Abstract:
An apparatus for controlling a flow of a liquid into a sewer drain comprising a catch basin having a catch basin drain coupled with the sewer drain. In addition, a housing element that is positioned within the catch basin, whereby the housing element is coupled with the catch basin drain in a first fluid-tight manner. The housing element having a porous surface positioned below a predetermined level. A column having a proximal end and a distal end, whereby the column is positioned within the housing element and the proximal end is coupled with the catch basin drain in a second fluid tight manner. The distal end is positioned above the predetermined level and an actuator mechanism is coupled with the column and configured to selectively open and close the column to the flow of the liquid that is entering the catch basin drain.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to apparatus and method thereof for handling hazardous materials in general and in particular to a drainage control device for preventing accidental spills of hazardous materials from entering a sewer drain. 
     Among the most serious problems associated with the handling of hazardous materials is the accidental discharge of such materials into a sewer drain which leads to a sewage treatment plant not equipped to handle such materials, or an accidental discharge of the hazardous material into a storm drain which ultimately flows into a creek, river, lake, bay, or the like. In either case, the cost of containing and cleaning up the material can be enormous both financially and environmentally. 
     The manufacture of semiconductor products, for example, involves the use of hazardous materials which are usually stored in tanks outside the manufacturing facility. Many times, storm drains and sewer drains are located next to or near the vicinity of these storage tanks. The hazardous material in the tanks is periodically replenished, and removal by waste removal crews creates a risk that, through negligence or by accident, the hazardous material may be spilled onto the ground during the removal or filling of the tanks which could be flow to a nearby storm or sewer drain, resulting in the above-described adverse consequences. 
     Presently, companies seek to prevent the loss of hazardous materials in a storm drain by covering the drain with an absorbent blanket, such as a SPILL MAT made by Lab Safety Supply of Janesville, Wis., or by surrounding the drain with piles of absorbent material, such as SAFE-T-SORB, available from Orchard Supply Hardware, Sunnyvale, Calif., either before an accidental spill as a preventive measure or afterwards to minimize the damage caused by the spill. Sometimes the edges of the blanket are required to be held down by some sort of heavy object such as, for example, bags of absorbent material. 
     When the spilled material is a liquid, the use of a bag of absorbent material, or the like, to prevent the liquid material from flowing beneath the edges of the blanket is not always successful. Furthermore, the absorbent blankets which are currently being used for this purpose are expensive and must be replaced as soon as they have become saturated with any liquid, including ordinary rainwater, because, after they are saturated, they no longer will hold any additional liquid. 
     Also the need to hold down the edges with heavy objects is time consuming and labor intensive. Moreover, when not used to cover a drain, the blanket is usually stored in a pile immediately adjacent to the drain and is therefore unsightly. Alternatively, if the drain is in a traffic area and the blanket can pose an obstacle to traffic. Further, the blanket must be stored some distance from the drain, and thus is likely not to be immediately available for use in case of a spill. When loose material is used to absorb a spill, the material must be cleaned up after a spill or even after a rain. In the interim, the area is unsightly and loose particles of the absorbent material carrying the hazardous material can wash down the drain. 
     Currently, storm drains modified with catch basins, such as Safe Drain (U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,745 to Shannon) manufactured by Spill Safe® of San Jose, Calif., are being used to prevent hazardous materials from entering the drain in the case of an accidental spill near a sewer drain. However, non-hazardous materials, such as unpolluted water, will be unable to pass onto the sewer drain, because the plunger plugs the catch basin drain hole when hazardous materials are present in the basin. This may lead to the catch basin becoming backed up with the contaminants, thus overflowing into the street. Further, solid objects, such as branches, dirt, slurry, etc., may enter the catch basin and cover the drain hole. This results in the drain hole being obstructed, which could prevent the plunger from automatically plugging the drain hole if a hazardous material is later detected in the catch basin. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,528,720, and 5,728,294 to Deming, disclose a drain closure apparatus which can sense hazardous materials entering the storm drain and trigger a disc to rotate and close the entrance to the drain. This closure prevents the hazardous materials from entering the sewer system when hazardous materials are present near the closure apparatus. These inventions utilize a disc which rotates to close the drain hole in response to detecting a hazardous material entering the storm drain. Specifically, the disc rotates by a large threaded rod, which could eventually corrode or wear due to constant contact with liquids entering the drain. Further, these inventions incorporate many exposed moving parts which could be expensive to manufacture and replace. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to have a drain closure apparatus which utilizes a minimum number of exposed moving parts and a quick response time, as well as having the ability to allow non-polluted liquid to enter the drain hole while keeping the polluted material separated from the non-polluted material. Further, it would be advantageous to have a drain closure device which has the capability of detecting and measuring pollution levels of the material present near or in the selective suspension device. 
