• What is the difference between stormwater and sewage systems? How do the systems work, and where does the water end up?
  - Stormwater (often in storm surges), flows directly out to sea untreated.
• How has the built environment and the stormwater system fundamentally changed the way that water moves through the environment?
  - Water runoff has dramatically increased.
  - Changed many waterways into stormwater drains.
  - Decreased the natural filtering processes of creeks, rivers, estuaries and wetlands.
• How does stormwater carry pollution through the catchment system into the ocean? Some of the pollutants from urban areas includes:
  - Fertilisers and chemicals
  - Sediment and soil from construction and gardens
  - Garden waste and lawn clippings
  - Paint
  - Cleaning products like detergent
  - Lead, oil and tyre rubber from roads
  - Bacteria and micro-organisms from animal droppings
  - Litter items such as plastic bags, drink containers, food wrappers and cigarette butts
  - Pollution from industry that enters the stormwater system, including oil and grease,
    wash-down water, and chemicals
• What sort of pollutants may be in runoff from rural areas?
  - Fertilisers and chemicals
  - Animal waste from stock
  - Soil and sediment caused by erosion from land degradation
  - Paint
  - Cleaning products
  - Organic matter

More Comprehensive

- Brief summary of the cost of some forms of
  water pollution to the whole economy.

Water Quality ‘The Cost of Water Pollution’
http://www.mdbc.gov.au/education/
encyclopedia/water_quality.htm

- What causes stormwater pollution?
- Concise summary of main issues including,
  factors affecting stormwater pollution, and
  effects on plants and animals.

EPA NSW
http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/
whatcauses.htm

- General summary of the issues of pollution
  from building sites.
- Includes a useful diagram.

Stormwater from Building Sites - NSW EPA
http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/envirom/
stormwater.htm

- Pollution in fresh water ecosystems.

Biology Online
http://www.biology-online.org/6/
17_pollution.htm