Poorly maintained drywells can negatively impact the environment by injecting pollutants deep underground. Companies should regularly inspect and service their drywells to comply with regulations, avoid fines, and demonstrate commitment to sustainability. Unregistered or non-functioning drywells that are not properly maintained can cost companies thousands of dollars to replace.

1. Drywell Maintenance Keeps Your Company
GREEN While Saving You $$ Green $$
Drywells are drainage features used extensively in Arizona and the
southwest. Drywells are designed to take storm water from the surface
and inject it into the ground. If not properly maintained or located in-
appropriately, drywells can inject pollutants into the ground also. Dry-
wells are designed to have regular maintenance and annual inspec-
tions. Ask these questions: How many drywells do we have on our
facilities? Have they been inspected in the last 12 months? Are they
registered? Are they in compliance with state and federal regulations?
Have they been serviced? It’s very simple, if you don’t know the an-
swer to all of these questions, it could cost you up to $100,000 or
more just in fines and application fees! Replacing a non-functioning
drywell can cost up to $25,000 each. A major Arizona university has
discovered that they own over 300 drywells. If just 7% of those dry-
wells no longer function due to 20 years or more of deferred mainte-
nance, the cost to replace them could exceed $400,000. These are not
the type of expenses a company can plan for unless you know the an-
swers to the questions.
Environmental Responsibility/Sustainability
Does your company have a policy regarding protecting the
environment or sustainability? Drywells have a significant
potential to negatively impact the environment and natural
resources. Drywells are linked to the biggest Superfund and
WQARF cleanup sites in Arizona. Uncontrolled discharges
directly impacted an enormous area of soil and groundwater
in our state. The cleanups of these areas will likely take
decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to complete.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
(ADEQ) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) are continually trying to locate possible contributors
to this contamination to help offset the cleanup costs. By Poorly maintained drywells will not filter out pollut-
performing your annual inspections, servicing your dry- ants and inject them deep into the ground. Servic-
ing these drywells enables a company to demon-
wells and managing discharges demonstrates your commit- strate a commitment to sustainability.
ment to the environment and natural resources.
5230 North 16th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85016
ROC # 239895
602-230-1471
Fax 602-230-9598
Storm Water Services

2. Drywell Servicing and Maintenance
As defined by the ADEQ, a drywell is a bored, drilled, or driven shaft or hole
whose depth is greater than its width and is designed and constructed specifically
for the disposal of storm water. Drywells are regulated by Aquifer Protection Per-
mit (APP) regulations A.A.C. R18-9-101-403 and A.R.S. §49-331-336. ADEQ
estimates that between 40% and 50% of all drywells installed in Arizona are cur-
rently unregistered. CESs’ experience is closer to 65-75% are unregistered and
there are more than 45,000 registered today. Drywells are designed to be serviced
and maintained just as any major building component such as HVAC and Roof-
ing. The longer you delay servicing of any of these components the more expen-
sive the repairs become.
Drywell Owner’s Liability
All drywells must be registered to the current
owner and should be inspected annually. If dry-
wells collect water from areas where hazardous
or regulated materials are used, stored, loaded, or treated, the owner must ap-
ply for an APP or modify the drywell. This would include drywells located in
recessed loading docks or in an area where storm water can wash waste oil,
sludge, metal wastes, or other regulated or hazardous materials into a drywell.
A drywell that drains the area where a drycleaner operates would at a mini-
mum require a Determination of Applicability to determine the APP require-
ments. Ultimately, property owners and/or managers may be responsible for
contamination of drywells by tenants that use, store, load or treat hazardous or
regulated materials. Not knowing a tenant is disposing into your drywell will Drywells in areas of drycleaners may
require an APP even if the drywell
not protect you from the liability. owner does not own the dry cleaning
operation.
Drywell Discovery
The majority of drywells are unregistered for two main reasons. The first rea-
son, no one has been trained to identify drywells, so many assume these are
storm drains leading to a municipal storm water system. Second, the drywells
are hidden or obscured from view. Many of these drywells have been installed
for years and are covered with debris or even landscaping materials. If you
don’t see them, you won’t know to register them and they won’t get serviced as
they should. Our inspections include an evaluation of the sites drainage patterns
in an effort to identify areas where drywells may be buried or hidden from
view. One of the keys of being able to maintain and service your drywells is
knowing how many you have and where they are located. With this informa-
tion, you can make an informed decision and
Many drywells are simply hidden be- budget for the maintenance requirements.
neath years of debris and landscaping
buildup.
Drywell Inspections
The inspection portion of drywell maintenance is more than simply observing
the drywell visually. Identifying unusual staining in or around the lid and any
unusual or offensive odors emanating from the drywell is very important. The
lid should be removed to better inspect the interior and verify the absorbent
pillow and bio-cloth are both present and intact. At this time it is determined

