Ice on airplanes is a major safety issue, but keeping planes and runways safe from snow and ice can put thousands of gallons of chemical de-icers into the environment, contaminating streams and robbing them of oxygen. The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has taken an innovative approcah to safeguard the streams around the airport, treating more than 450
million gallons of water each year to remove trace amounts of chemicals.
Controlling the release of the chemicals is major headache, as wind, rain and snowmelt can carry the chemicals over a large area. The airport built a system to capture virtually every bit of rainwater and snowmelt in a 4.5 square mile area. The process relies on "bugs," microorganisms that literally eat the de-icing chemicals that make their way into stormwater. Creek water is pumped into treatment basins, then fed into reservoirs, where it is gradually released back into the creeks. The system operates year-round, and when planes are sprayed with de-icers in the winter, a drainage system helps keep excess chemicals out of the environment.
Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Joe Feiertag, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
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