     Particularly, an apparatus for controlling a flow of a liquid into a sewer drain comprising a catch basin having a catch basin drain coupled with the sewer drain. In addition, a housing element, having a housing chamber, that is positioned within the catch basin, whereby the housing element is coupled with the catch basin drain in a first fluid-tight manner. The housing element having a porous surface positioned below a predetermined level. A column having a proximal end and a distal end, whereby the column is positioned within the housing element and the proximal end is coupled with the catch basin drain in a second fluid tight manner. The distal end is positioned above the predetermined level and an actuator mechanism is coupled with the column and configured to selectively open and close the column to the flow of the liquid that is entering the catch basin drain. 
     An apparatus for controlling a flow of a liquid into a sewer drain comprising a housing element having an outer surface. The housing element includes at least one aperture on the outer surface, whereby at least some of the liquid enters the housing through the aperture. A conduit is positioned within the housing element, wherein the conduit is coupled with the sewer drain in a fluid tight manner. An actuator mechanism coupled with the conduit, the actuator mechanism further comprising an actuator and a cap coupled to the actuator, The cap is configured to operate between a first position and a second position, wherein the liquid enters the sewer drain when the cap is in the second position. 
     An apparatus for controlling a flow of a hazardous material into a sewer drain comprising a housing element having a first end and a second end. The housing element is positioned to have the second end coupled with the sewer drain in a first fluid-tight manner. The housing element has at least one aperture located on the first end for allowing the flow to enter the housing element. A conduit positioned is within the housing element, and the conduit is coupled with the sewer drain in a second fluid tight manner, wherein the flow enters the sewer drain through the conduit. An actuator mechanism is coupled with the conduit, and the actuator is configured to selectively allow and prevent the flow from entering the sewer drain. A membrane is coupled with the housing element, wherein the hazardous material flows through the membrane and is screened by the membrane before entering the conduit. 
     A method for controlling a flow of a liquid into a sewer drain comprising the steps of providing a housing element coupled with the sewer drain in a first fluid-tight manner and having a porous surface positioned below a predetermined level. In addition, providing a column having a proximal end and a distal end, the column being positioned within the housing element, wherein the proximal end is coupled with the sewer drain in a second fluid tight manner and the distal end is positioned above the predetermined level. Also, coupling an actuator mechanism with the column and configuring the actuator mechanism to selectively open and close the column to the flow of the liquid entering the sewer drain. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a cross section view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in a catch basin drain. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a cross sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the selective suspension device in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the housing element used in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a cross sectional view of the selective suspension device with a screening system and sensors attached to the device in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a cross sectional view of the selective suspension device in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a cross sectional view of the selective suspension device with a transmitting device coupled therewith in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a cross section view of the preferred embodiment of the selective suspension drain closure apparatus. Particularly, FIG. 1 shows the pollution control device  100  positioned inside a catch basin  102  for collecting hazardous materials in the form of liquids, solids or a combination thereof, from entering the sewer  99 . The basin  102  utilized in the preferred embodiment is a storm drain container  103  having a catch basin drain or drain hole  104 , an annular flange  108  which extends radially outwardly from the top of the container  102  for mating with a corresponding shoulder of the storm drain  106  and a catch basin cover  110  for allowing the flow of liquid into the catch basin  102 . Details of the catch basin  102  may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,745 to Shannon herein incorporated by reference. 
