Stormceptor

Stormceptor is the standard for effective stormwater treatment.

The Stormceptor® (Standard Treatment Cell) was developed by Imbrium™ Systems to address the growing need to remove and isolate pollution from the storm drain system before it enters the environment. The Stormceptor STC targets hydrocarbons and total suspended solids (TSS) in stormwater runoff. It improves water quality by removing contaminants through the gravitational settling of fine sediments and floatation of hydrocarbons while preventing the re-suspension or scour of previously captured pollutants. The development of the Stormceptor STC revolutionized stormwater treatment and created an entirely new category of environmental technology. Protecting thousands of waterways around the world, the Stormceptor System has set the standard for effective stormwater treatment.

General Information

Stormceptor offers the developer / owner many key benefits:

The Stormceptor System removes free oil and suspended solids from stormwater, preventing
spills and non-point source pollution from entering downstream lakes and rivers. The key
benefits, capabilities and applications of the Stormceptor System are as follows:
• Provides continuous positive treatment during all rainfall events
• Can be designed to remove over 80% of the annual sediment load
• Removes a wide range of particles
• Can be designed to remove a specific particle size distribution (PSD)
• Captures free oil from stormwater
• Prevents scouring or re-suspension of trapped pollutants
• Pre-treatment to reduce maintenance costs for downstream treatment measures (ponds,
swales, detention basins, filters)
• Groundwater recharge protection
• Spills capture and mitigation
• Simple to design and specify
• Designed to your local watershed conditions
• Small footprint to allow for easy retrofit installations
• Easy to maintain (vacuum truck)
• Multiple inlets can connect to a single unit
• Suitable as a bend structure
• Pre-engineered for traffic loading (minimum CHBDC)
• Minimal elevation drop between inlet and outlet pipes
• Small head loss
• Additional protection provided by an 18” (457 mm) fiberglass skirt below the top of the
insert, for the containment of hydrocarbons in the event of a spill.

The patented Stormceptor System has been designed focus on the environmental objective
of providing long-term pollution control. The unique and innovative Stormceptor design allows
for continuous positive treatment of runoff during all rainfall events, while ensuring that all
captured pollutants are retained within the system, even during intense storm events.
An integral part of the Stormceptor design is PCSWMM for Stormceptor – sizing software
developed in conjunction with Computational Hydraulics Inc. (CHI) and internationally
acclaimed expert, Dr. Bill James. Using local historical rainfall data and continuous simulation
modeling, this software allows a Stormceptor unit to be designed for each individual site and
the corresponding water quality objectives.
By using PCSWMM for Stormceptor, the Stormceptor System can be designed to remove a
wide range of particles (typically from 20 to 2,000 microns), and can also be customized to
remove a specific particle size distribution (PSD). The specified PSD should accurately
reflect what is in the stormwater runoff to ensure the device is achieving the desired water
quality objective. Since stormwater runoff contains small particles (less than 75 microns), it is
important to design a treatment system to remove smaller particles in addition to coarse
A key feature of the Stormceptor System is its patented scour prevention technology. This
innovation ensures pollutants are captured and retained during all rainfall events, even
extreme storms. The Stormceptor System provides continuous positive treatment for all
rainfall events, including intense storms. Stormceptor slows incoming runoff, controlling and
reducing velocities in the lower chamber to create a non-turbulent environment that promotes
free oils and floatable debris to rise and sediment to settle.
The patented scour prevention technology, the fiberglass insert, regulates flows into the
lower chamber through a combination of a weir and orifice while diverting high energy flows
away through the upper chamber to prevent scouring. Laboratory testing demonstrated no
scouring when tested up to 125% of the unit’s operating rate, with the unit loaded to 100%
sediment capacity (NJDEP, 2005). Second, the depth of the lower chamber ensures the
sediment storage zone is adequately separated from the path of flow in the lower chamber to
prevent scouring.