Case Study

Calbag Metals Co. is a 4-acre non-ferrous metal recycling facility located in Portland Oregon. The metal recycling facility had been using catch basin inserts along with an oil water separator and a cartridge filter with compost media, to treat the site’s stormwater prior to discharge. Though the cartridge filter noticeably reduced contaminants in Calbag’s stormwater discharge, it was not able to achieve adequate copper or zinc removal to meet the site’s stormwater permit requirements.

StormwateRx supplied Calbag Metals with an Aquip Model 170SBE system; the system was specifically designed for Calbag Metals using historic stormwater sampling data from the site as well as the known pollutants commonly found in scrap yard stormwater runoff. The industrial stormwater filtration system contains both inert and sorptive media to remove total suspended solids and metals. Also specifically designed into the Aquip is its ability to easily integrate into existing facilities with minimal construction cost. This is due to its relatively small footprint, above-ground configuration, and passive (gravity operated) flow-through design.

StormwateRx integrated the Aquip into the original design of the stormwater conveyance system at Calbag Metals keeping the oil water separator as pretreatment to the Aquip. With the treatment train approach the stormwater runoff first passes through the existing oil water separator vault, for pretreatment. Then, it’s pumped above ground where it flows through the Aquip filtration system for the treatment portion of the treatment train approach.

“After years of struggling to stay below permit benchmarks, despite consistent effort and all the right BMPs, we didn’t quite believe StormwateRx was going to get us there -- until we saw our first sampling results. The Aquip filter has vastly outperformed our previous filter system, and brought us into full compliance. We’re now anticipating installation of an Aquip system at our Tacoma yard.” -- Greg Will, Calbag Metals Co., Portland.

Contact StormwateRx to find out how the Aquip can help you meet your stormwater quality requirements.