As part of the County’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements, the County has implemented a program approved by the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to screen for dry weather discharges from stormwater drainage system outfalls within the urbanized area of the County. A storm drain system outfall is the release point of the entire drainage system to State Waters. During dry periods, there should not be any flow or discharge from the County’s storm drain systems. When there is dry weather flow, this is an indication of a possible illegal connection (non-stormwater pipes connected to the storm drain system) or illicit discharge (anything containing pollutants that is not stormwater).

When an outfall is screened and there is dry weather flow, visual and chemical sampling is completed. If the detected limits of any of the visual and chemical sampling parameters are above their acceptable baseline limits, the County initiates the source tracing and removal procedures required to detect and eliminate the illicit discharge or illegal connection. The County’s goal is to investigate all suspected illicit discharges and remove all illegal connections to the County’s storm drain system.