     The drain hole  104  in the catch basin  102  has conventional pipe threads for threadably receiving a cylindrical adapter  112 . A hollow housing  120  having a generally cylindrical shape is connected to the adapter  112 . The housing  120  has one or more holes  130  on its outer surface  124  which acts as a pollutant separator. Further, the holes allow liquid to enter the housing chamber  122 . Positioned within the housing chamber  122  is a conduit  126  having a cylindrical shape. The conduit  126  is attached and sealed to the bottom end  128  of the housing  120  such that liquid entering the housing chamber  122  must rise to a certain height and enter through the conduit  126  to flow to the sewer drain The conduit  126  has an actuating assembly which comprises a cap  132  connected to an actuator  134  whereby the actuator moves or causes to move the cap  132  between an open and closed position. When the cap  132  is in the open position, liquid reaching a height above the top opening of the conduit  126  enters the conduit  126  and flows to the sewer  99 . However, when the cap  132  is in the closed position, the liquid is not allowed to enter the conduit  126  and thus is unable to pass onto the sewer  99 . In other words, the pollution control device  100  acts to separate pollutants in the liquid as well seal the storm drain site and prevent hazardous materials from entering the sewer when a hazardous material is present in the catch basin  102  or storm drain. The details of each component of the present invention will be discussed in detail below. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a cross sectional view of the pollution control device  100 . In the shown embodiment, the device  100  includes an adapter  112  which has a flanged end  116  and a lower end  114  in which the lower end is threaded to connect the adapter  112  to the drain hole  104  (not shown). The flanged end  116  is shown to have a larger diameter than the lower end  114  because the housing  120 , having a larger diameter than the drain hole  104 , attaches to the flanged end  116  of the adapter  112 . However, the relative diameters of the flanged end  116  and the lower end  114  may vary depending on the size of the drain hole  104 . The lower end  114  of the adapter  112 , when threaded into the drain hole  104 , makes a fluid-tight seal with the inside surface of the drain hole  104 , as shown in FIG.  1 . This is to prevent any hazardous material from entering the drain hole  104  directly. Therefore, liquid enters the drain hole  104  by passing through the conduit. It should be noted, however, that other means of connecting the adapter  112  to the catch basin drain  104 , will suffice as long as the connection is sealed and no fluid can enter between the adapter  112  and the basin drain  104 . Some examples of connecting the device  100  to the drain include  104 , but are not limited to bolting, gluing, welding, and band-strapping, etc. It is important to note, however, that the device  100  must be removable from the drain  104  to allow the device  100  to be cleaned. Further, it is preferable that the housing  120  and the conduit  126  be freely removable from the adapter to allow a cleaning crew to clean the inside of the housing  120 . 
     Shown in FIG. 3 is the housing  120 , which connects to the adapter  112 , and the conduit  126  positioned within the housing  120 . The housing  120  is generally cylindrical and is hollow within to define the housing chamber  122 . The housing  120  has a first or top end  129  and a second or bottom end  128 . The bottom end  128  is partially open and attaches to the flanged end of the adapter (not shown). The top end  129  of the housing  120  is preferably enclosed by attaching a housing lid  118  (FIG. 2) thereto. Alternatively, the housing  120  may be configured to also have its top end  129  exposed for allowing the liquid to enter the housing chamber  129  from the top end  129 . The housing lid prevents floating objects and solids from entering the housing chamber  122 , which may obstruct the opening to the conduit  126  (shown in FIG.  2 ). Preferably, the bottom end  128  has an opening  131  of smaller diameter than the outer surface  124  of the housing  120 , however this is not required. This configuration provides a sealed connection with the conduit  126 , as will be discussed below. 
     The diameter of the housing  120  can be four, six, eight or ten inches, however the housing diameter is not limited to these sizes. The conduit  126  fits within the housing  120  and is usually one to four inches smaller in diameter than the housing  120 . The housing  120  and conduit  126  are preferably made of stainless steel which prevents the outer surface from corroding due to contact with hazardous materials. However, the housing  120  and conduit  126  may be made of any other material that has non-corrosive properties. 
