Clean water is vital to public health, environmental and social well-being, and economic development. One of the most important elements in maintaining clean water in urban areas involves a system of sanitary sewers that direct wastewater to treatment before it is released into surrounding streams, rivers, lakes or oceans. This responsibility largely falls to local governments. Most large urban areas in New York State are served by municipal sewer systems, many of which commingle the water from rain and snow melt (“stormwater”) with the wastewater from homes and businesses in “combined sewer systems.” The flows from combined sewers can overwhelm treatment systems and have a harmful impact on the environment.
View this complete post...Posts Tagged ‘Runoff’
A Partially Treated Problem: Overflows from Combined Sewers
Tuesday, May 15th, 2018Fresh Water Becoming Saltier Around the United States
Friday, January 12th, 2018The freshwater salinization syndrome can increase risks to the safety of drinking water and infrastructure. Elevated salt levels in drinking water can contribute to hypertension in people on sodium-restricted diets and is of concern to people requiring kidney dialysis (9). Salinization and alkalinization influence the corrosivity of water, and this can affect leaching of metals from pipes carrying drinking water (9, 68).
View this complete post...The Scoop on Stormwater
Friday, July 21st, 2017Stormwater runoff is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. When rain falls on our roofs, streets, and parking lots in cities and their suburbs, the water cannot soak into the ground as it should. Stormwater drains through gutters, storm sewers, and other engineered collection systems and is discharged into nearby water bodies. The stormwater runoff carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants from the urban landscape. Higher flows resulting from heavy rains also can cause erosion and flooding in urban streams, damaging habitat, property, and infrastructure.
View this complete post...U.S. EPA: New England is Using Green Infrastructure to “Soak Up The Rain”
Friday, June 19th, 2015Polluted stormwater runoff is one of the greatest threats to clean water in the nation. EPA-New England launched its “Soak up the Rain” outreach program to raise public awareness about these threats, and help communities understand how green infrastructure (GI) strategies can help mitigate runoff damage. GI uses natural processes (vegetation and soil infiltration) to absorb and treat runoff at its source while offering additional benefits that can include flood mitigation, economic protection, habitat preservation and quality of life improvements. This video shows citizens from several communities using GI to mitigate their stormwater problems; people including school principals, municipal DPW officials, residential property owners and landscape professionals. The video also illustrates how Soak up the Rain actively promotes community efforts to reduce runoff and showcases specific GI projects.
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