Climate change is creating bigger storms and more pollution. Every year over 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage are discharged into our waterways. Beaches close. Fish die. People get sick. Storm driven sewer discharges are a big problem, and they’re getting worse. stormBLOX technology offers a simple and a sustainable treatment solution to this huge problem.
stormBLOX instantly treats right at the on-set of a storm while physically blocking solids and pathogens from being discharged into our waterways. Other treatment options, such as ballasted clarification, compressed media filtration, cloth filtration, and chlorination simply can’t treat storm flows as quickly and as effectively as stormBLOX.
These other technologies pass thousands to millions of gallons untreated at the onset of a storm as they come on line. stormBLOX treats the first gallon. Plus, stormBLOX effluent meets all disinfection requirements without supplemental chemicals, preventing toxic by-products from harming aquatic life.
What happens when it’s not raining? Just simply empty the basins and and wait for the next storm to arrive. Whether it’s hot, cold, or even freezing, the properties of the SiC membrane are not impacted by extended downtime. The hydrophilic membranes start treating water as soon as the next set of rain drops start to fall. Whether it rains once or 50 times in a year, stormBLOX performance will be the same each and every storm.
HOW
DOES IT
WORK?
The stormBLOX™ system is a membrane based treatment process consisting of the following key steps: influent screening, coagulant addition followed by flash mixing, and filtration through SiC ultrafiltration membranes. While the core treatment process remains the same, the system can be configured for the following :
- SATELLITE CSO/SSO FACILITIES
- AUXILIARY/ SIDE STREAM TREATMENT OF HIGH PEAK FLOWS AT WWTP
At the end of the storm, the membranes and basins are cleaned and emptied in preparation for the next storm. In some cases when stormBLOX™ is used as a dual purpose treatment system, some of the membrane basins serve as redundant treatment during dry weather.
RESILIENCY IN HANDLING FLOW VARIATION
Storm flows are highly variable and can increase by orders of magnitude in an instant. Since stormBLOX™ is a physical treatment process, it can be easily ramped up, or ramped down, depending on the severity of the storm. As storm intensity, and subsequent flow, increases additional stormBLOX™ units are brought online to match the incoming flow. stormBLOX™ is easily and quickly brought on/off-line depending on treatment demand at any single point in a storm.
INTEGRATION
EFFLUENT
QUALITY
The SiC membranes in a stormBLOX systems create a physical barrier, completely removing bacteria and from the incoming storm flow. The result is an effluent that meets all numerical coliform and total residual chlorine limits without supplemental disinfection. Other contaminants such as heavy metals, oil, and grease are also effectively removed by the stormBLOX treatment process. Regardless of incoming flow and loading, stormBLOX always provides the same level of treatment.
Typical
effluent
quality of
a stormBLOX
system is
PARAMETER | EFFLUENT |
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) | < 2.0 mg/l |
CBOD5 | < 30 mg/l |
Fecal Coliform/ E Coli/ Enterococci | < 2.2 CFU/100 ml |
Settleable Solids (SS) | < 0.1 mg/l |
Heavy Metal Removal | > 90% removal |
Total Residual Chlorine | (TRC) 0.0 mg/l |
| pH | 6-9 |
Meets secondary treatment standards
stormBLOX IS USED IN THE FOLLOWING APPLICATIONS/MARKETS
- CSO facilities with consent decrees
- SSO facilities with consent decrees
- MBR plants with >3Q peaking factors due to high I&I
- CAS plants with >5Q peaking factors due to high I&I
BENEFITS OF STORMBLOX INCLUDE
- Disinfection without chemicals
- Instantaneous treatment
- Supplement secondary treatment
- No disinfection by-products
- Utilize as tertiary filtration system during dry weather
- Extremely small footprint, easily fits into existing infrastructure
- Easily placed off-line regardless of weather conditions
