When water pollution caused beach c...

When water pollution caused beach closings at Lake St Clair, north of Detroit, public attention focused upon the problems of urban water management and the combined sewer over-flow (CSO) issue.

The River Rouge basin, southern of Lake St. Clair, has experienced unrelenting pollution problems in the fresh past. The river's water quality has been in like manner degraded that it is listed at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources as single of the most toxic sites in the state -- 28th gone out of 2,700 sites in a 1994 contemplate conducted by the department.

Fecal coliform is the biggest water quality problem; eighty-six percent of samples taken in 1987-1988 go too fared the accepted water quality standard, and there were significant dissolved oxygen and total solids violations.

The Rouge CSO vexed question is not unique. But propos solutions, which involve a combination of engineering, public policy changes, land-use modification and community action,