Photo credit: Smallman12q via Wikimedia CommonsThe Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is dedicating the Stormwater Technology Testing Center in Northeast Portland today (October 7), which will provide a site for municipalities and private companies to test technologies that treat stormwater runoff.
Stormwater runoff must comply with the federal Water Quality Act and the Endangered Species Act, making stormwater quality management a top priority. The new facility features three testing bays that will use pumps, pipes, compressors and computers to check stormwater samples for contaminants. The data will be used to determine the effectiveness of removal technologies.
“Efficient testing of the technologies in advance could lead to better products and make the process cheaper, quicker and more reliable,” ODOT says.
Fifteen local and state agencies from Oregon, Washington and California joined with the federal government to plan the facility, which has origins dating back to 2009.
At that time, ODOT says, a group of stormwater professionals met to discuss management improvements and determined more research was needed in treatment device testing, maintenance and reliability. A board of directors including federal, state and local officials will oversee operations.
