Coastal Pollution Control

For this beachfront recreational site, Ecomedia was used to remove high-volume toxic contaminants, litter, nutrient rich and polluted stormwater currently being discharged directly into the coastal environment.

The beachfront environment has many unique factors that subject it to even greater exposure to pollution. Intensive developments combined with high transient populations give rise to a substantially greater amount of vehicles and litter resulting in increased pollution loadings which exacerbates environmental impacts.

The highly polluted run-off from this short term parking along the beach in Manly, Australia is filtered through pervious pavers that are built into the drain. A five hundred metre section along the access road to the beach captures polluted stormwater from the corresponding road and parking lot catchment.

After passing through a grate system the polluted stormwater is treated using Ecomedia.
Containing naturally occurring micro-organisms, the filter media biologically degrades and remediates toxic chemicals that are the result of daily urban and industrial pollution. Infiltrating through the specially designed structural media, typical contaminants such as hydrocarbons and metals found in road and car park run-off are treated without compromising the structural integrity of the pavement.

The purified water passes into a 360,000 litre storage tank. A pump system then uses the water to spray irrigate the pine trees that are a major feature of the park. Excess purified water overflows and percolates through the existing sandy site soils to recharge ground water.