3. if enough debris and sediment have accumulated to warrant removal. Excessive
debris and sediment allows for pooling and stagnation of water that breeds mos-
quitoes. Mosquitoes are a major source for the transmission of West Nile Virus
and Avian Flu. If these drywells are in playgrounds, school parking lots or shop-
ping centers, the potential exposure to humans is exacerbated. Additionally, if
the drywell has gone without service for many years, the useful lifespan can be
significantly reduced. Drywells are designed to be serviced regularly, delaying
the service will damage the drywell sometimes beyond repair. For these reasons,
drywell maintenance is a key component to extend the useful life of the drywell
and reduce risks and replacement costs. With new drywells costing $18,000-
Standing water in a drywell will pro- $25,000 each, it is a good investment. Many want to wait until there is an obvi-
mote the breeding of mosquitoes. ous problem with a drywell before having them serviced. If you wait until there
is standing water above the drywell, it is often too late to restore functionality.
By this time, the damage is usually so great that only partial functionality can
be restored.
Drywell Installation
Many issues surrounding drywells can be directly tied back to the original in-
stallation and construction. Sometimes the debris screens for injection pipes
are left off. Other times, sub-contractors at the site use the drywells for dis-
posal of excess concrete or even to clean out painting equipment. These types
of disposals often significantly impair the drywells ability to function and are
often illegal. Drywells that have been used to dispose of materials other than
storm water may require a Clean Closure Deferred maintenance is the major fac-
process to determine that the discharge did tor contributing to drywell failures.
not add contaminants to the ground water. This injection pipe has been broken for
This can be both time consuming and ex- many years,
pensive to the drywell owner as well as
interrupt normal business operations. Having the contractor who installed the
drywells perform the inspections may not reveal these types of issues. As
with most situations, it is always a good idea to get a third party expert opin-
ion.
Proper Drywell Maintenance
The only way to properly service a drywell
Drywells are often used for disposal of
is by sending someone into the drywell to
paint and concrete by sub-contractors dur-
remove the debris. Because the bio-cloth is
ing construction or Tenant Improvements.
usually under a layer of gravel, verifying
its presence can only be done in person. Properly replacing the bio-cloth so that
it performs its designated purpose can only be done by hand. Finally, if the de-
bris and sediment are being removed with the aid of a vacuum truck, it is criti-
cal that any materials removed beyond the sediment are replaced with clean
gravel. Because the settling chamber typically rests on this bedding if this criti-
cal step is missed, the structural integrity of the drywell is compromised. After
2-3 years the entire settling chamber can sink 2-12 inches and in some cases Drywells that are excavated with a
Vacuum Truck without entering the dry-
require replacement of the drywell. well are often over excavated and
start to sink.

