Keeping It Flowing: Inside Dunedin’s Stormwater Operations
Published on October 09, 2025
Jake Denelsbeck, Environmental Specialist 1 – Stormwater
In Dunedin, we’ve seen firsthand how important it is to keep stormwater flowing to the right place. Managing it helps protect our homes, our roads and our waterways. Behind the scenes, it takes daily maintenance and the right tools to ensure the system is running smoothly. From clearing debris with the Vactor Truck to upcoming inspections with our new CCTV Truck, a skilled team and some powerful equipment are working hard to make it happen. Here’s how it all comes together to keep Dunedin running.
The Vactor Truck
The first tool in our toolbox is the Vactor Truck. It is tasked with the very important job of removing debris and sediment, among other things, from our stormwater system. This truck is driven and operated by one person, who must track the amount of debris removed from whichever line they are clearing. The Vactor Truck can also help with repairs. When a stormwater structure is submerged under water, we use the Vactor Truck to “dewater” the line so that the repair can be made. Dewatering is just what it sounds like, it is the act of removing water from places like construction sites, or in this case, stormwater structures so that our workers can make their repairs.
The Street Sweeper
The next tool in our toolbox is the Street Sweeper. The main job of the Street Sweeper is to remove debris from our roads to keep Dunedin Delightful, and to keep our waterways clean. In accordance with the NPDES permit, we track how many miles the Street Sweeper travels every year, and how much debris it collects. Last year, it traveled 2,904 miles, which is the EXACT distance between Dunedin and Calgary, Alberta, Canada! It collected about 337 tons of debris from our Dunedin streets (that is over two adult blue whales’ worth of debris not entering our waterways!). We test this debris once a month to determine how much nitrogen and phosphorus is not entering our water ways. We look at these two specific elements because they are limiting nutrients for algae like Karenia brevis (Red Tide). When a sudden influx of nitrogen and/or phosphorus enters a waterway such as the Saint Joseph Sound, Karenia brevis thrives, leading to fish kills and beach closures, among other very serious issues.
If we were not collecting all this debris, there would be trash covering our streets and our waterways would be polluted beyond recognition. Don’t forget to thank your local Street Sweeper when you see it!
The CCTV Truck
Coming soon to a catch basin near you is our brand-new CCTV Truck! With this new asset, we can send a remote-controlled rover into small pipes that we otherwise could not easily inspect. This addition to the team will allow our Vactor Truck to stay on schedule, while
furthering our understanding of the health of the pipes under Dunedin. It will be operated by two maintenance workers, and they will make note of anything that is not in tip top shape so repairs can be scheduled in a more preemptive manner.
Public Services Maintenance Workers
Last, but most certainly not least, are the Public Services Maintenance Workers employed by the city. Without them, we would be lost. They are the engine that keeps this city thriving. The backbone that props us all up when no one else will. They man all the vehicles described above, while also doing a wide variety of other maintenance tasks. These people do whatever is asked of them, whether it is coming in on the weekend due to an emergency, or sleeping on the floor at the Public Works building during a hurricane. They are more than a tool in our toolbox, they are our strongest asset, and the heroes of Public Services.