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Water Quality and Water Pollution
Published in Herman Koren, Best Practices for Environmental Health, 2017
A pollutant that comes from a non-point source of contamination is any pollutant that does not come from a specific and discrete source of contamination, such as a ship or factory, including stormwater and runoff from urban and agricultural areas. Stormwater from heavy rains falls on a variety of surfaces including sidewalks, yards, driveways, roofs, parking lots, etc., and carries pollutants from littering by individuals, trash and recyclables, pet waste, lawn fertilizers and pesticides, residue from washing cars, residue from motor oil and other contaminants from cars, and leftover hazardous chemicals and paint which are exposed to the rain. Industrial stormwater typically introduces into surface bodies of water substantial quantities of total suspended solids, oxygen-demanding materials, nutrients, metals, hazardous chemicals, and other common pollutants. Runoff is now the most common source of water pollution. Agriculture contributes almost half of the water quality contaminants to rivers and streams and over 40% to lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. Municipal point sources contribute about 37% to the contamination of estuaries. Hydrologic modifications contribute to 20% of the water quality problems in rivers and streams and 18% in lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. Urban runoff and contaminated storm sewer water contribute 32% of the water quality problems to estuaries, while contributing 18% to lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. Industrial discharges contribute 26% of the water quality problems of estuaries and atmospheric deposition 24%.
Storm and Combined Sewer Overflow: An Overview of Epa’s Research Program
Published in Richard Field, Marie L. O’Shea, Kee Kean Chin, Integrated Stormwater Management, 1993
Richard Field, Marie L. O’Shea, Kee Kean Chin
Permits for industrial stormwater runoff along with follow-up compliance and control are now mandated requirements (WQA Section 405 and CWA Section 402 (p)). There are thousands of industrial sites in the country with pollutants and toxicants in their runoff. Research and development for problem assessment and control of industrial stormwater runoff are needed to support these mandates; especially because research has never been done in this area.
Drones in urban stormwater management: a review and future perspectives
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2019
As such, there is an awareness and movement towards data-informed ‘smart regulations’. For example, in the U.S. current compliance is demonstrated by a modeling approach; however, the EPA has set forth a movement towards smart regulations where stormwater compliance is demonstrated not through models but observations and monitoring (Markell and Glicksman 2013). In fact, a recent committee formed to identify improvements in industrial stormwater permits produced a report that highlighted improvements to monitoring as the best way to ensure compliance (NASEM 2019). While this movement towards demonstrating compliance through monitoring would be a big step towards showing actual water quality improvements, it will require economical technologies that can accurately and reliably measure water quality in a stormwater system. This is a challenge as traditional monitoring of stormwater flows, water quality, and infrastructure requires on ground in-situ techniques that can be time and resource intensive to implement (McDonald, Dymond, and Lohani 2018). Therefore, a gap currently exists between the recognized need for monitoring to demonstrate compliance, inform stormwater management efforts, and protect human and ecological health, and the resource and technological capacity to do so.