Most people understand that the Clean Water Act protects sur

Most people understand that the Clean Water Act protects surface waters, but this is typically the extent of their knowledge. Please discuss how the Clean Water Act protects surface waters, using and explaining at least 5 key words or acronyms.

Solution

The clean water act (CWA) is the basic framework for establishing the regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of Unites States and regulating quality standards of surface waters. Under the CWA, the environmental protection agency (EPA) has set up the standards of effluent discharge from industries into surface waters. These standards for different contaminants ensure that the aquatic plants and animals of the surface waters are not harmed. The standards of the permissible limit and the cause for rejection for a certain contaminant from a particular surface water source ensures that the water of such sources may be further used for drinking, irrigation, coolant in nuclear plants or other household purposes. The CWA criminalized the discharge of any pollutant from a point source into navigable water, unless a permit was obtained. Point sources are defined as discrete conveyances such as man-made ditches or pipes. The permit is termed as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program which controls the discharges stated in the last point. This NPDES permit is not required for individual homes using a septic tank or which do not discharge into surface waters. NPDES permit is however required for industrial, municipal or other facilities if their discharges go directly to the surface waters. The office of water (OW) whether drinking water from a surface water source is safe or not. It also maintains and restores watersheds, oceans, and their aquatic ecosystems to protect human health, support recreational and economic activities, and provide a healthy habitat for plants, fish and wildlife surrounding the surface waters.