Even at a responsibly run outdoor working area, insufficient stormwater runoff management can result in pollution and contamination of local soil and waterways. In addition to harmful environmental consequences, that can cost a company some hefty fines and cleanup costs. Businesses should implement effective stormwater runoff management practices in order to reduce those risks.
Keep Stormwater Away From Areas with Pollutants
Working areas like vehicle repair or maintenance spaces, material storage and shipping areas, and vehicle or equipment storage places are a risk for the presence of pollutants. If those operations can’t be moved indoors, protect them from rainwater with a roof or other covering. If a cover or roof isn’t feasible, protect the ground from spills or leaks with spill containment berms that can be moved or covered during rain. Additionally, berms, grading, and other water diversion strategies can help to prevent water from other parts of the worksite from flowing across contaminated areas.
Treat Stormwater Before Discharging It
There are two primary risks for contamination in stormwater runoff—pollutants, whether chemical or organic, and sediment contamination resulting in turbid water. Discharging turbid or polluted water can incur fines and cleanup costs. If stormwater runoff of turbid water from a working area is inevitable, redirect it into a dewatering bag. A high-quality dewatering bag constructed from permeable geotextile filters turbid water, allowing for the cleaned water to be safely released back into the environment.
Safely Store Water
In addition to the risk of turbid stormwater runoff from worksites, sometimes polluted or contaminated runoff at a worksite can’t be avoided. If there are no resources onsite for treating polluted runoff, the only option is to store it for treatment or safe disposal elsewhere. Portable water bladders designed to store wastewater can be used for safe temporary storage prior to water treatment.
It’s also a good idea to safely store fresh drinking water, as drinking water spills can also quickly become contaminated. Portable water bladders built with good grade materials can be used to supply a worksite with large quantities of potable water without risk of spillage.
Avoid Erosion During Water Discharge
Stormwater runoff can also present an erosion risk for working areas. That is especially true for construction sites or other worksites on which there is cleared, bare, and disturbed ground. The risk of erosion is particularly high where stormwater and other runoff is channeled, even more so when it is channeled to embankments or slopes. During a construction or roadwork project, for example, a culvert draining runoff onto an embankment without vegetation or other cover can cause erosion. The use of erosion control technology like a culvert sock both slows the water down and redirects it to a safer discharge area. A little preparation and the right stormwater management solutions can make all the difference.
About AIRE Environmental
Since 2001, AIRE Environmental, formerly AIRE Industrial, has manufactured reliable, affordable, American-made spill and containment solutions. These environmentally friendly products include a water bladder tank selection, flexible spill containment berms for large and small-scale secondary containment, and additional disaster response equipment. Their containment and disaster response innovations feature the compliance you can trust. Fabricated using automated cutting tables, industrial-grade stitching, and state-of-the-art CAD software, AIRE Environmental products are engineered to optimize safety, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use for deployment in a variety of situations. Whether you’re managing an industrial or commercial job site or flood-proofing your home, you can trust AIRE Environmental to provide any project with dependable EPA-compliant solutions.
Optimize your business’s stormwater runoff strategies at https://www.aireenvironmental.com/
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