V
storet
EPA's
Computerized
Water Quality
Data Base
the right
answer
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water and Hazardous Materials
Washington, D. C.
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storet
provides
water
quality data
on the
right
parameters
Some 1800 unique water quality parameters are defined within storet. Ap-
proximately 80% of the 40 million individual observations available
within the system pertain to approximately 200 of these pa-
rameters which are grouped into the general cate-
gories shown in the table to the right. A single
observation represents a measurement
of a single parameter at a spe-
cific location, or station.
at a specific point
in time.
PARAMETER GROUPS
at the
right
stations
storet contains data on samples taken from
more than 200.000 unique collection points
located on essentially all of the Nation's rivers.
lakes, streams, and other waterways. The shadings
of the map reflect the relative concentrations of
sampling and monitoring stations. The blow-up
of the Saginaw River Basin shows its drainage
area and the specific locations of sampling points.
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A river basin is the area drained by a single river
and its tributaries. A water quality management
basin plan is a management document that iden-
tifies the water quality problems of a particular
basin, or portion of a basin, and sets forth an
effective remedial program to alleviate those
problems. Overall basin needs and priorities are
assessed, actions scheduled, and the necessary
coordination with concerned organizations
planned.
basin
planning
The needs and priorities are based largely upon
water quality data and the analysis of this data.
For example, fecal coliform bacteria is a common
indicator of pollution problems in areas affected
by major municipal/industrial activity. A plot of
coliform along a stretch of a river can quickly
ascertain the presence of a bacterial source and
the extent of a pollution problem.
The development of an effective planning proc-
ess is crucial to effective water quality manage-
ment. This is particularly true for river basin
planning as required under various sections of
PL 92-500. River basin plans are primarily the
responsibility of the states, and the law delineates
the rather extensive amount of information that
must be provided.
n,
research
In order to achieve our national objective of
having water that is clean enough both for recre-
ational activity and for the protection of fish and
wildlife, numerous research and development
efforts have been initiated to acquire a thorough
understanding of the complex and variable bio
logical systems that characterize our waterways.
Research tells us what a specific level of a specific
pollutant does to humans, animals, and crops. It
establishes thresholds at which we might expect
adverse effects from environmental pollutants,
alone or in combination. (And from these
thresholds, criteria for water quality standards can
be established.) It provides the basic scientific
knowledge we need to safeguard the public health
and to balance the benefits of a specific product
against its environmental risks.
A representative effort is that of the EPA Grosse
He Laboratory's Research Program to improve the
water quality of the Great Lakes. This Lab is in-
volved with a number of other agencies in devel-
oping the scientific information needed to assess
the effectiveness of implemented programs on
Great Lakes water quality, to form the basis for
needed control actions, and to develop the scien-
tific information needed to support the Canadian/
U. S. Agreement for the Great Lakes. Over a
dozen U. S. and Canadian agencies, universities,
and joint commissions are participating in this
extensive program launched in 1972.
Since this is an on-going, international program
involving both water quality management and
research, it is essential that all data gathered on the
water quality of the Great Lakes be readily accessi-
ble by all investigators. Accordingly, all participants
are required to enter all collected data into store!
thereby greatly expediting the use and analysis of
the information through sharing of data. This sig-
nificant, multi-organizational research program not
only illustrates the value of storet in research-
oriented endeavors, but also it demonstrates how
the use of an accepted central system can foster
cooperation among a group of organizations
sharing common interests.
CHLOROPHYLL A IN LAKE ONTARIO
TWO PERSPECTIVE VIEWS
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monitoring
& surveillance
The data in storet originates from samples taken
as part of individual monitoring programs con*
ducted by the states and other organizations.
Several objectives of these monitoring efforts are
to identify and assess quantitatively the magnitude
of existing and potential water pollution problems.
and to detect any trends or changes over a period
of time. Reports such as the trend plots shown
here, which show presence of phosphates and
ammonia as a function of time, vividly point out
where problems do and do not exist.
PHOSPHATES PLOT
AMMONIA PLOT
npdes
permit
program
Far-reaching goals were established by PL 92-500:
By 1983, water clean enough for swimming.
boating, and protection of fish, shellfish, and wild-
life; and by 1985, no discharges whatsoever of
pollutants into the Nation's waters! To achieve
these ambitious but essential goals, the law estab-
lished a national permit program, known as
NPDES-the National Pollutant Discharge Elim-
ination System, to control the discharge of pol-
lutants into any waterway. This program is the
mechanism for insuring that effluent limits are
met, that the necessary technology is applied, and
that all requirements of the 1972 law for con-
trolling discharges and complying with water
quality standards are met on schedule. Permits
are to be granted to individual dischargers only
after they show that their effluents will not con-
taminate a waterway in excess of established water
quality standards, or will not lower its existing
quality.
