As Category 4 Hurricane Ian approached in late September, a “smart” retention pond on S.R. 45 near Port Tampa Bay captured 175,000 cubic feet of the polluted flow before it hit Tampa Bay. Technology in the pond continuously assesses its contents and rainfall forecasts to initiate an automatic release of partly filtered contents before a storm comes ashore. Operators can also remotely lower the water levels when a storm approaches.
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NST TEAM SPOTLIGHT: Meet Capt. John Ferguson, USN-Ret., President & COO
We are very proud of the rich backgrounds and experience brought to the smart stormwater industry by our team at NST. One team member in particular, NST President and COO Capt. John Ferguson (USN-Retired), was recently appointed to represent the Muscogee Creek Nation at the ship construction steel-cutting ceremony for the future USNS Muscogee Creek Nation at Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss.
The vessel is the 10th Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) and the fifth T-ATS vessel being constructed by Bollinger since acquiring the program in April 2021. The Navajo-class provides oceangoing tug, salvage, and rescue capabilities to support fleet operations and are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of grounded vessels, off-ship firefighting, and manned diving operations.
Named for the Muscogee Creek Nation, the ship honors the self-governed Native American tribe located in Okmulgee, Okla.
How Smart Ponds Work
Most Floridians are familiar with a traditional stormwater pond. They are all around us in residential communities, commercial and business districts, airports, seaports, and similar developments. Traditional ponds hold rain and stormwater runoff. However, in large storms, these ponds often overflow and flood the surrounding area with untreated stormwater.
The latest innovation in stormwater management is to connect a pond to live weather forecast data and use that information to project water levels and, if necessary, automatically lower its water level before a storm arrives. While the sun is still shining, an NST Smart Pond can actively drain itself to increase its flood storage capacity while in constant communication with professional stormwater managers who can oversee its performance and even remotely control the pond. These are exactly the steps that National Stormwater Trust engineers took in advance of Hurricane Ian’s landfall in Southwest Florida.
New Smart Pond Installations for Tampa Bay
National Stormwater Trust is excited to announce two new Smart Pond installations powered by OptiRTC, Inc. on FDOT ponds. Located on SR 60 in Hillsborough County and SR 55 in Pinellas County, these facilities, within the Tampa Bay Watershed, will provide local rainfall data, pond level information, and water quality data. In the next phase, we will be installing actuated valves to control the effluent and maximize treatment efficiency. Thank you ASUS for your expert installation services!
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SR 60 Pond Control Panel and Solar Array -
SR 60 Sensor Installation -
SR 55 Pond Control Panel and Solar Array -
SR 55 Sensor Installation
NST Summary
National Stormwater Trust, Inc. (NST) is a stormwater management company that takes over the operation of stormwater ponds and deploys technology solutions to provide state-of-the-art stormwater treatment solutions for the benefit of our partners and the environment.
NST recently partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to provide regional stormwater treatment services under an exclusive public-private partnership. Through this partnership with FDOT, NST develops, permits, and operates FDOT regional stormwater facilities and can permanently reserve for NST customers a specified volume of stormwater treatment capacity to offset the stormwater treatment requirements associated with any size project. With this arrangement, NST’s customers can fully develop their real property without setting aside the land or capital usually required for a new development’s stormwater infrastructure. Further, long term ongoing costs associated with stormwater facilities operation and maintenance are avoided. Under certain circumstances, existing stormwater facilities may be eligible for decommissioning and development after being re-permitted in an offsite NST facility.
NST has opened the Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee County markets and will be opening the inventory of FDOT stormwater facilities along the Interstate I-4 corridor between Tampa and Daytona in the next 90 days. Additionally, NST can fully manage your existing stormwater facilities and create and oversee a program to generate incremental revenue to offset operation and management costs for organizations such as airports, seaports, state and local governments, education campuses, businesses, industrial and commercial parks, retail and residential developments, apartment complexes, and not for profit organizations.
National Stormwater Trust and Opti Announce Strategic Partnership in Florida
June 26, 2020: National Stormwater Trust, Inc. (NST) is a stormwater management company that assumes the operation of existing stormwater ponds and deploys technology solutions from Opti to provide state-of-the-art stormwater treatment services that minimize operation and maintenance costs, maximize development revenue, and benefit the environment. NST recently entered into an exclusive public-private partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to make regional stormwater treatment services available to public and private clients. Through this partnership with FDOT, NST develops, permits, and operates added treatment capacity in FDOT regional stormwater facilities that can be permanently reserve for NST customers to offset the stormwater treatment requirements associated with any size project. NST’s customers will be able to fully develop their real property without setting aside the land or capital usually required for a new development’s stormwater treatment infrastructure and can avoid the long-term ongoing costs associated with facility operation and maintenance. Also, existing stormwater facilities may be eligible for decommissioning and development after their treatment capacity is re-permitted in an NST facility.
By partnering with Opti and taking advantage of its market-leading expertise, NST is able to quickly and efficiently retrofit FDOT stormwater ponds with Opti equipment that enables remote operation and control thru Opti’s software platform. Opti and NST can convert a conventional pond into a “smart pond,” thereby improving its operational efficiency and water quality and flood control benefits. The smart pond technology proactively manages the collection, storage, and discharge of stormwater and provides real-time data that verifies the level of water quality. Opti-equipped stormwater facilities are at least 60% more effective in treating stormwater than passive facilities, and Opti technology is 50% less expensive than traditional water quality enhancement methods.
NST opened the Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee County offsite stormwater markets in 2019, including two approved projects at the Tampa International Airport (TPA). Commenting on the benefits of offsite stormwater treatment for TPA, Richard Coudurier, the Planning and Design Director at TPA, recently stated, “In lieu of proceeding with a traditional stormwater facility design, [TPA will contract for] offsite stormwater treatment … managed by NST. This option provides an opportunity to significantly reduce the wildlife attractant areas and the associated risk to aircraft operations.” NST will be opening the inventory of FDOT stormwater facilities along the Interstate I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando (including Orange County) market in the next 90 days.
ABOUT NST
NST can fully develop and manage existing stormwater facilities and create and oversee a program to generate incremental revenue to offset operation and management costs for organizations such as airports, seaports, state and local governments, education campuses, businesses, industrial and commercial parks, retail and residential developments, apartment complexes, and not for profit organizations.
ABOUT Opti
OptiRTC, Inc., headquartered in Boston, MA, enables healthy watersheds and flood resilient communities. Local governments and commercial landowners across the US use Opti to proactively manage storm events and water resources and foster a more sustainable environment. Using weather forecasting and IoT technology, Opti solutions deliver predictive stormwater runoff control and insights into changing watershed conditions, providing water management professionals with peace of mind, especially when storms are on the horizon.
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