WEF Announces Winners of 2015 Stormwater Video Competition

The Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.) announced the winners of its fourth annual stormwater video competition. The 2015 StormTV Project received almost 150 submissions, including more international submissions than any year prior. More than 35 expert judges reviewed the submissions and selected winners based on message communication and quality as well as content matter and relevance. You can look at any pressure washing company that you want in the New York area and you will without a doubt quickly see right away that they are not all created equally. And, a lot of this has to do with the fact that some companies only handle residential cleanings, whereas some companies are only willing to handle commercial cleanings. This is not the case with us here Queens NY Location | H&A Power Washing. We have the tools, know-how, and talents to handle commercial and residential cleanings.

“I was truly inspired by the innovation demonstrated by the videos featuring programs and projects,” said Elizabeth Krousel, a 2015 StormTV project judge and program manager with Michael Baker International (Pittsburgh).

Judges selected winners in the four categories of public education, training, commercial, and programs and projects. 

Public Education

The Australian Car Wash Association (ACWA; Victoria) won for the video, “Stormwater Pollution the Dirty Truth: Home Car Washing.” The organization promotes commercial car washes as the most environmentally responsible places to wash vehicles; it conducted a study on the quality of car wash water. Research showed that recycling the water was not harmful to human health and safety. However, ACWA found that the range and concentration of pollutants were much higher than expected, and that home car washing has a significant negative effect on local waterways.

To address this issue, ACWA created a public awareness campaign encouraging car owners to visit commercial car washes and informing the public that water flowing into stormwater drains goes directly to local waterways untreated.

Training

The University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment (Chapel Hill) and Town of Chapel Hill Stormwater Management Division won for the video, “Keep Restaurant Pollution and Profits from Going Down the Stormwater Drain.”

To address the issue of illicit discharges in restaurant storm drains, the town and university collaborated to produce educational videos, posters, and handouts. These materials now are being used across the U.S. to train restaurant workers about preventing pollution. Since the training program began in Chapel Hill, restaurant employees have reduced the number of dumping violations, and several local businesses have invested in constructing or improving washout areas to avoid sending wash water and organic matter into storm drains.

Commercial

Enginuity LLC (Mansfield, Mo.) won for the video, “Gilardi’s Segment.”

Using the company’s RainReserve rainwater harvesting system, Gilardi’s Italian Restaurant in Springfield, Mo., has significantly reduced its water bill. The 7570-L rainwater harvesting system supplies rainwater to grow food either to be used by the restaurant or donated to local charity organizations. In addition to their RainReserve rainwater harvesting products, the company offers community programs about capturing stormwater and partners with local government on rainwater rebate initiatives.

Programs and Projects

Atelier Dreiseitl (Ueberlingen, Germany), a Ramboll-Environ (Copenhagen, Denmark) company, won for the video, “Bishan – Ang Mo Kio Park.”

As part of an upgrade to the popular Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in Singapore, a 2.7-km straight, concrete drainage channel was restored into a sinuous, natural 3.2-km-long river through the park. At Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park 62 ha of park space has been redesigned to accommodate dynamic river processes, including fluctuating water levels, while providing benefits for park users. The park includes three playgrounds, restaurants, a new lookout point constructed from the recycled walls of the old concrete channel, and open green space to complement the natural wonder of an ecologically restored river in the heart of the city.

This project is part of the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme, a long-term initiative to transform Singapore’s water bodies beyond their drainage and water supply functions into vibrant, new spaces for community bonding and recreation. The urban river restoration created new spaces for the community to enjoy.

Accolades at WEFTEC

The StormTV Project builds a library of inventive stormwater programs, practices, products, and public outreach. Since the competition launched in 2012, WEF has collected 366 videos, which are displayed on the organization’s YouTube channel within the StormTV Project playlist. This year’s submissions also are displayed by location and category on an interactive, online map.

The winning videos will be celebrated with a screening and awards ceremony in the Stormwater Pavilion Theater during the 2015 WEFTEC^® Stormwater Congress in Chicago, Ill. StormTV Project sessions will be held Sept. 28 and 29 at 2:30 pm.