In a series of themes , Greg Yeoman, designer and co-founder of Enviropod explores the 4 fundamental areas of product re-development of the modern day Enviropod LittaTrap from the development of improvements from the somewhat ‘agricultural’ folded sheetmetal filterbox and cage design from 1996 to the latest 2021 generation modular composite Enviropod LittaTrap available today.
MATERIALS
Aside from the physical pollutant weights and hydrostatic loads on a Catch Basin insert, temperature is also a critical factor to design for.
Designing a global product means designing for global environmental factors, so temperature effect on materials and component forms were also a key area of development.“Temperature scan reach +40C (104F) on Melbourne summer day in Australia or as low as -40C(-40F) on site in Calgary, Canada, so we needed to make sure the product could operate at these extremes” says designer Greg Yeoman. “Another aspect with extreme cold is that roads are constantly spread with salt or gritas well meaning that corrosion is another factor to consider. After our first winter in Canada we had to make some changes to some materials and components to mitigate these factors”
The new generation Enviropod LittaTrap has made a concerted shift away from the galvanised sheetmetal and wire mesh construction of the predecessor and is now fabricated almost entirely from modified plastics and plastic composite components able to withstand UV, petrochemical resistance and temperature fluctuations as well as the forces and loadings on a catch basin insert. Aside from the corrosion resistance and longevity of the materials, the move away from Galvanising is also a move away from potential Zinc contamination from materials. Technical Director Mike Hannah adds “Zinc is one of the primary metals of concern in stormwater runoff and as a stormwater technology provider we need to ensure we are in no way adding to the problem. Testing we carried out of submerged Zinc coated baskets and materials showed some release of Zinc, this is not acceptable”
Read Part Three on Performance
