Clean Streets = Cleaner Waters | Sweeper Summit 2026 with Seth Brown, PhD, P.E. and Greg McPartlin

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Key Topics

Impromptu StormCon sit-down with Seth Brown, PhD, P.E., Executive Director of the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance (NMSA), and Greg McPartlin of the Clean Streets = Cleaner Waters initiative.

Sweeping has been a maintenance checkbox with little measurement of what was picked up or how, even though it is source-control pretreatment.

The 15th annual Sweeper Summit is November 3 and 4 in San Antonio: "one summit, two industries, one national discussion," bringing power sweeping and MS4 professionals together.

Guests describe sweeping as six to ten times cheaper than downstream treatment, while extending BMP life, reducing inlet clogging, and cutting local flooding.

Research since the 1970s consistently shows cost-effective removal in Florida, California, Minnesota, and New England; early mixed results reflected study design, not the practice.

Policy is the gap. Chesapeake Bay’s crediting, Minnesota's organic-debris phosphorus calculator, New Hampshire's refinement, and Mile High Flood Control District’s interest are the exceptions.

NMSA wants consistent national crediting for actual removal, not assumed lane miles, so contracts can pay for performance instead of lowest-bidder checkbox work.

Onboard tech already logs GPS, brush engagement, RPM, angle, volume, and moisture for near real-time reporting, aligning with EPA e-reporting.

About 31 states have no real sweeping policy, and operator skill is a top performance factor. Manufacturers including ODRA, TYMCO, Elgin, and Schwarze, plus NAPSA (North American Power Sweeping Association) and 1-800-Sweeper, funded phase one.

Next: STEPP verification, an ASTM sweeping-performance standard, training, and a half-day researcher workshop with PDHs at the Summit. Texas partners include WEAT, the San Antonio River Authority, and TCEQ.

Quotes

"The research has been done. What hasn't been done is connecting this research with policy. The real way to get this moving forward is connecting these two worlds through policy." ~Seth Brown

 

In this episode, host Ty Garmon sits down with Seth Brown, PhD, P.E., Executive Director of the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance, and Greg McPartlin of the Clean Streets = Cleaner Waters initiative, live from StormCon. They make the case that street sweeping is pretreatment and one of the most cost-effective MS4 tools available, by unpacking the research-to-policy gap, performance-based crediting, and Sweeper Summit in San Antonio as the first time the sweeping and stormwater industries meet as one national discussion.

 

The views expressed are that of the individual and do not represent the opinions of any companies past, present or future.

 

Connect with Seth Brown, PhD, P.E.:

Seth Brown (NMSA): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbrownpe

NMSA: https://ms4nmsa.org/

Email: seth.brown@nationalstormwateralliance.org

 

Connect with Greg McPartlin:

Greg McPartlin (Urban Quarries): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-l-mcpartlin-b47305a9

Sweeper Summit: https://www.sweepersummit.com/

 

Connect with Ty Garmon, LEED AP:

Connect with Ty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tygarmon/

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Check out The Stormwater World Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9hVXVJ5oXplf_V9XOPpR6A

Podcast Website: https://stormwaterworld.com

 

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