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Controlling sanitary sewer overflows by preventive maintenance — a battle against nature
Author(s) -
Samples Iris F.,
Zhang Zhiyi
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
environmetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-095X
pISSN - 1180-4009
DOI - 10.1002/1099-095x(200007/08)11:4<449::aid-env428>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - combined sewer , process (computing) , battle , state (computer science) , environmental planning , risk analysis (engineering) , business , computer science , environmental resource management , operations research , environmental science , engineering , ecology , stormwater , geography , archaeology , algorithm , surface runoff , biology , operating system
Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) are a major environmental issue. The U.S. EPA is in the process of developing a national policy, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), addressing the SSO issue. Many state‐level environmental agencies are also tightening regulations regarding SSOs. There remain, however, fundamental questions that require answers. Since the purpose of any regulation is to make the world a better place by enforcing a certain pattern in human behavior, one of the most fundamental questions becomes: how much can the SSO problem be controlled by human activities? This article has a twofold purpose. First, it presents evidence that the impact of human activities on SSOs is limited; and second, it demonstrates how critical statistical information may be obtained, not necessarily by very sophisticated models, but by careful data preparation and variable selection. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.