     The housing  120  has at least one hole or aperture  130  in its outer surface  124  for allowing liquid to enter the housing chamber  122 . The size of the holes  130  are large enough to allow the liquid to enter but small enough to keep solids and other slurry materials from entering the housing  120 . The holes  130  are positioned along the outer surface  124  at a height below the top of the conduit  126 . Preferably, the holes  130  are positioned near the bottom end  128  of the housing  120  such that the liquid quickly rises inside the housing chamber  122  and enters the conduit  126  without flooding the container  103  (FIG.  1 ). 
     The configuration of the device  100  serves to separate pollutants in the liquid by natural disassociation. Further, the holes  130  act to prevent pollutants having a lighter density than water from entering the drain  104 , because of the height of the conduit  126 . In other words, oils and other hazardous materials that naturally float above water will not enter the conduit  126 , because water, which is usually denser than most oils, will first enter the housing chamber  122  through the holes  130  near the bottom of the housing  120 . The water then rises inside the housing chamber  122  to a height above the top of the conduit  126 . 
     Returning to FIG. 2, the conduit  126  has an actuator assembly within, in which the actuator assembly includes a cap  132  and an actuator  134 . The cap  132  provides a sealable interface with the conduit  126  which controls whether the liquid enters the conduit  126  or not. The cap  132  preferably rests on the top can be positioned to fit within the conduit  126  itself by having a diameter slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the conduit  126 . Alternatively, the cap  132  may be positioned near the top end  136  of the conduit  126  and attached to a pin to pivot upwards and downwards in a clamp-like manner. In this configuration, the cap  132  would have a diameter larger than the outside diameter of the conduit  126  to ensure a sufficient fit. Nonetheless, the cap  132  may be positioned in any other equivalent configuration to provide a sealable interface. The cap  132  is preferably made of rubber to provide the sealable interface. However, an equivalent substitute such as any impervious material, like plastic etc., will suffice. In the case of using a plastic cap, it is preferred to add a Buna or a Viton-type seal between the cap  132  and the top end  136  of the cap  132 . 
     Preferably, the actuator  134  is attached to a mount bar (not shown) within the conduit  126  so that liquid entering the conduit  126  does not move the actuator  134  out of position. The actuator  134  is connected to the cap  132  such that the actuator  134  causes the cap  132  to move between an open position and a closed position. It is preferred that the actuator  134  use pneumatic forces to move the cap  132  between the open and closed position, because of the environmental and economic feasibility of using air. However, FIG. 4 shows the actuator  134  moving the cap  132  by using an extendable rod  140  to sufficiently illustrate the operation of the actuator assembly. Nonetheless, the actuator  134  may move the cap  132  other ways such as an electrical solenoid mechanism, hydraulics, or any other equivalents. 
     The cap  132  can be biased in an open position in which liquid in the housing chamber  122  at a level above the top end  136  of the conduit  126  enters the conduit  126  and flows to the drain  104 . However, it is preferred that the cap  132  be biased in a closed position by a spring, such that liquid is not permitted to flow to the drain  104  until the actuator  134  moves the cap  132  into the open position. In that situation, the actuator  134  would force the cap  132  to the open position to allow liquid to flow to the drain hole  104 . The actuator  134  is shown connected to a cable  148  which serves to power as well as activate the actuator  134  by a remote device. The actuator  134  can also be activated automatically by sensors, as will be discussed below. 
