Hydro Gets Thumbs Up from NC DOT

PORTLAND, Maine – 31 May 2007 — Hydro International, a leading provider of environmentally sustainable products and innovative solutions that control and treat stormwater, wastewater and combined sewer overflows, today announced that its Downstream Defender® stormwater separator equipment has been added to the list of devices approved for use by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The state DOT engineers now have the option to use Downstream Defender advanced vortex separators as an element in the stormwater management design schemes that are required for road construction. This unique stormwater treatment device utilizes advanced hydrodynamic vortex separation technology that traps and removes pollutants to prevent them from being discharged into rivers, streams and coastal waters. Hydro’s Downstream Defender efficiently removes high levels of settleable solids, oils and floatables over a wide range of flow rates and prevents captured pollutants from being re-released into the environment.

Downstream Defenders have provided significant protection for municipal installations and private development projects throughout the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. The North Carolina Department of Transportation will review use of the Downstream Defender on a project-by-project basis to ensure that site-specific design, construction, and maintenance requirements are met.

“State agencies follow a rigorous process for vetting potential equipment for use in municipal projects,” said Dave Scott, Stormwater Products Manager for Hydro International. “We are very excited that North Carolina’s Department of Transportation sees the potential in the Downstream Defender to prevent growing problems from stormwater runoff.”