The rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation's rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system. The Clean Water Act regulatory framework for addressing sewage and industrial wastes is not well suited to the more difficult problem of stormwater discharges. This book calls for an entirely new permitting structure that would put authority and accountability for stormwater discharges at the municipal level. A number of additional actions, such as conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads and parking lots), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater, are recommended.

Chemical treatment systems (CTS) are implemented in areas where traditional, physical erosion and sediment control practices will not meet water quality goals for construction site runoff. The purpose of CTS is to reduce the amount of suspended sediment which would be released using conventional erosion control systems. The primary mechanism is the introduction of chemical flocculants into runoff, resulting in a binding of the suspended clays and silts together into larger particles which settle more quickly or can be filtered from the stormwater. Flow control through CTS is of vital importance for the proper dosing of stormwater runoff. All normal hydrologic analyses must be done to insure that reasonable peak flows are accounted for along with typical flows from designed storm events. Once analysis is adequately addressed, then the project can deal with the complexities of design and dose rate requirements. The overall objectives of this book are twofold. First, it is designed to provide a technically credible basis for best management practices for the use of CTS for turbidity reduction on road construction projects. Secondly, it is designed to identify the most important variables to address when selecting chemical treatment best management practices for a particular site.

Current trends in stormwater management add pollution control to existing priorities of flood protection and peakflow limits. From a fundamental overview of supporting information on water quality, statistics and hydrology to detailed sections devoted to treatment and management practices, this book examines the latest treatment practices and techniques for improving stormwater quality to protect against stream, river and estuary degradation.

This guide shows you how to develop and implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan specifically designed for your construction site. It should answer any questions you have regarding the NPDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activities that are classified as "Associated with Industrial Activity" (referred to as EPA's Baseline Construction General Permit). Step-by-step guidelines and checklists walk you through the process of setting up your plan, which makes the book invaluable for consultants, regulators, and construction managers and engineers.