     In preferred operation, liquid enters the storm drain or catch basin. As the catch basin fills, the liquid rises until it reaches the holes  130 . Thereafter, the liquid proceeds to enter the device  100  through the holes  130  located in the outer surface  124  of the housing  120 . The liquid entering the housing chamber  122  then rises to the height of the top end  136  of the conduit  126 . If there are no pollutants detected by the sensors  146   a  and  146   b  in the liquid, the cap  132  will remain in the open position and the liquid will enter the conduit  126  opening and flow out through the drain hole  104  to the sewer  99 . However, if pollutants are detected in the liquid, the cap  132  will driven to the closed position and the liquid will not be allowed to pass onto the drain hole  104 . At that point, an optional transmitter, which is discussed below, will send a signal alerting the proper authorities that a hazardous material situation is present. The authorities can secure the particular site or sites and initiate clean up of the hazardous materials. Once the site is declared secure, the actuator can be reset to put the cap  132  back into its biased position. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a cross sectional view of the pollution control device  100 ′ with a screening system,  142  and  144 , and sensors,  146   a  and  146   b , attached to the device. The adapter  112 ′ connected to the housing  120 ′ with the conduit  126 ′ attached inside the housing  120 ′. The housing  120 ′ contains a conduit  126 ′ which serves to channel liquid to the drain hole  104 ′. The conduit  126 ′ is preferably cylindrical and hollow inside, and it has a first or top end  136 ′ and a second or bottom end  138 ′. The bottom end  138 ′ of the conduit  126 ′ mates with smaller diameter hole in the bottom end  128 ′ of the housing  120 ′. Thus, the conduit  126 ′ is attached and sealed to the bottom end  128 ′ of the housing  120 ′ to force the water to enter through the top end  136  of the conduit  126 ′ in flowing to the drain  104 ′. 
     The membranes in FIG. 4 are positioned to screen or remove substances in the liquid flowing into the housing chamber  122  that enter the drain hole  104  or would damage the sealing surface between the cap  132 ′ and conduit  126 ′. The membranes are preferably made of reticulated foam, however the membrane can be made of micromesh fiber, micro-fiber, weave, geo-textal fabric, enzyme woven materials, a composite thereof or any commercially viable equivalents. A membrane can be placed anywhere with respect to the device  100 ′. For instance, an activated charcoal membrane may be placed inside the housing  120  to aid in screening or removing the pollutants from the liquid entering the device so that non-polluted water can flow to the drain hole  104 . 
     In addition, the device  100 ′ in FIG. 4 includes sensors  146  attached to the outer surface  124 ′ of the housing  120 ′ and conduit  126 ′ to sense the level of toxicity in the liquid near the device  100 . In FIG. 4, there are two sensors  146   a  and  146   b  shown, however any number of sensors may be utilized. Further, the sensors  146   a  and  146   b  can be positioned anywhere to measure the level of toxicity in the liquid. For instance, a sensor can be placed inside the conduit  126 ′ to alert when a polluted liquid accidentally enters the conduit  126 ′, or a sensor may be placed in an arbitrary location in the catch basin container  103 . In addition, the sensors  146   a  and  146   b  may be connected to the actuator  134 ′ to automatically open or close the conduit  126 ′, depending on the circumstances, when the liquid reaches a certain level of toxicity. 
     For example, in FIG. 4, the outer sensor  146   a  extending from the outer surface  124  measures the toxicity of the liquid entering the housing  120 . If the outer sensor  146   a  measures the liquid to have a high level of toxicity, the sensor  146   a  will alert the actuator  134  to close the cap  132 , thus closing the conduit  126 . The inner sensor  146   b  serves to measure the liquid that has passed through the outer membrane  142  and the inner membrane  144 . If the inner sensor  146   b  measures the liquid inside the housing chamber  122  to have an acceptable level of toxicity, it will activate the actuator  134  to lift the cap  132  and thus open the conduit  126 . 
     FIG. 5 illustrates a cross sectional view of another alternative embodiment of the device  200 . In FIG. 5, the device  200  is housed within a catch basin  203  having a catch basin drain  204  or drain hole which is coupled to the sewer drain  99 . A catch basin adapter  212 , as shown, is threaded and screws into the catch basin drain  204 . However, the catch basin adapter  212  may be attached by other means such as welding, bolting, etc., as long as the adapter  212  is sealed to the drain  204  and thus prevents liquid from directly entering between the adapter  212  and drain hole  204 . 
     A butterfly valve  234  is connected to the adapter  212  by bolts  250  and serves to control the flow of liquid flowing to the drain  204 . The valve  234  is well known in the art and a person skilled in the art may use other valves which serve the same purpose. The device  200  includes the hollow housing  220  attached by bolts  250  to the butterfly valve  234  to make a sealed connection therebetween. The housing  220  has small holes  230  near the bottom of its outer surface  224  to allow the liquid to enter the housing chamber  222 , defined as the inside of the housing  220 . 
