THE EQUIPMENT SPECIALIST INC
Your #1 Source for Environmental Sweeping Solutions
LEADING EXPERTS OF DUSTLESS SWEEPING TECHNOLOGY
Scientific discoveries have proven that high-efficiency street sweeping directly improves local air quality and stormwater runoff quality. High-efficiency sweepers are proven to be among the most cost-effective environmental technologies available. By harvesting and containing hazardous fine particulates generated by vehicle transportation and other human activities, the highest rated ISO 14034: ETV sweeper technology generates millions of dollars of social benefit each year.
2016 Operational On-Street ETV Test -Removal of leaves, sticks, litter and fine particulate combined.
Unparalleled Performance and Efficiency
The TYMCO DST-6 is the highest rated ISO14034: Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) street sweeper technology in the world. It successfully completed the City of Toronto's two mandatory environmental street sweeper testing protocols. Toronto developed these scientific sweeper efficiency test protocols to independently verify a direct solution to the discovered largest contributor to local ambient air contamination: fine road dust. This road dust consists of various hazardous materials such as brake wear, tire wear, asphalt/concrete dust and fine particulate tail pipe emissions. Current research shows that tires produce 1850 times more particulates than vehicle tailpipe emissions.
Discovery of Hazardous Street-Level Air Pollution Sources
Before the City of Toronto decided to test street sweeper technologies, the City of Hamilton had recognized the values of high efficiency street sweepers as they had already begun replacing their mechanical sweeper fleet. Through Hamilton's routine air quality monitoring activities, it was found that their new sweeper fleet contributed to a 36% reduction in concentrations of PM10. The City of Hamilton invited the City of Toronto to view the performance of their already owned TYMCO DST-6. This demonstration convinced Toronto to complete the first round of street sweeper efficiency testing of the Clean Roads to Clean Air Program with the City of Hamilton supplying Toronto their TYMCO DST-6.
At the April 9th, 2002, Toronto Interdepartmental Environment meeting, the Toronto air quality preliminary model results were presented indicating that a major local source of fine particulate matter is attributable to fine road dust. In 2004, Toronto Public Health reported that air pollution contributed to 1,700 premature deaths, 6000 hospitalizations each year and a cause of respiratory and cardiovascular problems for Toronto citizens.
It was hypothesized by Toronto that an 80% removal of fine road dust could result in 25%-30% improvement in the City's fine road dust air quality and even greater improvement is expected for pedestrians and cyclists on the City's arterial roads. Various research studies estimate different compositions for road dust. They all agree that the majority of road dust consist of non-exhaust sources including brake wear, tire wear, asphalt dust and resuspension of these same materials.
Viewing Hazardous Fine Particulate Air Pollution
Toronto used specialized Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) equipment to observe ultrafine particles that the naked eye cannot see. Below are LIDAR images of a street. The blue area is clean air, and the bar at the bottom is fine particulate air contamination with the worst being red. This study shows that vehicles generally do not disturb debris that is in the curb, as can be seen in Slide 1. The sweeping process itself relocates debris from the curb into the traffic lane. If this debris does not get removed, all passing vehicles will cause fine road dust air contamination up to 10 meters, as seen in Slide 3. This will occur for all passing vehicles until all debris is either kicked into the air or relocated back to the curb unless the sweeper is capable of removing all the debris in a single pass.
Sweepers have historically been used to remove visually unappealing debris. Now, from these LIDAR research observations, inefficient sweepers have been shown to contribute to fine road dust air pollution. With this knowledge, Toronto developed scientific Operational On-Street and Particulate Matter Surface Removal Efficiency test protocols with minimum performance efficiency thresholds to verify the performance claims of all sweeper technologies. These tests are available to be completed at Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) which are then verified by Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Canada and Globe Solutions to ensure independence and legitimacy of the test results. These testing protocols have since been adopted by the International Standardization Organization as ISO14034:2016 Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) so that any manufacturer may independently verify the performance of their technology and users/operators can make important street sweeper purchasing decisions with confidence.
These incredible environmental discoveries and independent sweeper testing protocols were presented publicly in 2007 at the American Public Works Association. This led Toronto council to issue a directive to ensure that greater than minimum threshold performance efficiency ETV street sweeper technology be added to their fleet.
Unparalleled Environmental Impact
In the following years there was an immense increase in recorded tonnages of street dirt removed. Toronto’s Ambient Air Quality study in 2014 found that the highest efficiency ETV street sweepers directly mitigate air contamination, reducing ambient air contamination by 27% in the City. As a result of this significant achievement, Toronto was granted the internationally recognized Environmental Achievement Award by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
This award was presented for the substantial environmental research findings and direct measurable air quality improvements achieved by their highest rated ISO14034:ETV street sweeper fleet. In its award acceptance, the City reveals its sweeper fleet removed 9000 additional tons of street debris each year. The increased tonnages of hazardous fine road dust (PM 2.5) removed resulted in $130,000,000 to $217,000,000 of annual social benefit when using the USDOT's recommended monetized values for damage costs for emissions (chart below). Within the US Department of Transportation's Social Benefit Cost Analysis Guidance, the damage cost per ton of the most important emission types is scientifically monetized.
The highest rated ETV street sweepers are proven to be among the most cost-effective air pollution mitigation technologies available that make a direct significant proportional improvement to the ambient air quality of a City. As of 2024, the annual social benefit would be a shocking $222,615,000 – $371,025,000. These machines are not just sweeping streets; they are maintaining the way to healthier communities.
Marketplace Takeover
The City of Hamilton currently operates the largest municipal fleet of the highest efficiency ISO14034:ETV street sweepers in the world. Many surrounding Ontario municipalities continue to operate and replace their street sweeper fleets with the same highest efficiency technology including Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Vaughan, Markham, Waterloo, TTC, Exhibition Place, and many others.
DISTRIBUTOR OF TYMCO SWEEPERS AND BERGKAMP ELECTRIC POTHOLE PATCHERS IN ONTARIO, CANADA
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