Durable Catch Basin Hood Replaces Aging Trash Racks

Magnolia Plumbing in Laurel, Md., has been fixing underground storm water infrastructure in nearby Montgomery County for many years. As a neighbor to Washington, D.C., and bordered by the Potomac River and the Patuxent River—both major tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay—controlling storm water runoff has been a major concern in the county for decades.

Solomon Zacchinni, storm water operations manager for Magnolia, oversees his company’s contract to maintain and rehabilitate various underground facilities with Montgomery County. Many of the projects his crews face deal with replacing failing storm water quality components in structures such as oil grit separators and trash racks. Several of these existing systems rely on corrugated steel fittings and fabrications that have “badly corroded and are falling in on themselves,” according to Zachinni.

For the past two years, Magnolia has been using modular fiberglass storm water quality components from Best Management Products Inc. (BMP). One of the issues in repairing these facilities is that access into the structures often is limited to a 24- or 30-in.-diameter manhole frame, through which all parts and people need to pass. Large-diameter elbows and racks cannot fit through these openings. That is where the Split Snout components from BMP have been helpful.

By using Split Snouts to replace elbows for oil grit separators, and joining two Split Snouts bottom-to-bottom and drilling holes into the finished assembly to replace trash racks, Zachinni’s team at Magnolia Plumbing have repaired numerous facilities in Montgomery County. With positive feedback from county storm water facility supervisors who notice the long service life, light weight and high strength of the parts, new projects continue to be identified and fixed.