Westlake installs catch basin filter at Service Center

Bob Kelly, City Engineer; Chris Stuhm, Facilities Manager; and John Biro, Westlake Service Department Fabricator install a catch basin insert.

The City of Westlake, in its continued efforts to achieve and promote clean waterways, installed a catch basin filter at its Service Facility on August 8. The Ultra Urban Filter is a specially designed insert that filters hard surface run-off and removes harmful containments, specifically hydrocarbons.

Because catch basins collect rainwater from streets and parking lots that are directly connected to ditches and creeks, removal of harmful oils and sediments greatly improves water quality that eventually ends up in Lake Erie.

Bob Kelly, City Engineer, stated: “This project is only one of many objectives in the City’s plan for stormwater quality improvements.”

The City already has spearheaded many stormwater programs, including the Bio-Retention Water Quality retention basin at Crocker Road and I-90, public outreach education programs like the Rain Garden and Rain Barrel workshops, and the local Water Shed Group that meets and discusses future goals.

This insert is a trial demo with support from local resident and Water Shed Group member Jim DeVore of Symbiosis Systems, and it will be monitored for its effectiveness and longevity. The City of Westlake is determined to continue its efforts to promote storm water cleanliness and work with local jurisdictions for providing advanced storm water control. This basin insert is just one more initiative to work towards goals set by the local Watershed Group, Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the Ohio EPA.