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Preventing Pollution In A Storm Drain By SlipNot

 

A storm drain is an important part of flood prevention in both residential and commercial areas. Excess water from paved roads, sidewalks, parking lots and roofs flow into street gutters hopefully leaving a safe area for pedestrians and motorists. The water that flows down the drain generally has one outlet into a river, canal, stream, lake or ocean and is not generally treated for pollutants. Pollutants that enter the drainages system eventually end up in these larger bodies of water and can cause harm to the surrounding environment and sickness to humans and animals.

As responsible citizens we can help minimize the amount of pollutants that enter the storm drains. According to http://protectingwater.com there are specific steps we can take in order to make this possible.

• Do not allow parking lot wash water to flow into the system because it can be filled with oil, grease and other toxic substances.
• Sweep walkways instead of using water to wash them.
• Remove all debris from an area that is about to be power washed.
• Perform power washing in a place where the waste water can be contained with barriers.
• Clean vehicle leaks with rags instead of washing them down with water.
• Mop water should be put into the sanitary sewer system instead of washed down the drain.

While caring for the environment and minimizing pollutants that enter the water system are steps everyone can do, keeping pedestrians and motorists safe while using the roads that the drains covers are located on is important too. Adding a SlipNOT® non-slip surface to the storm drain will not only keep pedestrians and bicyclists safer, the slip resistant products last decades and hold up well in adverse environments. Any style grating, including ADA compliant grating, can be coated for complete safety. Storm drains play an important role in our environments; safety should also play an important role on storm drains.

Cyclists have been slipping and falling on storm drain grates throughout the streets of Seattle for quite some time and they are taking action. The drain openings run parallel with the streets and are too wide for most bike tires. To replace the storm drain grates cost about $500 per pieces, not counting labor and other drain work needed.

In 2008 a cyclist won $25,000 from the city in court after crashing on his bike, due to his tire getting caught in a storm drain grate. The cyclist and his attorney went for the settlement because the city did not do inventory and replace the grates within one year.

Seattle P-I reports that Seattle has about 70,000 to 80,000 storm drains and many of them have the wide vertical slots. The problem is that the city doesn’t know where those drain grates are located and still hasn’t come up with an inventory plan. There are guidelines that the city could follow such as the 2003 manual on uniform traffic control devices, created by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The manuals state that a white line should mark grates that are “inappropriate for bicycle travel” and the grates should be physically corrected so they are not parallel to the direction of travel.

The storm drains could also benefit from an added slip resistant surface. This would give pedestrians a high traction surfaces while traveling by foot or bike. SlipNOTÒ offers an all metal non-slip coating which provides durability and longevity.

About SlipNOT® Metal Safety Flooring Div.

SlipNOT® products represent state of the art technology in slip resistant metal surfaces. From bar gratings, floor plates, ladder rungs/covers, stair treads/nosings, or perforated and expanded metal retrofit plates; we manufacture any shape, size or specification to your details. SlipNOT® far exceeds OSHA and ADA requirements unlike diamond plate or plain bar grating.

The patented SlipNOT® product and process deposits molten metal plasma onto steel, aluminum and stainless steel. The resultant super hard, 62 Rockwell "C" scale (martensitic) surface with over 4000 p.s.i. bond strength provides unparalleled durability and traction in even the most demanding wear, abrasive and slippery environments. SlipNOT® is Women Owned: WBENC Certification #250246, NSF Approved and ISO 9001:2000 Registered.