Clean Streets — Clean Waterways: Street Sweeping, Storm Water, and Pollution Reduction

Abstract

Society has placed a high premium on clean streets and appreciated, if only for aesthetic reasons, the importance of keeping dust, dirt, and garbage, as well as animal and human wastes, out of common transportation routes. As a result, street sweeping has become one of the more common, yet important, activities undertaken by most municipal governments. In recent years, however, attention has focused on some of the other benefits of street sweeping, particularly the impact of urban sweeping strategies in reducing storm water contamination. Indeed, new rules and higher water quality Standards relating to urban runoff have forced city managers to reevaluate traditional methods of storm water management and to look for innovative ways to meet the new criteria. Traditionally, communities have relied on extensive storm sewer Systems to remove water from urban areas. In some cases, this waste water is treated, either by passive or active means, to acceptable levels and then released into natural Systems, while in others, no treatment is afforded and water may flow directly into surface water outlets such as lakes, rivers, and seas (Koyama and Fujita, 1989). In the first scenario, severe pressure can be placed on the water treatment facility, particularly during heavy storm events. In the second instance, urban contaminants, such as heavy metals and organic chemicals, can be discharged into riverine, palustrine, lacustrine, and marine ecosystems.