The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) has opened its BMP “SELECT” tool to the public free of charge.  SELECT is a simple planning tool that lets storm water managers examine the effectiveness of alternative scenarios for controlling storm water pollution and the whole-life cost associated with each. Thus, the manager can make more informed decisions on which practices to permit with some confidence that they will meet imposed limits and also can have some confidence that the capital and O&M costs involved in implementing BMPs are known.

SELECT is encoded within an Excel 2003 spreadsheet, which means that it is intuitive and easy to use for most individuals. The control panel has several functional areas that guide users in setting defaults, inputting user information, and executing the model.

SELECT output data includes annual pollutant loads discharged to the receiving water, pollutant load frequency curves with uncertainty estimates, and an estimate of the whole life cost of the BMPs applied in the watershed.

BMPs that can be simulated in SELECT include extended detention, bioretention, wetlands, swales, permeable pavement, and filters.  Water quality parameters that can be simulated include total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total zinc.

For more information on SELECT, visit the WERF SELECT Model Web Site.