A Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) is a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

regulatory term for a periodic

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

report prepared by industries,

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and other facilities discharging to

surface water Surface water is water located on top of land, forming terrestrial (surrounding by land on all sides) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean. The vast majority of surfac ...

s. The facilities collect

wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...

samples, conduct

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

and/or

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

tests of the samples, and submit reports to a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

agency or the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

(EPA). All

point source A point source is a single identifiable ''localized'' source of something. A point source has a negligible extent, distinguishing it from other source geometries. Sources are called point sources because, in mathematical modeling, these sources ...

dischargers to ”Waters of the U.S.” must obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the appropriate agency, and many permittees are required to file DMRs.

NPDES permits and DMR reporting process

For permits other than

stormwater Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed lan ...

permits, the agencies issue effluent limitations for specific pollutants, pursuant to the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

(CWA). The basis for these limitations depends on the type of discharging facility, the discharge characteristics and status of the specific surface water body receiving the discharge. * National technology-based standards apply to many industries (these standards are called "

effluent guidelines Effluent Guidelines (also referred to as Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs)) are U.S. national standards for wastewater discharges to surface waters and publicly owned treatment works (POTW) (also called municipal sewage treatment plants). The U ...

"), and to municipal

sewage treatment Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

plants. * Some dischargers are subject to water quality-based effluent limitations, derived from water quality standards for the adjacent water body. * For pollutants not covered by the above circumstances, the agency may set technology-based limitations based on its "best professional judgment" (BPJ). Most NPDES permits require facilities to submit monthly DMRs, but some permits require seasonal or semi-annual reporting. Facilities may collect and analyze samples more frequently, e.g. weekly, and summarize the results for the prescribed reporting period. Permits typically require reporting of wastewater flow and the results of one or more chemical tests corresponding to the effluent limitations. Typical monitoring parameters include pH,

biochemical oxygen demand Biochemical oxygen demand (also known as BOD or biological oxygen demand) is an analytical parameter representing the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) consumed by aerobic bacteria growing on the organic material present in a water sample at a s ...

(BOD),

total suspended solids Total suspended solids (TSS) is the dry-weight of suspended particles, that are not dissolved, in a sample of water that can be trapped by a filter that is analyzed using a filtration apparatus known as sintered glass crucible. TSS is a water qu ...

(TSS), nutrients (

nitrates Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insol ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

), various toxic pollutants, temperature, etc. Some permits also require

aquatic biomonitoring Aquatic biomonitoring is the science of inferring the ecological condition of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands by examining the organisms (fish, invertebrates, insects, plants, and algae) that live there. While aquatic biomonitoring is the most ...

of the receiving waterbody.

Accessing DMR Data

The CWA defines DMR data as publicly available information (except for data that would reveal trade secrets). EPA houses DMR data in its Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). The ''NPDES e-reporting Tool Discharge Monitoring Report'' (NetDMR) is an EPA web-based tool that allows NPDES permittees to electronically sign and submit their discharge monitoring reports to EPA via a secure internet connection (NetDMR is the new tool that replaced the previous Permit Compliance System (PCS)). Information from ICIS database is available through EPA's "Envirofacts" website and "Enforcement and Compliance History Online" (ECHO). The Agency provides a DMR "Pollutant Loading Tool" to help users determine who is discharging, what pollutants they are discharging and how much, and where they are discharging. EPA also allows users to search its

Facility Registry System The Facility Registry System (FRS) is a centrally managed United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database that identifies facilities, sites or places of environmental interest in the United States. Ove ...

, to compare a facility's compliance with air, water and solid waste permits and regulations.

Notes

{{US Environmental law United States federal environmental legislation Water pollution in the United States United States Environmental Protection Agency

NPDES permits and DMR reporting process

Accessing DMR Data

See also

Notes