Location: Gordon, NSW
Products: SPEL Basin (Modular Bioretention Basin) MWS-L-4-21
The Challenge
A new road, adjoining to the main streets, was to be constructed in Gordon, suburban Sydney. As there was very limited room in the road corridor, traditional methods of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) were not applicable.
Normally, local councils would construct roadside bio-retention systems but these systems require surface flow routing and a defined footprint for sufficient treatment (usually 2% of catchment area).
In addition, the road drainage network also needed to be incorporated into any WSUD option considered.
Our Solution
In order to fulfill the Ku-ring-gai Council’s requirements, SPEL provided the SPEL Basin, a compact modular vegetated treatment system. It was selected by the Council’s engineers and the perfect solution to the site’s constraints.
The SPEL Basin was designed in an offline configuration yet could still be installed within the narrow roadside corridor. It provides treatment of road runoff and drains into a nearby existing stormwater channel, protecting the downstream catchment by capturing both particulate and soluble pollutants such as gross pollutants, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Phosphorus (TP) and Total Nitrogen (TN).
The SPEL Basin was built in our Australia manufacturing facility and installed in a matter of hours.
This reduced the construction program by at least a week compared to traditional construction designs.
Lastly, the extremely minimal maintenance results in a vegetated asset that will continue working for many years to come.