You may have noticed a lot of activity and large machinery at the beach on Friday, June 7. We’re excited to report the Vortechs stormwater treatment unit was installed.

In the past, the Town Beach would have to close periodically due to poor water quality. In conjunction with the rest of the beach renovation project, the Town looked for a solution to improve the water quality and minimize beach closings. The Vortechs by Contech Engineered Solutions LLC provides that solution by offering a better way to treat the stormwater before it enters the bay.

The Vortechs unit works like this: Once placed below ground (as seen in the attached photos), the unit’s combination of swirl concentration and flow controls capture and retain debris in the stormwater. First, the untreated stormwater enters the unit’s swirl chamber through an inlet pipe. The swirling motion of the water creates gravitational separation of any solids, which then settle on the chamber floor. The stormwater exits the swirl chamber where a baffle wall traps any floatables and hydrocarbons. Once filtered, the stormwater then flows under the baffle wall into the flow control chamber that contains separate controls for both peak- and low-intensity flows. Finally, the treated stormwater flows to the outlet chamber and exits via the outlet pipe into the bay, significantly cleaner than when it entered the unit.  

You can watch a video of the Vortechs unit at work here.

The Town thanks The Palmer Foundation and Fund for Lake Michigan whose generous grants totaling $150,000 helped fund the cost of the Vortechs stormwater treamtent unit.