Analysis of the «Methods of developing standards for permissible discharges of substances and microorganisms into water bodies for water users» against the background of the water protection legislation
(for discussion)

Summary

The analysis of the current edition of the «Methods of developing standards for permissible discharges of substances and microorganisms into water bodies for water users», approved by the Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated December 17, 2007 No. 333 for consilience and compliance with the regulations of the water protection legislation, is carried out. Uncertainty of the application of the Methods in the conditions of the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors that are independent of a specific water user on the quality of water has been identified. The provisions of the Methods contradict the principles of regulating the impact on water bodies based on the best available technologies shown on the examples of approved process indicators of the concentrations of various industrial pollutants in wastewater. An analysis of the system of regulating the permissible impact on water bodies and the geographical differentiation of water quality standards within the boundaries of the Russian Federation, together with the system of water quality targets, also showed that the Methods do not comply with the basic principles of the water protection legislation.

Key words

water quality , best available techniques , water object , permissible discharge norm , regulatory standard of the permissible impact

The experience of using «Recommendations on designing the systems of collection, disposal and treatment of surface runoff from territories allotted for settlement and industrial sites, and on determining the conditions of its discharge into water bodies»

Summary

The experience of using «Recommendations on designing the systems of collection, disposal and treatment of surface runoff from territories allotted for settlement and industrial sites, and on determining the conditions of its discharge into water bodies» developed at NII VODGEO Federal State Unitary Enterprise in substitution of previous «Temporary recommendations on designing facilities for processing surface runoff from industrial sites and determining the conditions of its discharge into water bodies» is considered. The high demand for the developed document by the experts in the process of designing and approving project documents on construction and upgrade of engineering structures of storm sewers is noted. The use of advanced methods of calculating surface runoff amount and flow rate provides for minimizing the capacity of the treatment facilities at guaranteed meeting the requirements of the regulations on the conditions of disposal and quality of surface runoff effluents. The list of priority water quality parameters to be guided when choosing a treatment process flow scheme is presented. The basic technical solutions of surface runoff collection, disposal and treatment are formulated. The principle of wastewater flow separation and accumulation is suggested together with the technologies of its engineering implementation that provide for reasonably reducing the investments for the construction of treatment facilities under the existing environmental legislation and design regulatory framework. The need for updating the section on the recommendations on determining the conditions of surface runoff disposal into water bodies that was developed following the amendments to the RF Water Code and enactment of the new regulatory and procedural documents related to developing the regulations on permissible impact on water bodies and permissible discharges for water uses is noted.

Key words

surface runoff , storm sewer , runoff disposal and treatment , environmental legislation , permissible discharge norm