Academy Road Stormwater Improvements

 
Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham jointly developed this project to improve water quality of stormwater from the Academy sub-basin of the Lake Whatcom Watershed. This project, constructed during the summer of 2015, treats runoff from approximately 76 acres and is estimated to remove 30 pounds of phosphorus annually. It was funded by Whatcom County, the City of Bellingham, and grants from Washington State Department of Ecology.

•  Pretreatment unit to remove sediment, oil and grease, and floating debris.
• Filterra bioretention which utilizes proprietary engineered media and encourages active biological ecosystem with the media.
• Sorbtive amended and sand filter. Sorbitive media is an engineered granular media containing aluminum oxide and iron oxide that demonstrates substantial capacity for adsorption of dissolved phosphorus from stormwater runoff.
• High flow bypass for storm flows in excess of the treatment system capacity to divert flows directly to the lake.
• A vegetated buffer established along the lake front to improve fish and wildlife habitat.