using stormwater filters/screens also prevents the decomposition or leeching of debris in stormwater catch basins and pipes.

City of Aventura Preventing Nutrient and Stormwater Pollution of Biscayne Bay

Three years ago, the inaugural Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit took place at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay Campus. The event included presentations and discussion groups comprised of state and local government agencies, environmental nonprofits, and solution providers all with the same mission in mind: to establish collaboration among diverse stakeholders, in order to create an effective Action Plan for reducing pollutants in Biscayne Bay as well as in Miami-Dade County’s canals and rivers.

At the Summit, the City of Aventura Public Works Stormwater Manager learned about ways to prevent stormwater pollution with the use of stormwater inlet filters provided by SOP Technologies. Similar to cities around the world, Aventura was looking for ways to address the massive volumes of leaves and litter that enter stormwater systems.

The first video below shows trash in a stormwater catch basin, and the second video demonstrates how stormwater filters keep trash out of the basin.

Inlet withOUT a stormwater filter

Inlet with a stormwater filter

A few months after the Summit, Aventura began a pilot project with several stormwater filters along 188th street and 213th street. The pilot project demonstrated three things:

1. Filters prevent pollution by blocking leaves (nutrients) and street litter from traveling into the stormwater system/pipes and flowing into the Bay.

2. Filters reduce the city’s maintenance costs by keeping leaves and litter on the road for low-cost cleanup using street sweepers (as opposed to vacuum truck cleaning of catch basins).

3. Filters prevent floods that are caused by clogged stormwater pipes.

After several months with the pilot project, the city decided to expand the filter implementation to all curb inlets throughout the city. Due to the city-wide implementation, the Public Works Department earned the 2019 “Branch Stormwater Project of the Year” from the South Florida branch of the American Public Works Association (APWA).

In September 2019, before the second Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit: The Action Summit, additional data were collected and quantified for several of the stormwater filters in Aventura. The data as captured according to recommendations from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The analysis estimates that, every year, the stormwater filters prevent over 10,000 pounds of leaves and street litter from reaching stormwater catch basins and the Biscayne Bay.

Within the next few years, Aventura is expected to recuperate its initial investment in the filters and have a net cost savings of tens of thousands of dollars within 10 years. All of this is happening while the city prevents its stormwater pipes from clogging and causing street flooding during rain events. The full analysis report can be downloaded below.

VIDEO OF A CURB FILTER IN AVENTURA, FL

Map with photos of stormwater filters

Heal the Bay beach report card highlights stormwater pollution

Heal the Bay is a non-profit that, among other things, publishes an annual “Beach Report Card” for many beaches in California. Their report card highlights the impacts of stormwater runoff and pollution on California beaches.

Some screenshots from the 2020 report card:

Video interview

Watch the Spectrum News interview with Luke Ginger, Water Quality Scientist, from Heal the Bay.

“There have been less people out on the beach, so you think that there would be less trash; however, most of the trash ends up at the beach because it comes from more inland areas through the storm drain system”

— Luke Ginger

Preventing Stormwater Pollution

SOP Technologies prevents beach and ocean pollution issues with its patented stormwater filters. Learn more.

Preventing pollution of Biscayne Bay - SOP Technologies

Public Works departments in Florida are doing their part to stop ocean pollution with stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs).

Organic matter (leaves and grass clippings) contribute to nutrient pollution. Plastics and other man-made litter are harmful to marine life, and new studies are analyzing their impacts to human health as well. Also, as leaves, street litter and stormwater runoff on the street enter storm drainage systems, they clog pipes and cause street flooding.

By keeping the leaves and debris on the street, cities reduce their maintenance costs because they do not need to use expensive vacuum trucks to suck out the pollutants from drainage pipes; instead, they use street sweepers and save money.

Here are photos of SOP Technologies patented stormwater filters preventing plastics, cigarettes, paper, grass clippings and other pollutants from entering the storm drains and discharging to Biscayne Bay.