By Gavin Heitman, CSR Humes, Australia
Humeceptor oil and sediment interceptors have been used in the construction of the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games facilities at Homebush Bay, as well as the equestrian centre at Horsley Park, to treat stormwater run-off from roadways and car parking areas.
Leighton Contractors installed five Humeceptors in the construction of the rail link at Homebush Bay, while Thiess Contractors completed the southern car park with a total of four Humeceptors. The civil works for the equestrian centre were completed using one Humeceptor installed by Daracon Engineering.
Humeceptor reduces the impact of stormwater run-off from roadways and car park areas, removing up to 97.8% of free oils and up to 80% of total suspended solids. Its patented internal high flow by-pass prevents infrequent high storm flows from scouring and re-suspending previously trapped pollutants, flushing them into creeks and rivers downstream.
Numerous independent field studies have proven its effective performance and ability to capture and retain sediment particles with diameters of less than 100 microns. Recent Australian research (Ball 1996 and Drapper 1999) has shown that sediment washed from vehicular pavements is typically less than 100 microns in diameter. It is this fine sediment which is a priority to remove because it adsorbs toxicants such as trace metals and smothers in-stream aquatic habitats. Other types of pollutant traps typically capture a majority of the coarser sediment (larger than 150 microns) making them ineffective for treating the problem.
Because of the tight construction schedule for the Olympic project, speed of installation was another important aspect of the specification. Humeceptor is a precast concrete device which can be readily installed on-site, similar to access chambers. Once the hole is excavated, the device can be installed within an hour or two of delivery to site.
For the designer, the low headloss through Humeceptor with a K value of 1.3, reduces the impact of installing a pollutant trap within the drainage system and minimizes the risk of upstream flooding, particularly when used in retrofit applications.
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