GS&P Authors ACRP Report to Help Airports Optimize Water Monitoring Systems
Gresham, Smith and Partners announces the publication of Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Research Report 166: Interpreting the Results of Airport Water Monitoring. The report provides best practices for airports to acquire, interpret and apply airport water quality data. The project’s research also helps airports use acquired data to diagnose potential problems and make better decisions for the environment and airport operations.
Gresham, Smith and Partners announces the publication of Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Research Report 166: Interpreting the Results of Airport Water Monitoring. The report provides best practices for airports to acquire, interpret and apply airport water quality data. The project’s research also helps airports use acquired data to diagnose potential problems and make better decisions for the environment and airport operations.
ACRP Research Report 166 includes a guidebook and accompanying tools that provide best practices organized around acquiring data, interpreting the data, and applying the results. The guidebook offers a template for a comprehensive, but flexible monitoring plan that can be customized to individual airport needs. The guidebook also helps airports understand the broad base of monitoring tools available, alternate techniques for evaluating data and how to choose the best tools for the job. The tools include a field data collection spreadsheet, fact sheets describing commonly observed field conditions, a data analysis tool, and a customizable parameter fact sheet database. The guidebook attachments include three case studies from North American airports describing both practical lessons learned and unique solutions to monitoring issues.
“As technology advances, it’s possible to move towards more real-time data management and implement a more proactive, rather than reactionary approach to water quality. Having a strong monitoring plan is the critical first step,” said Timothy P. Arendt, P.E., senior environmental engineer, Gresham, Smith and Partners. “We understand that each airport is different, so to help airports optimize their monitoring systems, we focused on providing a practical, user-friendly and adaptable guidebook.”
The guidebook first addresses how to obtain representative monitoring data that provides a reliable basis for operations and capital investment decisions. It subsequently outlines how to interpret data, giving users tools for statistical analysis such as a Microsoft® Excel™ spreadsheet that creates basic statistics and graphs from user data and a Microsoft® Access™ database, which has customizable fact sheets on individual monitoring parameters. Finally, the guidebook outlines how to apply monitoring data to establish permit conditions, assess regulatory compliance issues, support operations, improve airport stormwater quality, communicate with stakeholders, and conduct public outreach. The research outlined in the report was supported by Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.
On March 21, Timothy Arendt and Devon Seal led the ACRP webinar “Interpreting the Results of Airport Water Monitoring.” The webinar outlined the drivers and benefits of implementing the recommendations from the report including reducing compliance risk and improving decision-making on large infrastructure capital projects.
GS&P’s Water + Environment team consists of experienced environmental engineers, designers, geologists, operations and regulatory specialists, and scientists providing a wide range of water, wastewater, stormwater, environmental management, compliance, and sustainability services. By staying abreast of the latest developments in technology, water quality, and regulatory legislation, the team integrates environmental services with other in-house capabilities to maximize project delivery, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.