Storm Water Storm water runoff is what happens when surface water collects after a rain, snow, or sleet storm. This water picks up surface level pollutants and carries them along as the water reenters the ground water system and potentially becomes part of our drinking water. Storm water is generally untreated. This means that everything the storm water picks up from our streets, construction sites, parking lots, sidewalks, and roads gets carried to our gutters, canals, arroyos, and storm drains — and ends up in our lakes, streams, and waterways — untreated. Discharges of storm water runoff can have a significant impact on water quality. Studies have shown that storm water runoff from urban areas can include a variety of pollutants such as sediment, bacteria, organic nutrients, hydrocarbons, metals, oil, and grease. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has increased their focus in recent years in an effort to reduce illicit discharges entering the water system. The EPA has given local governments five years to educate their populace and put plans in place utilizing "Best Management Practices" to reduce the amount of illicit discharges. By safely and efficiently cleaning residential and commercial refuse containers, Blast-N-Clean®'s Automated Waste Cart & Container Cleaning System can help prevent these dangerous materials from being introduced into our water system as well as help municipalities meet their EPA required Storm Water Management Plan.
|
