Rainy days can be both good or bad depending on who you’re asking at that moment. Some people enjoy the soft, soothing sound of rain when they’re at home. But to others, rain makes the environment look wet and disgusting.
One of the reasons some people would feel that way is because of how the stormwater always seems to sit stagnant everywhere. But what is stormwater?
Here is a quick guide to stormwater and what you can do to help treat it.
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What is Stormwater?
So stormwater is just that, water that accumulates from a previous storm. This includes rain, snow, and hail. Usually, stormwater would simply seep into the ground if the ground was untapped and undeveloped.
This would replenish underground water reserves and also feed local plants.
However, In modern urban areas, infrastructure is built with materials that aren’t porous and do not absorb the water the same way, if at all. This causes more runoff.
This runoff however will end up picking up more pollutants than it would have had in a natural environment.
What Are Some Stormwater Pollutants?
Imagine your house on a rainy day and your gutter has been handling all the stormwater coming in. Luckily they have passed the stormwater inspection form and are holding up pretty well.
The water that is being collected will head to the ground and become runoff. Not imagine your sewer grate is a few hundred meters away. The water has to travel that distance just to get there, accumulating pollutants along the way that will contaminate it.
This doesn’t include the sewer pollutants as well. These pollutants can come from anywhere and can include things like animal feces/excrement, automotive fluids that are highly toxic if ingested, yard clippings, herbicides, pesticides, other fertilizers, and everyday litter.
Regulations
This might all sound kind of nasty, but luckily there are Federal regulations on this matter called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, it’s part of the EPA.
However, enforcement tends to largely fall under the state and local levels as far as how to treat the water by yourself or if it’s mandatory to have the local professionals handle the situation. You must check with your local government to see what you are allowed to do concerning stormwater management.
Stormwater runoff can cause many issues for the local drinking supply and the environment as a whole. Trying your best to reduce it as much as possible and preventing excess runoff will go a long way to preserving your community.
Learn How To Deal With Storm Water
What is stormwater? It’s water that you can help to treat if you know the right way how. Don’t let stormwater flood your home or the land surrounding it, nor let it contaminate it all as well.
Do your part to reduce stormwater and you’ll be doing your part to help save our water from pollution. For other informative articles like this one about how to deal with stormwater, be sure to browse the rest of our blog.
