ABSTRACT
Clean water is a resource that has been taken for granted. Pure water is often necessary for growing food, manufacturing goods, disposing of wastes, and for consumption. Water conservation is most frequently thought of as a measure to protect against water shortages. The most important groundwater sources of public drinking water are the aquifers of Long Island, New York, which have the highest per capita usage concentration in the United States. To meet industrial wastewater management objectives, the same four major areas of concern associated with municipal wastewater treatment apply. NPS pollution-unlike pollution from point sources-is quite diffuse, both in terms of its origin and in the manner in which it enters ground and surface waters. Unlike pollutants from point sources-which enter the environment at well-defined locations and in a relatively even, continuous discharge-pollutants from NPSs usually find their way into surface and groundwaters in sudden surges, often in large quantities, and are associated with rainfall, thunderstorms, or snowmelt.
