Abstract
Much has been made of the need to undertake field testing on proprietary devices to suit localAustralian conditions. The Water by Design MUSIC Modelling Guidelines instruct assessing authorities not to accept models unless the removal efficiencies are justified by rigorous scientific testing and published in credible scientific journals. Yet the guidelines stop short of providing a protocol for acceptable rigorous, scientific testing. For new entrants and existing vendors, this creates a significant cost-benefit issue with no certainty that field test results will be accepted by assessing authorities. The StormWater Equipment Manufacturers Association (SWEMA) in the United States jointly developed a protocol that has been accepted by assessing authorities there. Auckland Regional Council has also developed guidelines that provide a detailed process for vendors wishing to verify removal efficiencies of proprietary stormwater treatment devices. This paper discusses these international protocols and the protocol developed in collaboration with several Universities in south-east Queensland to provide robust, rigorous and defendable performance testing research results for several different proprietary SQIDS. It provides examples of test sites where the protocol is currently being applied in Australia. The arguments for and against field and laboratory testing are considered. The paper concludes with a methodology for assessing authorities to verify that field test data is scientifically robust and statistically valid.