Typical maintenance problems and activities for infiltration practices
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Inspection Focus Common Maintenance Problems Maintenance Activity Recommended Maintenance Schedule Applicable Infiltration Practices1
'Drainage Area and Drawdown Time' Clogging, sediment deposition Ensure that contributing catchment areas to practice, and inlets are clear of debris Monthly 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Erosion of catchment area contributing significant amount of sediment In case of severely reduced drawdown time, scrape bottom of basin and remove sediment. Disc or otherwise aerate/scarify basin bottom. Dethatch if basin bottom is turf grass. Restore original design cross section or revise section to increase infiltration rate and restore with vegetation as necessary. Upon identification of drawdown times longer than 48 hours or upon complete failure 1,2,3,4,5,6
'Pre‐Treatment' Pre‐treatment screens or sumps reach capacity Remove sediment and oil/grease from pretreatment devices/structures. Minimum yearly or as per manufacturer's recommendations 1,2,3,4,5
Vegetative filter strip failure Reduce height of vegetative filter strip that may be limiting in‐flow. Re‐establish vegetation to prevent erosion. Leave practice off‐line until full reestablishment. Mow grass filter strips monthly. Restore as necessary 1,2,4,6
'Site Erosion' Scouring at inlets Correct earthwork to promote non‐erosive flows that are evenly distributed As necessary 1,2,3,6
Unexpected flow paths into practice Correct earthwork to eliminate unepxected drainage or created additional stabile inlets as necessary As necessary 1,2,3,6
'Vegetation Reduced drawdown time damaging plants Correct drainage issues as described above Replace with appropriate plants after correction of drainage issues 2,6,8
Severe weed establishment Limit the ability for noxious weed establishment by properly mowing, mulching or timely herbicide or handweeding. Refer to the MDA Noxious Weed List Bi‐Monthly April through October 2,6,8

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  1. Infiltration Basin
  2. Bioinfiltration Basin
  3. Infiltration Trench
  4. Dry Well
  5. Underground Infiltration
  6. Dry Swale with Check Dams
  7. Permeable Pavement
  8. Tree Trench/Tree Box