Filter material installed in Cape Coral could protect water quality

Cape Coral is going to begin installing ‘bold and gold’ filter material to filter runoff water from ditches.

WINK News Environmental Reporter Stephanie Byrne shows everyone what substance is in the filters and how it could protect your water quality.

Chris Bogdan says seeing the water crisis here in Southwest Florida is “terrible.”

“I’m a born-and-raised Floridian, so I’ve been around water my whole entire life and it’s terrible to see the things that are happening,” said Bodgan, president of Environmental Conservation Solutions, LLC.

Bogdan and Environmental Conservation Solutions are working tirelessly to prevent harmful substances from entering our waterways.

“Nitrogen and phosphorous cause things like red tide and harmful algal blooms,” said Bogdan.

To help prevent these from going into our water, ECS goes beneath the surface while still on land.

“We’re installing a product called ‘Bold & Gold’ filtration media. It’s a mixture of sand, clay and tire. It was patented at the University of Central Florida,” he explained.

With this mixture, crews in Cape Coral dig a swale or roadside ditch, add the bold and gold and cover it with sod.

Bogdan added, “As water filters down through the swale and through the media, it takes nitrogen and phosphorous out.”

The partnership between Environmental Conservation Solutions and the City of Cape Coral is made possible by the Department of Environmental Protection Grant.

“We’re also doing water quality monitoring and then we have to report those results to DEP,” said Kevin Higginson, utilities extension manager for the city. “And depending on how that goes, we may be able to get some additional grant money in the future and/or funded with our own stormwater utility funding if it works well.”

If their plan works, the City of Cape Coral’s water will be protected.

Swales construction will be near Burnt Store and Old Burnt Store roads near Ceitus and Embers parkways in Cape Coral.