Performance Verification of Stormwater Treatment Devices under EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program

The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program was created to facilitate the deployment of innovative or improved environmental technologies through performance verification and dissemination of information. The program's goal is to further environmental protection by accelerating the acceptance and use of improved and more cost-effective technologies. ETV seeks to achieve this goal by providing high quality, peer-reviewed data on technology performance to those involved in the design, distribution, permitting, purchase, and use of environmental technologies. The program works in partnership with recognized standards and testing organizations; stakeholder groups, which consist of buyers, vendor organizations, and permitters; and with the full participation of individual technology developers. The program evaluates the performance of innovative technologies by developing test plans that are responsive to the needs of stakeholders, conducting field or laboratory tests (as appropriate), collecting and analyzing data, and preparing peer-reviewed reports. All evaluations are conducted in accordance with rigorous quality assurance protocols to ensure that data of known and adequate quality are generated and that the results are defensible. NSF International, in cooperation with EPA, operates the ETV Program's Water Quality Protection Center (WQPC), one of six technology centers in the ETV Program. The WQPC has evaluated the performance of eight stormwater treatment technologies designed to remove a variety of pollutants commonly found in stormwater runoff from roadways, parking lots and vehicle maintenance areas. The technologies are generally compatible with existing storm sewer inlets and provide treatment by gravity or inertial separation, or may contain a combination of screens and filter elements to trap pollutants. Field testing was conducted with full-scale commercial units, capturing runoff from 15 qualified storm events over a 15-month period using automated sampling equipment. Typical analyses included: total dissolved solids (TDS); total suspended solids (TSS); suspended sediment concentration (SSC); total and dissolved phosphorus; oil and grease (O&G); total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH); chemical oxygen demand (COD); chloride; zinc, calcium, copper and magnesium, and; sand fractionation.