Sediment pollution from construction sites has been of increasing concern, since the impacts on nearby streams can be severe. Five sediment trapping devices were monitored on construction sites in the Piedmont region of North Carolina to determine their trapping efficiency and the improvement in the water quality of their discharges. For each device, discharges were measured and sampled over periods of 5 to 13 months and the amount of trapped sediment was determined.
Abstract: A study of the water quality of discharges from three different sediment control systems was conducted on a large construction site in North Carolina. Samples were obtained during storm events at the outlets of 11 of these systems using automatic samplers. Turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) were measured, and a storm-weighted average (SWA) was determined for the systems.
Rock check dams are commonly installed in construction site ditches to reduce the potential erosion that can occur during runoff events. Recent tests at field sites have suggested that check dams constructed of fiber materials, such as coir, straw, and excelsior may outperform rock in reducing ditch erosion, and adding polyacrylamide (PAM) can significantly reduce turbidity.