Page 17 - Port of Baltimore Magazine November/December 2016

paved, “and that gave us a chance to install this technology,” Jamie Scheerer, project manager for the Maryland Environmental Service, said. “We’ve known about this technology for two or three years, and this is the first opportunity we’ve had to use one.”
Storm-water runoff is captured and directed via an inlet pipe
into the Jellyfish®, which is 12 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter; once inside, water is pushed into a treatment chamber, where a separation skirt traps oil, trash and debris before the filtration zone.
Water is then forced up through the filtration system, a high-performance membrane
with tentacles that provides a large surface area to remove fine sand and silt-sized particles and particulate pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, metals and hydrocarbons. The unit operates off the hydraulic pressure of the water, and the one installed on the Fairfield terminal can treat about three acres.
“Installation of the Jellyfish® was a great opportunity to use innovative solutions to improve water quality and to work collaboratively with the Maryland Department of the Environment to have this technology approved,” said Bill Richardson, environmental manager for MPA.
The Jellyfish® requires regular maintenance to rinse
and reuse the filters and vacuum the sump, typically every two
to five years, depending on the amount of pollutants, according to the manufacturer, Contech Engineered Solutions.
“The MPA is always looking to evaluate and use new technologies approved for total-management daily load compliance as part of its program to treat the impervious acres that are present throughout our facilities,” Scheerer said. 􏰀
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