Business / Commercial

Property Management & Site Design for All Businesses

Keep Your Site Clean

Keeping pavement and other surfaces clean is an important best management practice (BMP) to keep debris, pollutants, and soil from entering surface waters.

• Clean litter and debris from drainage inlets and catch basins to prevent flooding.
• Create a spill prevention and response plan.
• Keep dumpster lids closed and trash collection areas clean.
• Perform vehicle maintenance and wash only where water flows into a sand/oil separator.
• Plan sand and salt operations to prevent over application. Reduce salt use where feasible.
• Report bigger spills to appropriate agencies for proper cleanup.
• Store hazardous materials in covered, protected areas.
• Store snow on flat, well-vegetated areas or upslope of infiltration systems.
• Sweep parking areas and walkways instead of washing with a hose.
• Train employees on how to prevent spills and how to respond to a spill.

Reduce the Amount of Stormwater Runoff Created

Decreasing stormwater runoff improves water quality, replenishes groundwater supplies and reduces the risk of flooding, property damage and erosion problems. The following suggestions also provide other positive environmental benefits and may make sites more appealing to people.

• Avoid overwatering landscaped areas, which washes fertilizer into storm drains.
• Consider Green Infrastructure or Low Impact Development (LID) techniques, which include bioretention areas such as rain gardens, constructed stormwater wetlands, treebox filters, grass or vegetated channels or swales, porous pavement, green roofs, and others. In addition to the benefits noted, LIDsystems are usually less expensive and require less maintenance than traditional infrastructure.
  1. The Low Impact Development Center
     The Low Impact Development Center has extensive information on planning, design, and maintenance requirements for LID techniques. This is a great place to begin when considering LID for your project site.
  2. The Cost of Low Impact Development
     The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a useful webpage with cost-benefit resources for using green infrastructure or LID techniques for stormwater management.
• Plant native vegetation on all disturbed bare areas.
• Remove unneeded pavement and restore the area for infiltration.

Capture, Treat & Infiltrate Stormwater On-Site

Capture, treat, and infiltrate stormwater on-site by installing a combination of the following practices:

Incorporating these practices and infrastructure into your site can significantly reduce water pollution. Many of these practices also replenish groundwater and reduce flooding and erosion. Consider making changes over time or during redevelopment projects.

• Detention basins
• Drop inlets or grates
• Green Infrastructure or Low Impact Development (see more in the Reduce the Amount of Stormwater Runoff Created section)
• Oil absorption pillows
• Sand/oil separation units
• Slotted channel drains
• Subsurface infiltration systems