     The device has a conduit  226  positioned within the chamber  222  and sealed to force liquid entering the housing chamber  222  to rise within the chamber  222  and enter the top end  236  of the conduit  226 . In this embodiment, the conduit  226  does not have a cap nor actuator assembly, but instead utilizes a butterfly valve  234  or other existing valves to control the flow of liquid flowing to the drain  204 . 
     In operation, liquid enters the storm drain or catch basin  203 . As the catch basin fills, the liquid rises until it reaches the holes  230 . Thereafter, the liquid proceeds to enter the device  200  through the holes  230 . The liquid entering the housing chamber  222  then rises to the height of the top end  236  of the conduit  226 . The liquid then enters the conduit  226  flows down the conduit through butterfly valve  234  and the drain hole  204  to the sewer  99 . Sensors and membranes may also be used in with the device  200 , described above. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the present invention incorporated with a transmitting device  300  having a variety of applications, from alerting authorities of the presence of hazardous materials to recording and transmitting pollution control data to governmental agencies. The transmitting device  300  shown in FIG. 6 can be coupled with the actuator assembly in the preferred embodiment or sensors located in the catch basin. It must be noted that although the transmitting device  300  is described with the device  100 ′ in the present invention, the transmitting device  300  may be used in any existing storm drain or catch basin configuration. 
     The transmitting device  300  is shown in FIG. 6 in conjunction with the selective suspension unit device  100 ′ and is coupled to the actuator  134  and the sensors  146   a  and  146   b . The transmitting device  300  receives the information from the actuator  134  and sensors  146   a  and  146   b  and processes the data to be suitable for transmission. The data received from the device  100  can include information pertaining to the status of the device  100  itself as well as the contents of the materials in the catch basin. 
     For instance, the sensors  146   a  and  146   b  can detect and send data to the transmitting device  300  including, but not limited to, the contents of the liquid; the rate of flow of the liquid; the amount of liquid present, etc. Specifically, the data received by the transmitting device  300  may contain information concerning the number of pollutants sensed in the water as well as their relative percentages. Further, the data may contain information relating to how fast the polluted liquid is entering the catch basin  102  as well as how much polluted liquid is present in the catch basin  102 . This information would serve to alert the proper authorities or clean-up crews as to the level of priority in reaching the site so that the more dangerous sites may be attended to first. 
     In addition, the actuator  134  may relay information to the transmitting device  300  as to whether the actuator  134  is in the open position or closed position. Further, a sensor (not shown) may be placed inside the conduit  134  which relays information relating to the amount of flow passing through the conduit  134  as well as the contents of the liquid flowing through the conduit  134 . It must be noted that the data received by the transmitting device  300  may relate to other information not stated herein and is therefore not limited to what is described above. 
     The transmitting device  300  receives and processes the data from the device  100  and can transmit the data in a variety of ways. For instance, FIG. 6 illustrates that the transmitting device  300  may relay the data by wireless communication via an antenna  601 , by network  602 , by the World Wide Web  603 , or any other means. The data is transmitted to a receiving station or end which processes the information. For instance, the transmitting device  300  can transmit data to a cellular device or laptop utilized by the clean up crews or to a central dispatcher which communicates with the clean up crews or municipal authorities. 
     Moreover, the receiving end can utilize a database containing each storm drain location and which industries or companies are present near each storm drain location. Thus, the dispatcher or crew can view the data and determine exactly which storm drain location is declaring an alert as well as which company or industry is discharging the hazardous material. From this information, the dispatcher or crew can then notify the company discharging the hazardous material and alert them of the emergency. 
     Further, the crew or dispatcher can view the data transmitted from the transmitting device  300  and determine what types of pollutants are entering the storm drain. From this information, the crew will know which clean up tools will be needed and which safety procedures have to be executed. Further, the crew will be able to ascertain how quickly the liquid is entering the drain and when the drain will begin to overflow. This information will assist the crew to call in additional support to help in the clean up or notify municipal authorities to declare an emergency. The transmitting device  300  can also be connected to a closed network  602  which is monitored by the central dispatcher or emergency services. 
