by Ranger Kidwell-Ross, editor
WorldSweeper.com
Fighting the Stormwater Runoff Pollution Battle
Unless you live under a rock at the top of a mountain you've no doubt seen the rise of water quality issues in the United States and around the world. This can only become a more serious problem as the world population centers shift toward Africa, which by 2050 is expected to hold 25% of humanity, up 10% from today. Plus, India will have replaced China as the world's most populous country, with a projected population expected to exceed that of the U.S. and China combined.
What's to do, when water quality is already one of the most central issues facing the world? One input that needs to change, we believe, is to expend more resources on 'preventive stormwater sweeping.' In the last few years, many municipal agencies have learned how cost-effective sweeping is, compared to end-of-the-pipe solutions, and have acted accordingly. However, we believe it is clear that more attention should be paid to runoff coming from non-retail commercial and industrial parking areas where there is currently little incentive to sweep.
With EPA Stormwater Phase I and Phase II requirements, many sources of point and non-point pollution have been abated. Even so, runoff pollutants have continued to be above acceptable levels and this will only worsen as the population, and associated industrialization, increase over time. As detailed in our lead story in this issue, expanding and/or requiring periodic parking area sweeping has the potential for significantly reducing runoff of harmful pollutants.
For those cities with street-originated runoff problems, investigate how an increase in street sweeping frequency can improve your numbers. At the same time, I suggest imposition of an impervious surface runoff fee on your business community. Then – because the goal isn't to penalize the business sector but, rather, to reduce stormwater runoff pollution – provide a credit that encourages businesses to hire periodic sweeping. To ensure widespread participation, make the credit for sweeping be slightly higher than the cost of hiring contractor-provided sweeping services.
Take proactive steps now to get a handle on the material coming off commercial/industrial paved areas. Whatever your city's current pollution numbers are, chances are they will only get worse with time – and inaction.
As always, if you have any news of potential interest to the power sweeping community, please let us know. Between this publication, the WorldSweeper.com website, and the World Sweeping Association, we'll be sure to get the information passed along to interested readers.
Good Sweeping,
Editor, WorldSweeper.com
Executive Director, World Sweeping Association
PS We welcome Johnston North America as a first-time advertiser in this newsletter!
November Newsletter Contents
(Scroll down to read stories or click on links.)
- New Hampshire Watershed Organization Targets Parking Lot Sweeping to Improve Water Quality
- Getting to Zero Safety Incidents
- Elgin Sweepers Featured in Kansas City Royals' World Series Celebration Parade
- City of Moscow, Russia, Holds Yearly Street Sweeper Operator Competition
- Featured Contractor: Moore Clean, LLC
- Noteworthy in Sweeping: Syracuse DPW Worker Has Been Sweeping Syracuse by Hand Over 30 Years
- WorldSweeper's Discussion Forum: A Great Resource for Sweeping-Related Information
- Not Exactly Sweeping: Driving a Piling in Pakistan
New Hampshire Watershed Organization Targets Parking Lot Sweeping to Improve Water Quality
Pennichuck Water Works provides drinking water for residents of the greater Nashua, NH area. As an urbanized watershed, existing developed land uses contribute pollutants such as sediment and phosphorus to the water supply ponds, which have in turn contributed to declining water quality and increased algal blooms. Commercial and industrial land comprises about 13% of the watershed and their large impervious areas contribute about 40% of the phosphorus load to the water supply. Parking lot sanding practices also introduce high sediment loads.
Street sweeping and catch basin cleaning, along with regular maintenance of stormwater
practices, has been found to effectively remove phosphorus and sediment from watersheds. Although the watershed communities sweep the roadways and streets, private parking lots and commercial driveways are likely not swept as frequently or thoroughly as they could be, at least not on a widespread basis. The linked study investigated the pricing differential between having sweeping (and catch basin) companies perform twice-a-year sweeping in an effort to reduce the pollutants, rather than have the Water Works do the tasks in-house. (Spoiler alert: It's less expensive to use contractors.)
This PDF file is one of the many articles in the 'Best Practices for Street Sweeping' area of the WorldSweeper.com website.
Check out the study.
Getting to Zero Safety Incidents
Many companies set a zero-incident goal for their safety program without really understanding exactly what that could – or should – mean. What seems like a very logical and noble approach could actually neglect areas that would help to cultivate and sustain long-term successful performance.
Although setting a zero-incident goal may be appropriate for your organization, it is important that management teams seriously consider how best to proceed for sustainable, long-term success. Take the time today to understand what is truly involved in setting a zero-incident goal: the establishment and management of process indicators – including training, behavior observation, and inspections – that can help catapult your organization to superior safety performance.
John Meola, who is a frequent contributor to the WorldSweeper website and provides World Sweeping Association Members with a monthly bulletin on the topic of safety, is a seasoned safety professional who has helped many companies develop meaningful and achievable safety goals. In the webinar presentation notes we link for this article, Meola revealed a proven approach to reducing accidents and associated costs in a progressive and incremental manner. On November 17th Meola presented a live webinar on this topic; at the bottom of the presentation article you will find a link for purchase of the webinar in an on-demand format.
