819 N BROADWAY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY 2018-05-11

BMP C240: Sediment Trap Purpose A sediment trap is a small temporary ponding area with a gravel outlet used to collect and store sediment from sites cleared and/or graded during construction. Sediment traps, along with other perimeter controls, shall be installed before any land disturbance takes place in the drainage area. Conditions of Use Prior to leaving a construction site, stormwater runoff must pass through a sediment pond or trap or other appropriate sediment removal best management practice. Non-engineered sediment traps may be used on-site prior to an engineered sediment trap or sediment pond to provide additional sediment removal capacity. It is intended for use on sites where the tributary drainage area is less than 3 acres, with no unusual drainage features, and a projected build-out time of six months or less. The sediment trap is a temporary measure (with a design life of approximately 6 months) and shall be maintained until the site area is permanently protected against erosion by vegetation and/or structures. Sediment traps and ponds are only effective in removing sediment down to about the medium silt size fraction. Runoff with sediment of finer grades (fine silt and clay) will pass through untreated, emphasizing the need to control erosion to the maximum extent first. Whenever possible, sediment-laden water shall be discharged into onsite, relatively level, vegetated areas (see BMP C234—Vegetated Strip). This is the only way to effectively remove fine particles from runoff unless chemical treatment or filtration is used. This can be particularly useful after initial treatment in a sediment trap or pond. The areas of release must be evaluated on a site-by-site basis in order to determine appropriate locations for and methods of releasing runoff Vegetated wetlands shall not be used for this purpose. Frequently, it may be possible to pump water from the collection point at the downhill end of the site to an upslope vegetated area. Pumping shall only augment the treatment system, not replace it, because of the possibility of pump failure or runoff volume in excess of pump capacity. All projects that are constructing permanent facilities for runoff quantity control should use the rough-graded or final-graded permanent facilities for traps and ponds. This includes combined facilities and infiltration facilities. When permanent facilities are used as temporary sedimentation facilities, the surface area requirement of a sediment trap or pond must be met. If the surface area requirements are larger than the surface area of the permanent facility, then the trap or pond shall be enlarged to comply with the surface area requirement. The permanent pond shall also be divided into two cells as required for sediment ponds. 4-102 Volume II—Construction Stormwater Pollution Prevention February 2005