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Sediment is major cause of surface water contamination in the United States and can lead to habitat degradation and water quality impairment. Additionally, sediment transports nutrients, pesticides, and other chemicals that can also be detrimental to receiving ecosystems. A high risk contributor to sediment pollution is disturbed land areas, such as construction sites. Traditionally, detention ponds that rely on gravity settling have been used to capture sediment in runoff from construction sites. Since suspended sediment in runoff is comprised of various size particles with varying settling velocities, a significant fraction is often too fine to settle out in a detention basin of practical size, which leads to sediment transport off the construction site. In order to mitigate the potential for environmental contamination, the EPA is expected to set a maximum turbidity limit for construction site runoff that has yet to be determined.