MIPS Project Detail:
Company
Company Description:
The Low Impact Development Design Group, or LIDDG, manufactures and distributes two storm water best management practice (BMP) product lines.
LIDMIX is a media that is designed to treat the heavy metals zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb), as well as other metals and non-point source runoff stormwater pollutants. The media can be used in existing media-based stormwater treatment devices, such as cartridges and filters, to enhance their performance.
The other product is LIDMAT™, for which LIDMIX™ media is inserted into a geotextile mat that is formed into modules that can be attached to each other to treat sheet flow or attached to a storm drain structure. A biodegradable version of the LIDMAT™ is also available. It can be planted with hyper accumulators, which will enhance the capture of pollutants.
MIPS Project
LIDMIX Stormwater Treatment System
Project #
5703
|
MIPS Round
57
|
Starting Date:
Feb 2016
MIPS Project Challenge:
The goal of this MIPS project was to develop commercially viable configurations of LIDMAT and to determine the most effective ways to manufacture LIDMAT and LIDMIX. The project team planned to use the data to gain acceptance as an approved BMP practice for industrial and non-point source stormwater treatment from state regulatory agencies.
MIPS Role:
Researchers set up mesocosms to test the effectiveness of the company’s media. By using synthetic stormwater runoff and various flowrates, they were able to monitor the amount of metals and other pollutants removed by LIDMIX under a variety of stormwater conditions, and determine the tolerance of the product for commercial use. These results were then used to ensure that the company met regulatory requirements for testing and thresholds for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits—a requirement for businesses that produce runoff that leads to U.S. waters.
Researchers also determined resources required to manufacture LIDDG products on a large scale.
Results:
Researchers completed the controlled evaluation of the LIDMIX and LIDMAT products to address regulatory requirements for testing and thresholds for NPDES permits.
Heavy metals are second only to pathogens as the most problematic pollutant in the 303(d) list of impaired and threatened waters in the United States, according to the U.S. EPA. Among all metals causing the impairment of natural waters, lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) are each among the top six. In the United States, Pb alone was found to be the main cause of impairment in 851 natural water bodies, with Cu and Zn causing 764 and 388 impairments, respectively.
The estimated market for non-point source and industrial BMPs in the State of Maryland alone is estimated to be over $3 billion. There are more than 300 industrial permitted facilities in the state that are over five acres that must treat 20 percent of their stormwater flows for phosphorus and total suspended solids. In addition, there are an estimated 400 to 500 industrial facilities (steel and scrap yards, container storage, marinas, power lines, and utility yards) that must report and eventually treat their heavy metal discharges. These industrial facilities typically contain dozens of inlets and discharge points where LIDDG’s products can be installed.
LIDDG licensed its base technology from the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University of Maryland. A patent is pending for the LIDMIX and LIDMAT products, based on prototype mix and configuration. The products are currently being marketed and sold by ACF Environmental, which has a major distribution center in Maryland. (Source: LIDDG)
Principal Investigator:
Allen
Davis
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Project Manager:
Neil
Weinstein
President
Technologies:
Environmental Technology / Science
