When a storm hits the city, it leaves a lot of water and debris in its trail. Storm water bmp or storm water Best Management Practices are the techniques used to control storm water runoff, sediment, and soil stabilization. BMP also helps management prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution. EPA, BMP is a technique, structural control or method used during a particular set of conditions to manage the quantity of storm water runoff and improve the water's quality in the most cost-effective manner.



Storm water overflow occurs due to the precipitation of rain water and snowmelt that flows over impermeable surfaces and does not percolate into the ground. The runoff accumulates debris, chemicals, sediment or other pollutants that could adversely affect water quality if the runoff is discharged untreated.

The best method to control this discharge is by using the storm water BMPs. In addition to this, an NPDES permit is also required for storm water BMPs to control these discharges.

Effective storm water bmp is nothing but a systematic management systems approach, as opposed to an approach that focuses on individual practices. To control the pollutants, a good management system is implemented, taking into account the range of effectiveness associated with each practice, the costs of each practice, and the resulting overall cost and effect.

If a storm water bmp is not used and instead an individual practice is used then it may not be very effective alone. Once it is combined with a good storm water bmp system it may provide a key function in highly effective systems. Per the Phase II rule, such system-building requires stating the minimum requirements in general terms. This allows the use of the most appropriate set of practices that can be used during specific situations to achieve the minimum measures.

It is important to know that once pollutants are present in a water body, or after a receiving water body's physical structure and habitat have been altered, it is much more difficult and expensive to restore it to a non-degraded condition. Therefore, it is recommended to utilize a storm water management system that focuses on preventing degradation of receiving waters. Stormwater BMP under each of the minimum measures (particularly the obvious category of pollution prevention, as well as outreach, education, and erosion and sediment control) focus on the prevention of pollutants from ever getting into storm water. Therefore, it becomes important to use Stormwater BMPs.