Buffalo Airport, Buffalo, New York
Buffalo Airport had a need to reduce sewerage costs and meet stormwater discharge limits. To be an effective option, the system would have to achieve the following criteria:
- Fit within the airport.
- Treatment of cold and dilute deicing liquid.
- Maintain a low profile.
- Not pose a bird strike hazard.
- Produce low levels of sludge and odor.
- Be capable of handling seasonal variations.
- Be integrated into the existing stormwater management system.
The engineered wetlands solution was designed by Naturally Wallace Consulting (a Natural Systems Utilities strategic partner) as an essential component to the redesign of the airport’s stormwater management system. The wetland provides treatment of “first flush” stormwater, which is heavily laden with glycols during the deicing season. To treat the glycol, the wetland includes Naturally Wallace’s patented technology, “Forced Bed Aeration™” that supplies oxygen uniformly over the system and permits operator control of treatment. The distribution of wetland influent is also optimized so as to reduce “bio-clots” within the wetland media. Also important to the project was a treatability study that established cold weather reaction rates for the treatment of spent deicing liquid.
The use of an engineered wetland to meet the airport’s needs results in a simple and robust solution that is low maintenance. As designed, the project is at grade with no above ground structures that could present an airside hazard. Most importantly, the subsurface nature of the wetland prevents the need for an open water body that would be a bird strike hazard for the airport. With airport deicing soon to be regulated by the EPA, engineered wetlands are fulfilling a role of providing simple, effective treatment. Advanced engineering practices, like the use of forced bed aeration, allow natural solutions for industrial-sized problems.
The project won the 2009 “Diamond Award,” highest award in Water Resources from the New York American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and has been nominated for the National “Grand Award.”