Pollution and Water Quality

According to the United Nations, declining water quality has become a global issue of concern as human populations grow, industrial and agricultural activities expand, and climate change threatens to cause major alterations to the hydrological cycle. Resources available in this sub-theme include manuals describing water quality testing and treatment, reports and assessments of water quality from around the world, methods of maintaining water quality and managing pollution, and other resources that support enabling environments for effective water quality control.

Pollution and Water Quality Resources

Report of Weed Control and Water Quality Study in the Zapotitan Valley

Publication date:
January 1, 1971
U.S. Agency for International Development
Report on research related to weed control in the Zapotitan Valley. An integral part of the research was to include a water quality study, dealing with the contamination of irrigation water by herbicides.Read more
Regional/Country focus:
El Salvador
Latin America and the Caribbean

Appendix A: Abstracts Pertaining to Arid Regions

Publication date:
January 1, 1970
U.S. Agency for International Development
The abstracts contained were obtained to gain insight into what was accomplished in the realm of research of hydrologic and range phenomena in an arid watershed. The abstracts are classified into categories: range management, climatology, rainfall, water quality, drought, surface runoff, soils,...Read more

How Trees Can Retain Stormwater Runoff

Publication date:
December 31, 1969
The National Institutes for Water Resources
Trees in our communities provide many services beyond the inherent beauty they lend to streets and properties. One of the most overlooked and underappreciated is their ability to reduce the volume of water rushing through gutters and pipes following a storm. This means less investment in expensive...Read more
Regional/Country focus:
United States
North America

Managing Urban Runoff

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
This page provides information and resources to help citizens and municipalities protect water quality from sources of urban runoff. There are guidance documents, manuals, factsheets and research studies available to learn best management practices.Read more

Nonpoint Source Outreach Toolbox

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Nonpoint Source (NPS) Outreach Toolbox is the EPA's guidance for effective outreach education on nonpoint source pollution or storm water runoff. The Toolbox contains a variety of resources with examples for increasing awareness and changing behavior in relation to storm water awareness,...Read more

U.S. National Aquatic Resource Surveys

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. EPA has developed approaches for implementing a statistically valid survey for assessing the nation's waters. These resources are specific to states but provide a framework approach to help build national monitoring program. The National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) use randomized...Read more

AQUATOX 3.1 Plus Simulation Model for Aquatic Systems

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
AQUATOX is a simulation model for aquatic systems. AQUATOX predicts the flow of pollutants, such as nutrients and organic chemicals, and their effects on the ecosystem, including fish, invertebrates and aquatic plants. This model is a valuable tool for ecologists, biologists, water quality modelers...Read more

System for Urban Stormwater Treatment Analysis Integration Model (Sustain)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
SUSTAIN is a decision support system that will assist storm water management professionals in developing implementation plans for flow and pollution control to protect sources waters. It will also assist watershed and storm water practitioners to develop, evaluate and select optimal best management...Read more

Water Quality Exchange

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Water Quality Exchange (WQX) provides a standard format for exchanging water quality monitoring data. Even though it's designed for data sharing within the U.S., the data exchange schema could be reused by any country to establish a data exchange.Read more

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