The first installation of SDS Aqua-XchangeTM, the sustainable drainage innovation which turns roadside filter drains into treatment devices that protect the water environment from toxic metals pollution, has been successfully completed on a busy stretch of the M56 motorway.

Contractors BDB Special Projects installed the new granular treatment media into an existing filter drain along the M56 to prevent pollution of a vulnerable Cheshire stream, which receives runoff from a 1km stretch of the motorway via a single outfall.

SDS Aqua-Xchange™ has been developed by SDS, the leading manufacturer of surface water infrastructure systems, to capture and retain copper and zinc, poisonous metals released through the abrasion of vehicle tyres and brake pads, which dissolve in surface water during heavy rain.

SDS Aqua-Xchange™ could now be installed into many hundreds of kilometres of existing filter drains that flank motorways and trunk roads across the country.

Highways England has identified 2,500 high-risk pollution locations as part of its ongoing Priority Outfall Programme and is looking for practical and affordable treatment solutions.

As part of the continuous improvement programme for the Highways England Area 10, a study was completed of the Mag Brook outfall, a small tributary that runs through farmland to the south of Lymm. Water from Mag Brook flows via another stream, Bradley Brook, into a small lake known as Lymm Dam, a popular local beauty spot and nature reserve.

Jo Bradley, Market Development Manager and water quality specialist for SDS, worked closely on the M56 project from its earliest stages, through its first successful installation. She said:

“The risk assessment revealed the stream was vulnerable to pollution because of the high traffic volumes travelling to and from Manchester and the airport. There was very little water flow in the brook to dilute the runoff from the motorway. It confirmed a treatment scheme was needed to clean the water significantly, reducing both the soluble copper and zinc levels to bring them within permitted levels.

“There was no space to build SuDS ponds or other vegetative features behind the carriageway to treat the metals, or to install a manufactured stormwater filter to capture the pollutants. So, it would have been extremely problematic to mitigate the pollution risk otherwise. Using SDS Aqua-Xchange™ also meant less excavation and less disruption. There will also be no need for maintenance during the 12 to 15 years design life.”

Filter drains are stone-filled trenches that provide a highly-effective and sustainable way of capturing suspended solids as they run off to the sides of the carriageway. However, they are not capable of capturing soluble pollutants.

When added to the filter drain, a layer of SDS Aqua-Xchange™ uses the processes of adsorption and ionic exchange to capture the metals dissolved in the runoff as they filter through the material. The chemical process forms unbreakable bonds, so the pollutants are retained even in heavy storms and during winter road-salt applications.

There are many hundreds of kilometres of filter drains throughout the UK, close to areas known to be at risk of metals pollution from runoff. Further installations of SDS Aqua-Xchange™ are already in the design stages for locations across the UK.