The law allows polluters time to improve facil-
ities, but provides that corrective programs must
meet the "best practicable" and "best available"
standards of water pollution control technology
by 1977 and 1983 respectively.
sss~-;
ITU":
•Si. *i E LT
EFFLUENT VIOLATIONS REPORT
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progress
reporting
Under Section 305(b) of PL 92-500. states are
required to submit annual reports to EPA on
sources of pollution —their nature, extent, recom-
mendations for control, and the cost of these
controls. (An excerpt from the State of Michigan's
305(b) report is shown below.) As practices be-
come more sophisticated, these reports should
reflect the effects of these sources on the pollu-
tion of groundwaters, and provide an inventory of
wells which can be used to determine ground-
water quality within a state's jurisdiction.
A new activated sewage treatment plant was built
on Fountain Creek below Colorado Springs in
late 1972. The data in storet collected prior and
subsequent to the implementation of the new
plant were compared. The number of violations
for dissolved oxygen had dropped from 53% to
7%, for dissolved solids from 59% to 33%. for
BOD from 85% to 73%, and for fecal coliform
from 89% to 58%. Similar improvement occurred
and was demonstrated when a sewage treatment
plant was built in the Fargo, North Dakota area.
These examples show the applicability of using
the data in storet to demonstrate progress either
from an over all point of view or from the view-
point of a single effort.
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TIKE OF OBSERVATION
standards
& criteria
Associated with specific water uses are the water
quality standards which must be met in order for
the water to be used for its intended purposes.
consistent with the 1983 goals of water quality.
Once standards have been established by states
in accordance with national criteria, it is necessary
to monitor the effect of water pollution abatement
and control activities relative to those criteria. A
number of storet report programs can be used,
such as the ones pictured below, to track the
progress of water quality improvement efforts.
VIOLATIONS WITH
SUPPORTING PARAMETERS
VIOLATIONS LIST
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toxic
substances
Although many substances are potentially toxic to
aquatic life and other organisms when present in
sufficient concentration for a sufficient period of
time, the term toxic substances generally refers to
those substances which are dangerous even in
very low concentration. Consequently, the 1977
and 1983 deadlines for limiting pollutant dis-
charges do not apply in the cases of these deadly
substances, such as mercury, cadmium, and
toxaphene. Steps required to meet standards
established for toxic substances must be taken
quickly to protect the public health and welfare.
To this end, EPA is empowered to restrain dis-
charges of any pollutants which present an im-
minent and substantial endangerment to the
health or livelihood of the public.
All toxic substances for which water quality anal-
yses have been performed are defined within
storet, and the system can easily accommodate
the inclusion of additional substances upon their
discovery. Reports such as the one shown below
(from a Council on Environmental Quality report)
can be readily obtained from storet data to dem-
onstrate the presence or absence of toxic sub
stances in any body of water for which data
are available.
__j____™____^_^
DDT LEVELS IN U.S.
SURFACE
WATERS, 1970-74
in summary,
the right
answer
These pages have shown a number of uses made
of storet. and its wealth of water quality data, by
a variety of governmental agencies and other
organizations. To further underscore the role that
storet can play to help you fulfill your water
quality assessment and management objectives,
consider the following additional answers that
storet can provide.
— Help evaluate cost-effectiveness of previous-
ly implemented water quality programs
— Help promote water quality programs by
substantiating the effectiveness of other
similar programs
— Help justify budget requests for water
quality programs
— Help cut sampling costs by coordinating
efforts with other organizations
— Provide a repository for your data collec-
tion efforts
— Help identify where monitoring efforts are
needed, thereby determining where funds
need to be allocated
— Help design overall programs based upon
the successes of others
— Help complete water quality management
basin plans
— Help prepare fact sheets required by
permit applications
— Detect changes in pollutants that could
change existing permits
How can storet help you?
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16618
collected
and used
by the right
people
— State Agencies
— Cities and Counties
— Interstate Commissions
— Water Quality Managers
— Environmental Planners
— Sanitary Engineers
- EPA Regional Offices
— EPA Laboratories
— Federal Agencies
— Canadian Agencies
- U. S. Territories
These individuals and organizations actively
participate in the collection, storage, retrieval, and
analysis of water quality data. All utilize storet
for these efforts, contributing to the quality and
quantity of the parameter observations described
on the opposite page. Several Federal agencies—
including the U. S. Forest Service, the U. S. Army
Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation,
the U. S. Geological Survey, and the Tennessee
Valley Authority—complement the efforts of those
having specific geographical interests. Over 40
states, as well as many other organizations, have
direct access to storet for both storage and
retrieval, thereby contributing significantly to the
timeliness of storet's data.
and
presented
in the right
formats
and storet
can help
you
The array of representative reports pictured here
exemplifies the versatility of storet and its water
quality data to help users prepare a myriad of
detailed, summary, or exception reports relative
to their specific areas or locations of interest. Data
reported can reflect the latest, most current infor-
mation available, or it can draw upon the histori-
cal depth of the data, going back as far as the
late '50s. Most users obtain their reports from
small portable computer terminals conveniently
located in or near their offices.