     In another application, the transmitting device  300  may serve as an integral part of developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), which serves to set limits on the amount of pollutants entering a certain body of water. Many states and counties are required to set TMDL&#39;s for their watershed. The TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive and still meet water quality standards. This maximum amount is then allocated to a pollutant&#39;s source. A TMDL involves estimating the pollutant loads for the areas; identifying the land uses to which pollutant reduction factors are to be applied; and determining the best management practice (BMP) based on the relative comparison of different sets of BMP factors. BMP&#39;s are defined as good housing keeping practices, e.g. sweeping, operational procedure modification and the like, as well as structural controls. 
     For many years these tasks have been performed manually. The transmitting device  300  used with the present invention or any existing storm drains presents important new opportunities for pollutant load analysis and control as well as selecting the appropriate BMP. The transmitting device  300  in conjunction with sensors inside the storm drain can generate quantitative data, such as rainfall and pollutant load characteristics, which makes the report generation for the analysis on the BMPs extremely fast. Further, the transmitting device  300  can separate the quantitative data into geographical regions to help municipalities determine where levels of pollution are higher or lower as well as how much pollution a company may be discharging into nearby storm drains. 
     Specifically, sensors positioned within the storm drain can monitor the pollutant load characteristics in the water as the water passes on through the drain. The sensors then pass this information to the transmitting device  300  which sends the data through a network  602  for interested federal, state and municipal agencies. This information could also be available for the public via the World Wide Web  603 . 
     For example, an environmental agency which belongs to the network  602  or has access to the Internet  603  (if the information is publicly available) will receive data from each of the city&#39;s storm drains utilizing the transmitting device  300 . The data preferably will identify the storm drain, give the storm drain&#39;s location as well as the closest nearby companies that discharge water and other liquids into the respective storm drain. The data will also give the amount of rainfall over a period of time (hours, days, weeks, months, etc), the total amount of pollutant detected by the sensors, a breakdown of which pollutants were detected and amount of each pollutant by volume and percentage. Other relevant information can be compiled and transmitted, such as: the amount of contaminants produced from nearby companies and industry; identity of contaminants produced by each nearby company or industry that have detected in the storm drain, and the number of times the valve  234  or the cap  132  has been closed due to presence of pollutants. 
     Further, the transmitting device  300  could be used for environmental consultants to help companies meet environmental best management practices and pollution control guidelines by evaluating the performance of their housekeeping practices, e.g. sweeping, operational procedure modification and the like. For example, the transmitting device  300  can be incorporated with the embodiment shown in FIG.  4 . Here, membranes  142  and  144  are incorporated with the device  100 ′ and sensors  146   a  and  146   b  are placed on the outside membrane  142  and inside membrane  144 , respectively. The sensors can generate data showing the effectiveness of the membranes that are being used with the device  100 ′ as well as other devices upstream. Specifically, the outer sensor  146   a  would measure the amount of pollutant present in the liquid entering the housing  120 ′ and the inside sensor  146   b  would measure the amount of pollutant present in the liquid inside the housing chamber  122 ′. The transmitting device  300  would then send this information along with the amount of liquid inside the chamber  122 ′ and the flow rate of the liquid as well as other relevant information to an environmental consultant for analysis. From the data, the consultant would then be able to determine how effective the membranes are and whether other types of membranes would be more preferable in helping the company reach its BMP goal. 
     Moreover, information generated and transmitted by the transmitting device  300  may facilitate federal and state agencies in granting “points” to companies for their respective share of pollution control. For instance, a state or local environmental agency can monitor the storm drains near a company that the agency is auditing and receive the quantitative data from the transmitting devices  300  from those drains via the network  602  or the Internet  603 . From this data, the agency will have the necessary information relating to the amount of pollutants discharged by the company. Thus, the agency can then determine from the data whether the amount of pollutants discharged by the company is above or below the amount of pollution discharge allotted to that company. In other words, this information would facilitate the agency in apportioning the amount of points granted to the company as well as provide the agency with continuous monitoring capabilities for each company it audits. 
     The present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of the principles of construction and operation of the invention. Such reference herein to specific embodiments and details thereof is not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made in the embodiment chosen for illustration without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.