Why cant the copper in stormwater runoff be treated and removed like it is in sewer water?
• A: Since much of the copper in stormwater runoff is in a dissolved form, the type of treatment technologies that are most commonly retrofitted into storm drain systemsdrain inserts that remove trash and other solidsare not effective in removing it. While land-based stormwater runoff treatment systems like infiltration ponds and rain gardens are better at removing copper, widespread installation of these systems would be prohibitively expensive and could be disruptive to established communities, because these systems require significant amounts of landand that land has to be located near storm drain outlets along creeks, rivers, and beaches. When these facts are combined with the ubiquity of copper in the landscape, it becomes clear that the best and perhaps only way to effectively reduce copper in the states waters is to deal with it at its sources. This is what the Brake Pad Partnership seeks to do.
