Standards for Equipment Explained

The Environmental Protection agency reserves the right under the Clean Water Act to regulate businesses' dumping of water pollution into navigable water. The dumping of water pollution into navigable water requires certain equipment to ensure that levels of toxic pollutants are at safer levels.

There are standards for the pretreatment of water pollution before it is dumped into navigable water. After pretreatment of the worst forms of water pollution, there are publicly owned treatment works that clean polluted water to reduce the harmful effects of water pollution. The polluted water must be transported by truck or barge.

The hazardous chemicals in water pollution reside in the transportation vehicles. There are standards for transportation equipment cleaning as well. The objective of all these standards for the disposal of pollutants is to reduce water pollution.

In the transportation industry, there are standards for cleaning transport vehicles because the maintenance of these vehicles often creates waste-water. The waste-water from the cleaning of these vehicles or vessels must be collected and properly disposed.

Some chemicals that are used in heavy industrial cleaning are so toxic to the environment that the waste-water must be brought to special disposal facilities. Proper disposal water must be done with specific equipment to reduce the concentration of water pollution in a given body of water. The standards are based on parts per million concentrations of water pollutants. The EPA has certain concentration limits of certain water pollutants found in waste-water.

Specifically, they are most concerned with Nitrogen, phosphorus, and mercury pollution because these pollutants leech into the Fish people eat. To dump pollution into navigable water, a company must obtain a permit, which initiates EPA oversight of the companies' water pollution activities. Navigable water is defined as any body of water that is relatively permanent and forms lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans.

The EPA reserves the right to mandate the purchase of certain water treatment equipment for heavy industrial pollutants. However, the EPA launched a effluent water trading program in which polluting industries may take their waste-water and bring them to a publicly owned water treatment facility.

This program originated in the New Jersey chemical industry and has been a relative success. The transportation vehicles used in the carting of polluted water must be cleaned properly according to EPA standards.

The EPA may fine businesses that fail to comply with equipment standards or mismanagement of polluted waste water. The highest fines are reserved for those who contribute to water pollution by dumping waste into navigable waters.