New ASTM Standards for Evaluating Stormwater Control Measures

Manufactured treatment devices (MTDs) are post-construction stormwater control measures (SCMs) that are used as offline or inline treatment devices along storm drain pipe lines to remove stormwater borne pollutants. An MTD can employ settling, filtration, and/or other processes to remove pollutants from runoff. The increased use of MTDs and the increasing number of systems have prompted the need for consensus standards to characterize the performance of these technologies. It has been recognized that it is important to establish, through the testing of full-sized commercial units, the limits for an MTD’s pollution removal capabilities. To date, performance evaluations have been governed by leading regulators, such as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (via the NJCAT program) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (via the TAPE program). But, looking to the future, regulators and the MTD industry are working together to establish a nationwide verification/certification program based on international standards developed by ASTM. Development of standards for these post-construction MTDs is largely taking place in ASTM’s Subcommittee C27.70 on Precast Concrete Products for Stormwater Management. A few ASTM standards (C1745, C1746, and C1814) have been developed to date, but several more are under development. This paper reviews the current programs being used to characterize MTD performance and then details the consensus standards that are being developed within the ASTM process to evaluate the water quality enhancement effectiveness of the larger family of post-construction stormwater control measures (SCMs).