As part of its mission to develop near-term, practical solutions to problems faced by airport operators, the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) selected Gresham Smith to develop a guidebook to help airports identify, analyze and monitor runoff of deicing material in their stormwater management systems.
Deicing chemicals mixed with stormwater can be discharged and harm ecosystems if left unaddressed. Many airports had already implemented deicer-stormwater management systems but desired guidelines and recommendations to make those systems more effective and efficient.
The manual we developed identifies the stormwater pollutant-related parameters to monitor, the merits of different monitoring methods, and best practice recommendations for each method. To produce these guidelines, the Gresham Smith team assessed the effectiveness of current stormwater monitoring practices already used by airports and paired that analysis with research and lessons learned from other industries that face similar challenges.