OR THE PAST EIGHT late
winters/springs, Auxiliarist Emmanuel Salami and I have been monitoring six storm drains in Norwalk CT for a local environmental group called Harbor Watch. Harbor Watch operates out of the Earthplace nature center in Westport CT and has identified these six storm drains as critical to the health of the Norwalk River, Norwalk Harbor and ultimately Long Island Sound.
They have us report every other week on the color, odor and flow of the water exiting each storm drain during the months of late February,
March, April and May. For the summer months, Harbor Watch tasks the monitoring to their high school summer interns. During the cooler fall and early winter months the sites are not monitored. Knowing the quality of storm drain discharge is still important during these colder times but not as critical due to less water usage and lower temperatures.
By observing these drains we can tell if sewage is flowing out of them, which can be caused by two main problems.
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