Storm Water Pollution Protection Plan

Storm Water Pollution Protection Plan:

One of the major sources of pollutants is contaminated storm water since storm drains carry runoff from urban centers, streets, and industrial sites to open spaces in rivers. The main factor contributing factor to the problem of contaminated storm water is industrial operations. This is primarily because industrial operations are the source of oily wastes, heavy metals, and other substances. The other likely sources of pollutants include shipping, production, and storage operations that are exposed to storm water.

Since industrial operations are most likely to contribute to contaminated storm water, the federal and state governments have enacted storm water regulations that currently require various kinds of industrial facilities to develop and establish necessary measures to prevent storm water pollution. As compared to other pollution problems, storm water pollution cannot be addressed by a single set of rules that are applicable to every industrial facility. This is because different facilities consist of different storm water flow patterns, quantities, and potential pollutants. Therefore, even varying facilities within similar general industry may require distinctive approaches to prevent storm water pollution ("Best Management Practices," n.d.).

The most effective way for storm water pollution prevention plan includes both structural controls and operating practices that can lessen the amounts of pollutants in storm water. In addition to this, storm water pollution can be prevented through reasonable precautions and modest changes in regular operations or maintenance practices. The maintenance practices and regular operations can be adequate to control the pollution of storm water for some industrial facilities. However, the prevention of storm water pollution may require the development and establishment of new practices or the construction of physical controls.

Storm water pollution prevention may be governed by three major principles i.e. preventing water from contacting working areas. The other general principles include keeping pollutants off surfaces that can easily come into contact with water and controlling storm water before it is discharged to the storm drain. When controlling storm water before it's discharged from the drain requires consideration of where storm water is discharged from. Some of the places where storm water discharges from include material handling sites, shipping and receiving areas, and industrial plant yards.

Storm water pollution prevention plan provides a list of the established best management practices (BMPs) to prevent storm water pollution at a site. While the actual details in the best management practices of the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan varies based on the specific conditions of the site, there are some typical BMPs that will always be included in the plan. Some of these typical best management practices in the SWPPP include covered storage, employee training, site maintenance, equipment maintenance, infiltration, and detention pond ("Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan," n.d.).