Detection of Wastewater Contaminations

Wastewater contamination from illicit discharges and leaking sewer infrastructure in the Great Lakes remains a serious source of pollution in tributaries and nearshore waters. These situations result in substantial surface water contamination, and once located, are considered a high priority by municipalities for rapid repair. One of the major barriers for municipalities responsible for mitigation of these contamination sources is locating them in a time-, labor- and cost-efficient manner. Stormwater sewer systems capture runoff from streets, parking lots and rooftops and discharge water directly to rivers. An illicit connection between the sanitary and the stormwater system is expensive and time intensive to locate with standard methods. The Detection of Wastewater Contamination KDF provided an opportunity for industry leaders to collaborate and discuss current techniques and parameters used to identify wastewater contamination sources, the vision of improvements to technology and practices, and next steps, which are catalogued and highlighted in this document.