Storm Drain Vocabulary

Use this vocabulary list to help you understand the storm water management devices you will be looking at on the web to complete this activity.

BMP or Best Management Practice - activities or structural improvements that help reduce the quantity and improve the quality of storm water runoff

Boom - a floating device used to contain oil or floating debris on a body of water

Catch Basin - an entryway to the storm drain system, usually located at street corners and the bottoms of hills

Catchment Device - a device installed at some location in the storm drain network designed to trap litter, sediment, and/or oil before it enters the watershed.

Contaminant - a substance that adds impurities

Debris - carelessly discarded refuse; litter

Erosion - the group of natural processes, including weathering, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation by which material is worn away from the earth's surface

Exert - when referring to an infall catchment device, a screen or grate placed on top of a storm drain catch basin to prevent litter and vegetation from being washed into the storm drain by storm water

Infall - a place where water enters the storm drain network, including curb inlet storm drains and flat grate storm drains

Insert - when referring to an infall catchment device, a device placed inside a storm drain catch basin to prevent litter, vegetation, oil, and sediment from entering the watershed.

Leach - to dissolve or pull out a substance by passing liquid through a permeable solid (you make coffee by allowing hot water to leach flavor out of coffee grounds)

Low impact development - the practice of using techniques in building and construction that minimize the effect that development will have on the quality of the surrounding environment.

Non-Point Source (NPS) Pollutants - Pollutants from many diffuse sources. Rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground causes NPS pollution. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water.

Outfall - a place where a pipe carrying storm water from storm drains empties into a stream.

Point Source Pollutant - Pollutants from a single, identifiable source such as a factory, refinery, or place of business.

Retrofit - to fit into or onto equipment already in existence or service

Storm Water Management - practices developed in an attempt to reduce the negative impacts of storm water on stream and watershed health

Sump - A pit or tank that catches liquid runoff for drainage or disposal

Watershed - The whole region or extent of land which contributes to the supply of a river, lake, or other body of water.