Surface runoff

Urban Runoff Urban runoff is a relatively recent concern, but it is not an insignificant issue. Urban Runoff can cause health problems, it can be toxic to aquatic life, and can be a danger to the air we breathe. The reason we know that this is an issue is because for the last twenty or so years urban areas have invested billions of dollars for water treatment facilities to control the water pollution. This issue started when people realized that when it rains or the snow melts it gets into the…

Stormwater runoff brings many problems besides polluting the Bay. It causes a chain reaction of negative events such as killing the native life in the watershed, causing diseases in humans, polluting the air, and loss to the economy. It’s more than simply making the water look repulsive. Stormwater runoff hurts the Bay, and there are simple everyday actions citizens can do to benefit to the Bay. The government can only do so much to protect the Bay. Citizens can build ourselves, volunteer, and…

Introduction Stormwater runoff has been documented to increase flooding which reduces ground water infiltration and shallow interflow. Within the water there are pollutants such as nutrients, and pathogens (Hunter, 2010). In urban and suburban areas, stormwater runoff is a primary stressor of surface water. Conventional urban stormwater management systems usually transfer stormwater runoff directly into streams and rivers, which in turn will worsen pollutant inputs and hydrologic disturbance,…

precipitation events and snow/ice melt, if it hasn’t infiltrated into soil, then runoff happens, which could lead to urban waterlogging and waste of water resource. Since humans began living in concentrated village or urban settings, stormwater runoff has been an issue. During thousands of years, humankind didn’t really take action to deal with storm water, but within the high speed urbanization during modern time, impervious surface-especially in urban area-has increased dramatically, which…

impervious surfaces. “Impervious surfaces are mainly constructed surfaces--rooftops, sidewalks, roads, and parking lots--covered by impenetrable materials such as asphalt, concrete, and stone” (Barnes, Morgan, and Roberge 3). Every new roofed structure, every new sidewalk, and every new road adds a new water blockade. This seal of man made material slowly covering the earth prevents water from infiltrating into the soil and replenishing supplies of ground water. Impervious surfaces also…

Polluted runoff is water from rain or melting snow that runs across the paved land instead of seeping into the ground and being filtered naturally. It happens with the water that flows off of our streets, parking lots, and building rooftops and it picks up all kinds of hazardous waste like pet waste, debris, manure, pesticides, oil, and automotive fluids. If the runoff is poorly treated or untreated, it negatively affects the water quality and the aquatic life in the local streams, then the…

do pathogenic organisms get into a water source? Human and animal wastes (feces) are major source for pathogenic organisms (such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa) into a water source (surface or groundwater). As water (surface runoff) resulting from the storm or precipitation or snowmelt runs over the land surface, it will pick up potential pollutants include pathogenic organisms as it runs over livestock excrement from barnyards, pastures, rangelands, feedlots. Furthermore, the discharge from…

Period 2 The Effect of Different Levels of Nitrate and Phosphate in Fertilizer Runoff Before and After Rain Water is a major resource and is essential for life. It is naturally recycled through a process called hydrological cycle. The demand of water over the world has been increasing as population and industrialization does, while available drinking water has been deteriorating due to pollution.Fertilizer runoff is a serious anthropogenic issue that has been causing disruptive changes to…

mountain tops (ridges), water vapor condenses and falls to the surface as precipitation. Subsequently, higher elevations typically receive greater volumes of precipitation than the low-lying valleys. As an example, annual precipitation in State College is fairly consistent, however, average annual precipitation is as much as 20% below that received at surrounding higher elevations (Joel N. Myers Weather Center, 2014). Moreover, runoff from the mountains increases water supply at lower…

Based on the data collected from the experiment that was conducted, the presence of agricultural runoff is harmful to an elodea plant. Although the rate of growth was only minorly affected, the harsh chemicals in the solution killed the plants. The null hypothesis cannot be rejected since the Chi-square value, 3.34, is less than the critical value of 7.81, as can be seen in Table 1. Additionally in Figure 1, the differences in the height of the plants are trivial, for they are only off by a few…