WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW STORM WATER MANAGEMENT?

The recent spell of rains in Chennai saw large-scale inundation across the city. Visuals of residents wading in knee-deep water dominated the news. Many residents saw water enter their homes and found their belongings destroyed. Anguish and anger poured out on social media posts of those who went through this harrowing experience

 

 What Is Storm Water?

 Stormwater is rainwater plus anything the rain carries along with it. As rainwater runs across different surfaces, it can pick up various types of pollutants including:

•          Sediment from exposed soil
•          Oil and grease from driveways and roads
•          Leaves and animal droppings that collect in gutters
•          Chemicals from lawns and gardens

In urban areas, rain that falls on house roofs, paved areas like driveways, roads and footpaths, or flows from saturated gardens and grass fields, is carried away through stormwater pipes and canals to the ocean, via creeks and rivers.

In the Sydney drinking water catchment, stormwater is carried, not to the ocean, but into local creeks and rivers that flow into major drinking water supply dams. This makes stormwater pollution from rural properties and towns in the catchment a major risk to the quality of our drinking water - a risk that everyone living in the catchment can help reduce.

 

What are the consequences of stormwater?

When heavy rain occurs, the clogged rainwater may get mixed with wastewater and rushed even inside to the houses. Extremely venomous creatures like snakes or anything may crawl around the living areas which is not safe for residential people

Any rain, snow and ice melt that does not infiltrate or evaporate is exposed to pollution present on the ground, and surface water runoff may dissolve or pick up and carry these pollutants and contaminants. Rainfall on industrial facilities is particularly susceptible to carrying harmful pollutants, but impermeable surfaces such as roads and pavements make any urban or built environment a potential source of oil, metals, trash and solids that can generate stormwater pollution. The kinds of pollution that may be present in stormwater include:

          ·         Trash, debris and gross solids

          ·         Particulate solids—silt, sand, grit and sediment*

          ·         Nutrients and organic materials, including fertilizers and pesticides

          ·         Chemicals

          ·         Heavy metals

          ·         Oils and hydrocarbons

Why is Stormwater pollution a problem?  

Stormwater runoff will eventually reach a watercourse such as a river, lake or sea, and any pollutants that are present in this surface water are deposited into the environment. Sand, grit and other solids—either carried from impermeable surfaces or as the result of erosion—result in sedimentation and silting of watercourses; nutrients and organic materials disrupt ecosystems and can cause harmful biological events such as algal blooms; and chemicals, metals and other contaminants may cause direct harm to flora and fauna and may bioaccumulate over time.

For businesses and other organizations, permits and discharge limits place stringent regulations on what may be discharged from a site in stormwater, and exceeding these regulatory boundaries can mean that the damage of discharging polluted stormwater is not restricted only to the environment—companies and individuals may also face financial and legal penalties.

What is the stormwater treatment?

Stormwater treatment is the action of capturing pollutants and contaminants from surface water runoff before they reach a watercourse or body of water such as a river, lake or ocean. Once in the environment pollution is difficult to remove, so prevention is always better than cure.

 

How do you treat stormwater?

Stormwater regulators, engineers and contractors are entrusted with an enormous responsibility to approve, specify and install treatment solutions that improve water quality and the environment, both today and for years to come. Fortunately, in the same way, that there are different kinds of stormwater pollution, there are different techniques, technologies and treatment systems for removing pollutants from surface water.

Screening

Stormwater screens are physical barriers that prevent trash, litter, gross solids and larger particles from passing into a drainage network, and may be combined with a form of settling chamber to allow grit and coarse sediment to settle out.

Separation

Hydrodynamic separators use a vortex to remove solids from surface water runoff. This kind of stormwater treatment system settles out grit, sand and silt, capturing along with it any nutrients, chemicals or heavy metals that are bound to the solids. Depending on the design it may also trap trash and debris, and allow for the separation and capture of oils and hydrocarbons.

Filtration

A stormwater filter uses filtration media or membranes to remove pollution from surface water. Water is forced through the filter, and the media or membrane captures the pollutants that it was designed to address. Media and membranes may be customized to address specific pollutants in order to meet a particular site’s needs—industrial facilities may need to capture metals such as zinc, lead, copper and aluminium, for example. Silt, solids, trash and debris are too large to pass through the filter and are typically captured ahead of the filtration unit.

Infiltration

An infiltration system attempts to mimic the natural effect of the soil, providing a permeable surface that stormwater can soak through, often using engineered soils to capture specific pollutants. The system may also incorporate appropriate biological elements such as plants, both to beautify the area and to intercept nutrients from the water as part of the treatment.

Retention

Retention involves the storage of stormwater runoff, both in order to reduce the risk of flooding and to provide time for pollutants to settle out of the flow. Landscaping with plants such as grasses, shrubs and wetland flora provides an aesthetically pleasing environment and increases nutrient uptake from the water.

 

How GRAM can help you?

We provide international technology for water treatment to industrial, domestic requirements of water and wastewater treatment and an extensive track record in the designing, supplying, and constructing of plants across the world for the treatment of water, wastewater, sewage water, and sludge.

Our team comprises highly qualified environment engineers, experts, and techno crafts in the field of water treatment management. We are the best water treatment company in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. We committed ourselves to providing best in class water treatment service to save our environment as possible as we can. We provide all kinds of solutions to water and wastewater treatment.

For any enquiry call: 9600772583

Mail us:  info@getsenviro.com

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