Safe and Effective Flocculants Used to Meet Numeric Discharge Limits
Seva Bray
Flocculants have been used for erosion and sediment control and water clarification for over 25 years. They are regularly used for soil stabilization, hydroseeding, water treatment, pond clarification, and enhancing traditional sediment control BMPs. In the past decade many states have included flocculant use, primarily with anionic polyacrylamide (PAM), in their stormwater and erosion and sediment control manuals and guidance documents. Broadening acceptance of PAM technologies is due to its effectiveness and safety to aquatic organisms. Flocculants are used frequently today because they can reduce turbidity to levels that standard BMPs are not capable of doing alone. With expansion of use, many individuals, and groups (universities, private industry, government, and non-profit organizations) have worked extensively to educate flocculant users on the basics of flocculants such as what they are, how to select safe and effective flocculants, and how to apply them correctly. This basic and standard training is ongoing and increasing to ensure that flocculants are used safely and effectively across the US and globally. Basic and fundamental flocculant training is essential to using flocculants correctly. Once the fundamentals are understood it is also important to understand how to utilize them to complete large scale projects and more advanced treatment systems and applications. There are also many versatile uses of flocculants that are lesser known than standard erosion control and sediment removal that can be taught once fundamentals are in place. This presentation will discuss how to select the safest, most effective flocculant treatments available to achieve compliance with strict numeric discharge limits. It will also introduce the use of flocculants in conjunction with conventional BMPs to make them work more efficiently as well as how to treat large scale and advanced projects.
Learning Objectives
- Determine how to select safe and effective flocculants.
- Identify anionic polyacrylamide as a highly safe and effective flocculant used to meet numeric discharge limits.
- Understand how to implement safe and effective flocculant treatment applications to complete large scale and robust projects.