Click here to see Meola's presentation information.
Elgin Sweepers Featured in Kansas City Royals' World Series Celebration Parade
The City's 2015 Royals World Series Celebration, honoring Royals fans, players and support staff, kicked off at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 3 and concluded with a City-wide rally at Union Station. The event, which is estimated to be the largest celebration event in Kansas City history, brought approximately 800,000 fans to Kansas City's downtown – even though only 200,000 people were expected. The event featured cleanup with a fleet of nine Elgin sweepers.
Jeff Miles, GM for Elgin's Kansas City dealership, said their machines picked up an estimated five tons of debris, about 30 dump cycles worth of material. His organization made a 1:32 minute video of the parade route cleanup, which is definitely recommended watching. You're also bound to enjoy the logo wraps of Kansas City's Elgin sweeper fleet.
Read about it.
City of Moscow, Russia, Holds Yearly Street Sweeper Operator Competition
The City of Moscow, Russia, each year holds what is called the Moscow Masters Professional Skills Competition. One of the competitive categories is that of street sweeper operator.
The competition is seen as a way for sweeper drivers to showcase their skills. Plus, the first, second and third place winners each receive awards from the Mayor of Moscow.
Read about the competition.
Featured Contractor: Moore Clean, LLC
Our World Sweeping Association Contractor Profile for November features Texas-based, Moore Clean, LLC.
Laura and Jose Moore started into the sweeping business in May of 2001 with a lone parking lot sweeping account, on which they did all the cleaning themselves. "We had no lines of credit, no credit cards and didn't get a loan from family members," recalled Moore. "We did it the old-fashioned way by strapping it on and getting after it."
Since they did have a total of $3500 to their names the couple decided they should buy a sweeper. This turned out to be, as Jose called it, "an old Sanford and Sons TYMCO 600." They soon learned this venerable street sweeper was one of the most inefficient ways to sweep a parking lot. "We learned a number of hard lessons early on," said Moore, "and this was one of them.
Fortunately, due to the quality the couple produced for its customers, the business grew quickly and the results show what can ultimately happen when two people unite in the common cause of truly making something of their business and themselves. The article includes a 45-minute informational podcast with Jose Moore and WorldSweeper's editor, Ranger Kidwell-Ross.
Read about Moore Clean, LLC and listen to the podcast interview at the World Sweeping Association website.
Noteworthy in Sweeping: Syracuse DPW Worker Has Been Sweeping Syracuse by Hand Over 30 Years
Syracuse DPW worker, Mike Vinette, has been keeping the downtown area of Syracuse, New York, clean with a broom and a dust pan for over 30 years. Recently, the Syracuse Post Standard did a brief video of the city's venerable sweeping personality. Use the link to view the two-minute video.
See the 'Syracuse Sweeper.'
WorldSweeper's Discussion Forum: A Great Resource for Sweeping-Related Information
One of the best places to ask questions, list buy/sell info for used sweeping-related equipment – and simply interact with others in the sweeping industry – is at the WorldSweeper.com Discussion Forum. The Forum is monitored on a daily basis by industry veterans who are at the ready to alert others with specific information about requests made.
When you have questions about sweeping, why not go to the leading internet resource for power sweeping, the WorldSweeper.com website? If we don't have the answers in-house, chances are we can find out the information for you via our many contacts within the U.S. and international power sweeping industry. Note that you will need to sign up for a username and a password to post to the Forum, which is done to minimize spamming via machine. However, use of the Forum is FREE and no contact information is harvested for other uses.
Check out the Discussion Forum.
Not Exactly Sweeping: Driving a Piling in Pakistan
Most of you reading this have spent a significant amount of time around construction sites, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere. No matter where we live, it's normal to think that the construction methods we know about in our area/country are the same or similar to those in other places.
Although the linked video doesn't have to do with sweeping, the stark difference the video illustrates in how a piling can be embedded into the ground – via six men jumping up and down – offers an entertaining 30 seconds. It's also a great reminder of the many ways a project might be accomplished.
Before you watch (or for reference afterward), here's a snapshot of the engineering in play:
- 6 men x 180 lbs = 1080 lbs static force.
- Jumping up and down will create a 3 times dynamic effect = 3240 lbs/jump = 1.6 ton thumps if the pile is tapered to 2 in x 2 in, cross section at the tip = 4 sq. in. So, dynamic pressure/thump at pile tip = 3240/4 = 800 psi.
- "Add a man" feature will increase to 950 psi, so buy the option!
- Increase the chant and dynamic force goes up to 5 times to bring max. pressure / thump to 1600 psi for a 7-man team.
The results should be quite good for penetration into hard clay and sandy soil (but not hard or rocky ground!) Pretty ingenious. Oh, and the foreman is the guy on the tambourine...
See the 'Pakistan Pile-Driving Video
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