When I see news articles about the flooding in residential neighborhoods along rivers, it disturbs me greatly. And as selfish as it may sound, my concern is not with the folks who decide to live there, but rather with the human pollutants that will be swept into and down the rivers. The two most obvious to me are raw sewage (which is not just crap) and blacktop runoff with engine oils, grease, antifreeze, etc. My understanding is that some storm runoff is directed into treatment facilities in some areas, but what about others?
Does anyone have any idea what impacts these types of runoffs have on river life? Along this same line is a thought that I, personally, think is a good idea, but have never seen or heard anything about......it involves whether or not it is a good idea to direct sewage directly to treatment facilities. Seems like putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. Would it not be much better to incorporate a septic tank in every house's sewage line to catch the solids, which could then be periodically pumped out? Would this not also help isolate who is dumping what?