Stormwater 101
Stormwater run-off is a result of this weather event(s).
What is rain, sleet, snow, hail?
The person you should contact immediately when you observe a leak or illicit discharge near or into a storm drain system.
Who is the Supervisor/Manager?
You may take a photo and note the location and relay that information as soon as possible.
Changing the oil of your motorhome on the side of the road and letting the oil drain to a catch basin.
What is Not an Allowable Discharge - Oil is not an allowable discharge to the MS4.
MS4
What is Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System?
Meaning our sewer and storm systems are SEPARATE
Hazardous material that is outside its container and could possibly cause injury or contamination.
What is a spill?
All spills should be cleaned up immediately.
This state agency regulates the City of Atlanta's stormwater MS4 program
Who is the Environmental Protection Division or EPD?
Example of an illicit discharge.
What is Paint, Oil, Grass, Sewage, dirt/sediment, chemicals, Petroleum products, etc?
Not so fun fact: One gallon of oil can pollute up to 1,000,000 gallons of water.
Pressure washing using soap and washing debris into catch basins.
What is Not an Allowable Discharge - Steps should be taken to protect the catch basins from soapy water and debris.
BMP
What is Best Management Practice?
a practice or combination of practices that is an effective, practicable means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution.
A supply of fresh water under the earth's surface, which forms a natural reservoir
What is groundwater?
The process in which material in the soil are washed into lower layers of soil or are dissolved and carried away by water.
What is leaching?
examples include: nutrients, pesticides, chemicals.
The most downstream point (i.e. the final discharge point) on an MS4 where it discharges to the waters of the State.
What is an outfall?
An outfall is not a culvert under a road, a headwall leading to a ditch, or an intermediate drainage structure.
Condensation from air conditioning units are allowed to enter catch basins.
What is an Allowable Discharge - air conditioning condensation is an allowable discharge
MEP
What is the Maximum Extent Practicable?
Stormwater permits require the reduction of pollutants in stormwater discharges to the MEP, including management practices, control measures, & system design & engineering methods.
Required to have at locations that contain hazardous materials. It includes absorbent materials and should be kept covered.
What is a spill kit?
A type of pollution that can be tracked down to a specific source such as a factory discharge pipe.
What is Point Source Pollution?
Remember, nonpoint source pollution is pollution that cannot be traced to a specific point, and comes from many individual places.
Pollution in stormwater can deprive fish and other aquatic life of this essential molecule?
Oxygen
Be on the lookout for Dissolved Oxygen <5 mg/L
Emptying swimming pool or hot tub water to a catch basin?
What is Not an Allowable Discharge - Water from swimming pools and hot tubs are no allowable discharges and they should be discharged to sanitary
CWA
What is the Clean Water Act?
establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.
What year was it established?
An industrial facility may have these documents on hand to ensure compliance.
What is a Stormwater Management Plan, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, Spill Control & Countermeasure Plan, Inspection Records.
Flow only during or immediately after periods of precipitation.
What is an Ephemeral stream.
generally flow less than 30 days out of the year; flows in response to precipitation.
Not to be confused with an intermittent stream, which flow seasonally; usually last longer than 30 days out of the year.
Perennial streams always have flow.
Most common pollutant generated from construction site.
What is sediment/dirt?
A silt fence is the BMP commonly used for control of the development perimeter on these sites.
Water from crawl space pumps.
What is an Allowable Discharge - Uncontaminated water from crawl space pumps is an allowable discharge
NPDES
What is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
As a result of the Clean Water Act, the NPDES program was developed to control the discharge of polluted runoff to the nation's waterways from point and non-point sources, such as pipes or wells and stormwater runoff. The EPA developed the program, but for the majority of the country, the program is administered at the state level.
The amount of treatment stormwater runoff receives before draining into the creek
What is none?