‘Witch’ way to maintain stormwater drains? This way

There’s a new witch in town.

Melbourne Beach recently unveiled its newest acquisition in the fight against polluted stormwater entering the Indian River Lagoon – the Ditch Witch 800.

In a storm, fertilizer, chemicals, oil and other pollutants common to any town or city trickle down the pavement, past buildings and homes. Unable to soak into the concrete ground, the toxic stew winds its way to the stormwater drains, where it is then carried off into the waterways, harming wildlife and water quality.

In Melbourne Beach, Interim Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro and Public Works Supervisor Tom Davis have brainstormed ways to control and clean stormwater before it reaches the Indian River Lagoon.

“One ongoing maintenance project is the cleaning of our street curbs and stormwater inlets and filter boxes,” Davis said. “This is critical to make sure we get the maximum use of our stormwater system and make every effort to stop dirt and debris from being dumped into our lagoon. Additionally, by collecting this dirt/silt from the inlet, we remove fertilizer byproducts from entering our lagoon.”

The town paid an outside contractor to come and vacuum the storm drain system quarterly – and they also paid a street sweeping contractor to remove dirt from the curb system.

Believing the money could be directed toward a better and more permanent solution, they set out to find a possible alternative.

“After considerable deliberation we decided that having the ability to accomplish the task in-house would serve the town best,” Davis said. “Various types of equipment were considered and after considering our needs and what machine would best meet our needs, we decided on the Ditch Witch 800.”

Mascaro and Davis presented the proposal to the Town Commission, asking for $38,000.

“We advised the commission that by not having to contract out these services, we could recover our investment in roughly two years,” Davis said. “The commission approved this with enthusiasm for our proposed 2020 budget, which begins Oct. 1 of this year.”

But with hurricane season in full swing, Mascaro pointed out the machine could be a great benefit if there is a storm, and suggested the use of available funds in the current budget to purchase the Ditch Witch now – with the money replaced from the 2020 budget in October. The commission agreed and unanimously approved the immediate purchase.

Since it arrived last week, public works has been practicing with it and will soon begin cleaning curbs and stormwater drains.

Mayor Jim Simmons believes that owning the machine will guarantee that the drains are cleaned the streets are swept immediately prior to storm events.

“Two years ago, when Irma was approaching, the service we previously contracted with cancelled the cleaning that was already scheduled for that week so that they could go work on a bigger contract,” Simmons said. “As a result, our drains/pipes did not work as efficiently as possible and the additional debris that was in the streets made them even less efficient. Owning our own equipment will ensure that we never suffer from this again.”

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