A STORMWATER FILTRATION DEVICE COMPARATIVE STUDY, PART ONE
CleanWay’s devices are elegantly engineered, rugged and purpose built. Unlike competitive devices that rely heavily on a cacophony of plastics, riveting and netting, CleanWay’s devices are welded structures fabricated using CNC machining to very precise dimensions. All components integrate logically and securely with a minimum of moving parts that allow for ease of maintenance, filter replacement and testing in a way that is reliable and repeatable over the lifetime of the unit.
CleanWay offers a tremendous amount of useful information on their website, and they have a very complete library of technical drawings and specifications that are deliverable as PDF attachments after initial consultation with CleanWay sales engineers to identify application specifics. Unlike most of their competitors, CleanWay offers a complete line of stormwater Manufactured Treatment Devices (MTDs) for retrofit in the built environment including Drop Inlets, Catch Basin Inserts, Curb Inlets and Downspout Filters.
You can view their complete line of filter element options by clicking here. For clients who are concerned about heavy metals capture, they can learn more about the patented MetalZorb product here. It should be noted that CleanWay’s website is also media rich, with numerous videos and 3D imaging that take the guesswork out of the installation process, maintenance orientation, sizing and other mission critical planning, specification decision making issues.
CleanWay has clearly given great thought to design features that allow maintenance, including cleaning of trash and floatables, without interrupting filtration function. CleanWay’s ridged strainer for capture of debris down to 2 mm can be removed and cleaned using a large Shop-Vac or Vactor Truck without disturbing the filtration element or disrupting full capture filtration. As CleanWay rightly states, “…our ridged strainer is the first line of defense against plugging of the secondary, pollutant-specific filtration media by capturing gross solids and floatables.” This binary filtration system, the elegance of the engineering and the ease of maintenance it affords is a clear and functionally significant advantage of the CleanWay systems across their product line.
Another feature unique to the CleanWay line of products is their patented sampling port which allows sampling at the device, again, without interrupting full capture filtration or disturbing the filtration element in any way. The significance of this feature cannot be overemphasized as CleanWay’s product line this author has encountered that allows performance verification at the device. It’s astounding, but not surprising, that manufacturers of competitive devices make extraordinary performance claims about their MTDs without any means to verify that performance in the real world. Anyone with knowledge of, and experience in managing complex stormwater facilities understands that adding structural BMPs without the ability to test their efficacy in real time is a guessing game. As such, CleanWay’s testing port allows not just for verification of device performance, but also for the collection of diagnostic data anywhere a CleanWay device is installed.
*Author’s Note: As an independent researcher and writer on sustainability and the environment, I was commissioned to author this comparative study of Manufactured Treatment Devices (MTDs) for the treatment of stormwater in the built environment. Part One, below, focuses on the full suite of MTDs manufactured and distributed in the US and Canada by CleanWay Environmental Partners, Inc. I’ve assigned Part One of this series to CleanWay as they are the only stormwater MTD manufacturer that focuses solely on the design and manufacture stormwater MTDs. It’s all they do, and they do it better than anyone else.
With over 25 years of experience, CleanWay Environmental Partners is dedicated to providing clients with affordable stormwater runoff solutions. Located in Portland, OR, our skilled staff is committed to serving customers nationwide with first-rate catch basin filters, downspout filtration units, reliable reverse osmosis systems, premium leachate treatments, and heavy metals extraction services. Call (800) 723-1373 to request a quote and to learn more about how we can help you comply with environmental regulations.