4. A CES Drywell Inspection and Servicing or Maintenance
When CES, Inc. inspects a drywell we do it right! We pull the inlet grate
and inspect the interior using a light and a camera. We document any
damage, construction flaws, presence of the petroleum pillows, service
recommendations and we fill out the ADEQ Annual Drywell Inspection
forms for the customer if servicing is not necessary. If CES services the
drywell, our bid includes removal of up to 12” of sediment and debris.
We verify the presence of the Geotextile or poly liner (bio-cloth) and
that it is installed properly. We add up to 4” of pea gravel to aid in filtra-
tion and keeping the Geotextile or poly liner in place. We provide a site
diagram identifying the locations of the drywells and assign identifica-
tion numbers to each. We docu- Serviced Drywells should look like this right after
ment the depth of the settling servicing.
chambers before and after servic-
ing for future annual inspection comparisons. When necessary, CES re-
places the Hydrophobic Petrochemical Pillow with a eco-friendly pillow
made with recycled and renewable materials and made with a minimum of
the oil based Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC).
Drywell Documentation
An annual drywell inspection checklist needs to be completed and retained
on the property for a period of three years. This is very important in areas
of regional ground water contamination. This documentation would be
used to demonstrate a site has not participated in adding to the ground wa-
ter contamination. A worst case example would be a shopping center with
Knowing where your drywells are lo- a dry cleaner located in any of Arizona’s WQARF or Federal Superfund
cated helps identify them should they
become covered at a later date. Areas. The potential fines for drywells that are not in compliance with Ari-
zona Environmental and EPA regulations can be as high as $25,000 per
violation (drywell) per day. Without inspection and servicing records, the
owner of the drycleaner could become a suspected contributing party to the contamination and require environ-
mental investigation by the EPA and/or ADEQ. CES can provide a detailed
facilities manual for each of your facilities that includes the required docu-
mentation ready for such an inspection should ADEQ or the EPA show up
and request it.
Drywell Inspection and Servicing Training
CES can train maintenance and facilities personnel how to identify dry-
wells, perform annual inspections, state and federal regulatory require-
ments and even full servicing of drywells. We can teach you what you
need to look for to prevent serious damage to your drywells and how to
protect your facilities from environmental contamination. We can help
prepare Best Management Plans (BMPs), Spill Prevention Controls and
Countermeasures (SPCC) plan and Aquifer Protection Plans (APP). With
all of the information we can provide, you will be able be able to plan and Waiting until you can see you have a problem
control your costs. is too late and will result in higher repair
costs.

5. Evaluate the Entire System
CES, Inc. can evaluate your entire storm water system to give you a com-
plete understanding where storm water is coming from and where it is go-
ing. In the retail environment, many shopping centers were developed at
the same time. These centers often share parking, landscaping and storm
water retention and management. A common example is a site on a corner
where a gasoline station is surrounded by the shopping center. This gaso-
line station directs all of its storm water into the common area retention
basin where drywells are located. The problems begin when this retention
basin is located on a property not owned by the gasoline station. The gaso-
line station has state and federal obligations to discharge only clean storm
water. But what happens if something DOES happen? Who is responsible?
Ultimately, the drywell owner is responsible for any and all contaminants Box drains are often used to help direct
that enter into drywells that they own even if this contamination originates storm water to drywells in the system.
from off site. Certainly, the owner of the drywell may pursue legal recourse
to recover costs of remediation, but this will cost both time and money. If you know the situation at the site, you
can make preparations and contingency plans for worst case scenarios. Not knowing this information could result
in higher repair costs, environmental penalties and possible ongoing remediation costs.
Quality you can Depend ON!
At Certified Environmental Services, we are committed to helping
you help the environment. We have inspected and serviced thou-
sands of drywells here in Arizona. We are licensed, bonded and in-
sured! We do our very best to resolve the problems long term not
just today! We inform you of your options and what potential liabili-
ties may be present. We try to come up with step by step cost effec-
Poorly designed storm water systems often tive solutions to the problems. Our goal is to save you money in the
retain water and breed mosquitoes. 22,000 gal- long run and to help you achieve some of your environmental stew-
lons of water was removed from this one storm
ardship goals by minimizing negative impacts to the environment.
water system.
Your Storm Water Experts!
CES has been providing complete storm water solutions since 1990. We are experts at locating drywells in ob-
scure locations and drywell maintenance. We are one of the only drywell servicing companies in the country that
reconstitutes a drywell once the sediment and debris have been removed. Using CES, Inc. for your drywell and
storm water needs guarantees it will be done properly and extend the useful life of your systems and save you
money.
5230 North 16th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85016
ROC # 239895
602-230-1471
Fax 602-230-9598
Storm Water Services