CULTEC has marked 25 years since the introduction of its first plastic stormwater chamber. CULTEC specializes in manufacturing reliable and cost-effective stormwater and septic chambers and providing innovative solutions to help integrate its products into engineers' design plans.
A second-generation, family-owned company, CULTEC can trace the development of its first plastic septic chamber to 1986. At that time, CULTEC was involved in excavation, building and the precast concrete business, supplying, among other products, concrete leaching galleries. CULTEC founder Robert DiTullio, Sr. conceived the idea of a structurally sound plastic chamber after observing how heavy and labor-intensive these galleries were.
After the septic chamber was introduced to the market, CULTEC quickly realized its potential for the stormwater industry. As the first manufacturer to apply this technology to managing stormwater runoff, CULTEC has played a key role in introducing subsurface chamber systems to a market that had predominantly relied on metal and concrete structures. The company tested its products to ensure that they met traffic load requirements as well as educated engineers and contractors about the benefits of retention/detention infiltration and storage chamber systems.
"CULTEC has now become a major provider of plastic chambers for underground stormwater management, while this technology simply did not exist 25 years ago," said DiTullio, Sr. "When the Federal Clean Water Act was passed, stormwater management became a major environmental issue. Plastic chambers can satisfy most federal and local stormwater regulations as well as solve a gamut of onsite challenges."
In addition to supplying products for 25 years, CULTEC has helped industry professionals solve various design and installation challenges.
"We have always focused on the needs of engineers and contractors," said Fred Dotson, vice president of CULTEC. "We offer a variety of chamber sizes to accommodate any site restrictions and have developed our own conveyance headers that simplify installation and reduce costs. Additionally, we offer accompanying products such as water quality devices to be able to provide a complete stormwater management package."
The company also initiated collaboration with modeling software providers to include CULTEC chambers in their software, assisting engineers in the task of design and specification.
The company continues to invest resources in ongoing research and product development and offer solutions for stormwater challenges.