Developing a Performance Model for an Industrial Stormwater Filter Media

The stormwater runoff from industrial sites is often subject to a higher level of treatment than municipal “non-point” source runoff due to its unusually high concentrations of pollutants. Typically, samples from these sites must be taken quarterly and analyzed for pollutants such as zinc, copper and total suspended solids (TSS). Selecting a treatment option for these industrial sites can be complicated by several environmental factors related to runoff chemistry as well as physical makeup.The work presented here presents a program of bench-scale and full-scale tests that are used to generalize a model of system performance. Using multivariable regression analysis, a predictive model is identified that can be used to screen applications for appropriate media selection. The results indicate that rule-of-thumb performance predictions such as “percent removal” are likely not accurate enough to be used to confidently select a media. Regression models built from multiple input variables produce a closer correlation and indicate a better predictive model.