Learning What our Client Meant when He Asked About TSS and FOG

In the winter of 2018, one of our clients asked, “How does your Spilltration^® Husky oil filter fabric work on FOG & TSS?” Not wanting to sound stupid, I excused myself for a few seconds and searched for the terms on my phone. The results left me even more clueless. I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about “clouds that hug the earth” or “Fear Of God.” When I reemerged, I had to admit I didn’t know the terms. Our host graciously said, “Total Suspended Solids and Fats, Oils & Grease.”

It turns out that our client’s company had been out of compliance with TSS & FOG measurements for a long time. He recently assumed the Clean Water Act duties for this site and was bound and determined to fix the problem.

We told him we thought our products would work and guaranteed we would refund his money if we failed to get him back in compliance. Long story short, he contracted us to install our first Spilltration^® Husky Stormwater Filter System. Within weeks his TSS fell from more than 320 mg/L to under 20 mg/L – a 94% reduction. These results were well within the scope of his 100 mg/L limits under his NPDES permit. His FOG levels dropped to non-detect.

Our HalenHardy^® crews perform simple monthly maintenance of the system, and the client’s outfall measurements remain in compliance to this day. And thanks to this case, we gained a whole new set of stormwater filtration applications that we never imagined. That’s the power of literally living “in the trenches” with our customers.