Air Port Water Quality Soars to New Heights

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Third Runway Project in SeaTac, Washington, is one of the largest earth work projects in the country. The entire project is adjacent to sensitive receiving waters including wetlands and salmon-bearing streams making stormwater quality a top priority. Achieving compliance with the project National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Permit required an integrated stormwater management strategy which included aggressive implementation and maintenance of traditional best management practices (BMPs), installation of large stormwater storage ponds and the use of a relatively new flow-through water treatment technology termed chitosan-enhanced sand filtration (CESF). The case study will discuss project details including CESF technology basics, water treatment limitations, summary of water quality data and pollutant removal efficiencies, applicability of CESF technology to other types of construction projects and costs. The success of this project has been recognized by scientist such as Bill Nye, The Science Guy, publishers such as Forester Communications and local television broadcast news (KOMO TV — Seattle, WA).