These two pages have presented an overview of
the data available within storet. .The inside
pages describe several examples of how various
users today utilize storet to achieve a variety
of objectives relating to water quality assessment
and management.
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epa
The Environmental Protection Agency was
created in 1970 to foster an integrated, coordi-
nated attack on environmental pollution in
cooperation with state and local governments. EPA
endeavors to abate and control pollution system-
atically by proper integration of a variety of .
research, monitoring, standard setting, and en-
forcement activities. Through Public Law 92-500,
EPA has the overall responsibility to provide water
that is clean enough both for recreational activity
and for the protection of fish and wildlife. In-
herent in this charter is the requirement of main-
taining an information inventory concerning the
quality of the Nation's waters.
storet
storet is a computerized data base utility main-
tained by EPA for the storage and retrieval of
parametric data relating to the quality of the
waterways of the United States. The system was
conceived and initiated under the auspices and
administration of the Public Health Service in the
early 1960s. Since its early days when storet
input and output was achieved via the mails, the
system has evolved into a comprehensive infor-
mation data base, accessible by hundreds of users
via computer terminals located throughout
the country.
storet—»
the right
answer
This publication was prepared to provide an over-
view of the content and capabilities of the storet
system, and to describe a number of uses made
of this information by those organizations con-
cerned and involved with the abatement and
control of water pollution within the United States.
for more
information
For further information on how storet can help
you fulfill your needs with respect to the collec-
tion, reporting, and analysis of water quality data,
contact your local storet representative, storet
User Assistance in Washington, D.C. (202-
426-7792) can give you names and phone
numbers.
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
' ' • ' •" ' .-' P A
*-" •' .""V :A
SUBJECT: STORE! Brochure ''°MM CcMTER DATE: fin '. •
UOJ** Sr^-f °CT/8 Wi3*T7S
Mark A. Pisjfrijp, Director
0 Water Planrtttfe Division
TO: All Regional Water Division Directors
All Regional 208 Coordinators
Technical Gudiance Memorandum: Tech-. 19
Purpose:
The enclosed brochure outlines some of the capabilities of EPA's
computerized data base utility, STORE!. The system is maintained for
the storage, retrieval, and analysis of parametric data relating to
the quality of the waterways of the United States.
Guidance:
This brochure suggests various options available through the
STORET system of obtaining and analyzing parametric water quality
data. The brochure is intended to highlight the system's
capabilities, and should not be considered as an instructional tool.
Should you wish more information about the system, desire user
documentation, or need to attend a seminar for instructional use,
please call STORET User Assistance or the appropriate EPA regional
STORET representative from the attached list of STORET contacts.
Enclosure
cc: State and Areawide Agencies
EPA Form 1320-6 (Rev. 6-72)
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STORE! Points of Contact
Telephone Numbers
Region I Walt Newman
Systems Analysis Branch
8-223-5134
617-223-5134
Region II Herbert Barrack, Director
Management Division
8-264-2520
212-264-2520
Region III Larry Miller, Chief
Water Quality Monitoring Office
Surveillance & Analysis Division
8-597-9823
215-597-9823
Region IV John Marlar, Chief
Technical Support Branch
8-285-3012
404-526-3012
Region V Christopher Timm, Director
Surveillance & Analysis Division
8-353-2300
312-353-2300
Region VI David White, Chief
Technical & Administration Systems Branch
8-749-3761
214-749-3761
Region VII Walter Robohn, Federal Regional
Council Representative
8-758-5429
816-374-5429
Region VIII
Keith Schwab, Director
Surveillance & Analysis Division
8-327-4935
303-837-4935
Region IX Clyde Eller, Director
Surveillance & Analysis Division
8-556-7858
415-556-7858
Region X Dr. Gary O'Neal, Director
Surveillance & Analysis Division
8-399-1295
206-442-1295
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User Assistance
Region I
Region II
Region III
Region IV
Region V
Walt Newman
8-223-5134
617-223-5134
Jack Sweeney
8-264-9850
212-264-0388
Ted Standlsh
8-597-8046
215-597-8046
Dan Barber
8-285-5989
404-526-5989
Stu Ross
8-353-2061
312-353-2061
Region VI
Region VII
Region VIII
Region IX'
Region X
David White
8-749-3761
214-749-3761
Dennis Degner
8-758-2018
816-374-2018
Tom Entzminger
8-327-2226
303-837-2226
William Lewis
8-556-7550
415-556-7550
Ray Peterson
8-399-1580
206-442-1580
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