Sustainable Solutions for Storm Water / Wastewater

Huff & Huff, Inc. (H&H) has developed sustainable solutions to storm water and wastewater issues.  Designing systems to use wastes from one process as input into another process are not only environmentally significant but can also bring an economical savings.  Life cycle analysis is also key in developing the most efficient, economical processes possible.

Examples of Best Management practices used to address storm water include the following:

Lake Michigan—First flush runoff from a roadway was directed to city sewers rather than into the lake.  Capacity in the city sewer was a tradeoff by installing restrictors in catch basins within city streets to create temporary detention. This first flush system reduced chlorides and metals reaching Lake Michigan.  The pollutant loading from Lake Michigan was reduced by up to 98 percent, and in a typical year the pollutant capture would be 100 percent for 45 out of 47 storms. Other options, such as wetland creation, full detention, and swirl concentrators, were studied.

Big Rock Creek, Fox River and Aux Sable Creek—A combination of vegetated swales, infiltration basins, and basins with wetland plantings were used to treat storm water and minimize discharges.

Des Plaines River/ Cook County Forest Preserve—H&H directed the concept development of bioswales along 5 miles of Illinois Tollway on I-294 north of Dempster Avenue.  These concepts included maintenance plans, performance standards for plant diversity, and monitoring to evaluate pollutant removal. These swales are adjacent to Cook County Forest Preserve and include features, such as infiltration for first flush and terraced areas to reduce flow velocities.

Lake Barrington development—Storm water from development was assessed to minimize runoff to a fen area.  In conjunction with resource agency input, the routing of storm flows, creation of buffer zones, and minimization of fertilizers and herbicides were used to minimize impacts.

Antioch area development—Stormwater management for a commercial development near a glacial lake with state endangered fish included a commitment to no net increase in pollutants over existing land use. This included nitrogen, suspended solids, chlorides, and heavy metals.  To accomplish this required a variety of storm water treatment practices, such as infiltration trenches and detention basins, the use of non-chloride deicers, sweeping of the parking lots, oil & grease collectors in the catch basins and other features.

Lake County Forest Preserve District—As part of the Phase 2 portion of the study, H&H designed water quality treatment ponds in order to filter and treat roadway runoff before it entered Forest Preserve Land, as requested by the Forest Preserve.  H&H developed the planting plans for the vegetated roadside swales and the ponds. H&H included tree planting to simulate the natural character of a savanna.

Spring Creek—H&H was retained to complete the Facilities Plan for the expansion of a WWTP that discharges into Spring Creek. A new hospital is planned for the area, so the waste products from the hospital were of particular concern.  The selected approach called for the addition of powdered activated carbon to the activated sludge process to address the pharmaceuticals and other emerging pollutants. The effluent will be discharged to a wetted prairie constructed below the treatment plant, followed by a bioswale, prior to discharge to Spring Creek. To reduce the energy footprint, two windmill turbines will be installed, solar panels included in the office building, and energy will be removed from the effluent for heating and cooling of the buildings through heat pumps.  All three of these innovative energy projects show a payout to the client.

H&H staff participate in organizational committees, such as the ACEC IDOT Sustainability Committee or municipal environmental commissions, where sustainable solutions are an important focus.