
Grates on Hard Surfaces
GR8 Guard™ or Hard Surface Guard™ are patented, high performance, low total cost systems designed to reduce sediment and debris flow into paved area inlets during construction or semi-permanently in parking lots or industrial sites. Installed above ground, they significantly improve sediment control, ease of maintenance, monitoring and worker safety. The integrated filter is designed for concentrated flows with a high-flow bypass. The outer berm on GR8 Guard causes water to rise more 1.5 inches before reaching the filter, allowing larger particles to settle. Hard Surface Guard is 4″ or 6″ high.


ERTEC designs high flow bypass into its Top Guard™ DI Protection Devices. Safety is the highest priority.


It takes one person 5 minutes to install GR8 Guard. Grates do not need to be removed. ERTEC recommends vinyl coated rebar tie-wire to attach GR8 Guards to the grate. Feed wire thru each corner of the orange section, down thru and around a grate bar and then back up. Pull tight and to tie-off by twisting the wires 4 times, cut excess then bend nub downward.



GR8 Guard is durable and reusable and most often used on construction sites. It can be moved from project to project. During installation, cleaning or removal, the heavy metal grates do not need to be removed, reducing installer injuries and speeding operations. GR8 Guard continues to perform throughout a multi-year or multi-phase project. In order to retain as much sediment as possible, flow will be partially restricted. It’s important to assure that the surface is clean and free of debris after every storm event. Installation above the ground makes it easy to install, inspect, maintain and remove.

GR8 Guard can be combined with other types of ERTEC inlet protection to cover diverse situations. Here two GR8 Guards are combined to cover a large 3’x6′ grate.

Before maintenance and post storm. Maintenance is quick. 5 minutes to clean and prepare GR8 Guard for the next storm. The grate does not need to be removed.

An 8’x8′ grate can be covered by four 4’x4′ GR8 Guards. This installation took about 15 minutes.
The following 5 pictures were taken on the same road paving project. GR8 Guards were installed with easy-off, environmentally friendly adhesive to prevent movement from vehicle roll-overs and bursts of air from high-speed vehicles. Installation Videos found here (with or without adhesive).






Hard Surface Guard can be used on a longer term basis for drain inlets in industrial sites or parking lots where large amounts of debris, organic matter or sediment may be present.

Hard Surface Guard has been shown to reduce total solids. Heavy, concentrated particulate movement towards HSG may temporarily cover the filter, but as the back-up recedes slowly, the cleanest water flows over the top and solids are deposited upstream. After each storm, the filter can be cleaned.