Presidential Street Baffle Boxes

The City received cost-share funding under the FDEP Total Maximum Demand Loading (TMDL) grant program to construct nutrient separating baffle boxes with filters at two of the City’s storm water drainage outfalls into the Indian River Lagoon.  The project is part of the riverfront Basin Management Action Plan to reduce nutrient loading from storm water runoff into the impaired Indian River Lagoon.  The project included the design, permitting and construction of the baffle boxes.  Permits from the St John’s River Water Management District were obtained for all three locations.

 

The construction included the installation of three nutrient separating baffle boxes with filters to reduce pollutants at the drainage outfalls.   The project also included drainage pipes, shallow grassy swale and other best management practices to remove pollutants.  These three baffle boxes are the new generation boxes with filters to exceed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements in removing nutrients such as 80% total phosphorus and 47% of total nitrogen.  The Washington baffle box is part of a watershed area of 37.5 acres and the Indian River Drive/Martian and Coolidge baffle boxes covers two outfalls with watershed area of 29.4 acres.  Both watershed areas include the street pavement surface areas of Washington, Martin, Indian River Drive, Cleveland, Coolidge and US 1 from Coolidge to Main Street.  As part of this grant funded projects,  monitoring and testing of the drainage outfalls were conducted and water samples tested for phosphorus and total nitrogen.  In addition, the City of Sebastian conducted in-house water sample collections and testing of Stormwater runoff.

 

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The construction of the project which also included streetscape with the drainage and the two baffle boxes started in June 2014 and completion of the project was in December 2014.   The following photos show the installation of the nutrient baffle boxes during the construction.

 

Indian River Drive/Martin Street Baffle Box

 

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Washington Street Baffle Box

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Coolidge Street Baffle Box

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