Remedial Solutions, Inc.
Chattanooga, TN

Remedial Solutions, Inc. is a ten year old, privately owned corporation that provides a full range of environmental services for industry and government. The company's corporate office is in Chattanooga, Tennessee and has a local and national presence through the manufacturing, sale and service of the AquaShield' Filtration System. The company also offers contamination assessment and corrective actions, underground and above-ground storage tank management and closure, regulatory compliance programs, SPCC plans, phase I and II environmental site assessments, and NPDES permitting

The EPA requires local municipalities to certify that storm water runoff from storm drains meets stringent requirements for certain target contaminants. Typical targeted contaminants include emulsified petroleum products and suspended organic and inorganic materials. Remedial Solutions, Inc. developed a storm water filtration system, AquaShield', which reduces these target contaminants to an acceptable level and fits inside a common storm water drain.

Currently, oil-water separators or sand filters with oil traps are used to meet EPA requirements to contain fuel spills and leaks at convenience stores, truck stops, and large parking areas. Either one of these two containment strategies for a typical storm drain with an eight-inch drain pipe costs approximately $10,000 to install and requires a maintenance cost of up to $1,000 per year. Heavy rains can flush trapped contaminants through these two filter media strategies. By comparison, an AquaShield' for the same application costs $1,650 and requires an average maintenance cost of $850 per year. Further, the AquaShield' system removes more contaminants than either the oil-water separators or the sand filters with oil traps.

Remedial Solutions addressed the high costs and effectiveness issues by using their experience applying hydrophobic containment materials for toxic pollutant isolation projects in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. Remedial Solutions developed a stainless steel multi-stage filtration system that houses the media and fits into standard storm drains. The multi-stage housing is designed to handle heavy rains without flushing absorbed contaminants downstream.

The media is a patented filter made up of totally reclaimed cellulose material. The hydrophobic filters capture contaminants while allowing water to continue to pass through the AquaShield' system. A routine maintenance program is established to replace the media, which is then recycled as a fuel.

Third-party evaluations of AquaShield' are summarized on the following table, which indicates significant reductions of contaminants with minor changes in pH or air and water temperatures:

Total Suspended Solids (TSS) 16.2 to 76.0%
Oil and Grease 50.0 to 98.1%
Barium 55.0 to 88.6%
Chromium 95.0 plus %
Lead 44.3 to 85.2%
Biological Oxygen Demand 56.9 to 85.1%
Chemical Oxygen Demand 21.1 to 63.5%
Ammonia (as N) 75.0 to 77.4%
TKN 80.0 to 81.1%

Arnold Air Force Base in Tulahoma, Tennessee substantiates annualized maintenance savings of $2,000 per filter system compared to the other oil trap and separator methods.

The City of Chattanooga Department of Public Works recognizes the AquaShield' storm water filtration system as one of its Best Management Practices because of its superior performance over other storm water filter systems. Companies or property owners in the Chattanooga area that use the AquaShield' system receive a 25% water quality discount on their storm water fee.

A patent is pending on the AquaShield' Filtration System technology.