A catch basin is either used in industry to catch the drip of a fluid that is not water or else it is used in the home to control flooding. Either way, the system installed must then determine what to do with the stored fluid. Often it is recycled, in which case the stormwater or oil or other fluid has to be filtered. Catch basin inserts are reusable filters that remove solid particles before a liquid is reused.
In the case of home flood control, the caught water is run off, and sometimes it runs quite a distance before it enters a household catch basin. In an urban area, there might be pollutants such as pesticide and heavy metal floating around. Heavy metal can be a byproduct of burning coal or of unnatural substances such as asphalt. Either way, unhealthy substances ought to be removed from drained water before it enters a personal cistern or the water table.
The idea of filtering water before allowing it to sink into the ground might seem like an unnecessary expense, although some areas suffer from contaminated groundwater. Since suburban landscapes are littered with poisons, it might be local law that suburban runoff be filtered. In which case, these inserts last a long time and heavier substances such as leaf particles are caught and removed by a separate filter.
If filtered water is likely to enter a cistern or some other reservoir such as a holding pond, then it is much more important to remove chemicals or else unwanted particles. The good news is that the basket design of these filters can handle a large flow of water while catching solids such as sand. It pays to occasionally look at these filters and manually remove captured grit.
The good news is that well-made inserts can last a long time and only need an occasional inspection. It does pay to buy a new one as recommended, especially if runoff tends to be frequent. It is rare that a catch basin will become so clogged that a basement becomes flooded due to the basket design, but it is important to inspect it after heavy rain and flooding.
Catch Basin Inserts are both designed to last a while and to help control floodwater. They are also meant to be replaced and are more likely to clog than a grilled cover because of their fine mesh. Good filter inserts also have a bypass, which means that if the filter is not working then water will be put into the ground or cistern without being properly filtered. This is a good reason to keep it clean and to change it out as needed.
