Environmental Quality

Fertilizer Applicator Certification Training

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:51:00 -0400

Denitrifying Bioreaders: An Emerging Best Management Practice to Improve Water Quality

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:25:00 -0400

Denitrification Management

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:28:00 -0400

Environmental Best Management Practices for Virginia's Golf Courses

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:54:00 -0500

Backyard Composting

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 01:00:00 -0500

Composting is a degradation process brought about by bacteria and fungus organisms. Large amounts of organic kitchen, garden, lawn, and/or farm refuse can be reduced in a relatively short time to a pile of black, crumbly humus which makes an ideal soil conditioner. Compost added regularly to soil will inevitably benefit the soil. The soil's structure will improve, since humus contains substances which cause aggregation (sticking together) of soil particles. In a clay soil this means that the microscopic individual particles will be clumped together and more air spaces will be opened up between clumps. Without these air spaces the clay particles stick tightly to each other, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier to water and gases.

How Do Stream Buffers Reduce the Offsite Impact of Pollution?

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:28:00 -0400

Urban Stormwater: Terms and Definitions

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0400

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 5: Vegetated Roofs

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0400

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 14: Wet Ponds

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0400

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 4: Soil Restoration

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0400

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 2: Sheet Flow to Open Space

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0500

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 7: Permeable Pavement

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0500

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 8: Infiltration Practices

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0500

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 15: Extended Detention Ponds

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:53:48 -0500

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 10: Dry Swale

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:36:32 -0500

A dry swale (DS) is a shallow, gently sloping channel with broad, vegetated, side slopes. Water flow is slowed by a series of check dams (see figure 1). A DS provides temporary storage, filtration, and infiltration of stormwater runoff. Dry swales function similarly to bioretention, and are comparable to wet swales; however, unlike a wet swale, a DS should remain dry during periods of no rainfall. A DS is an engineered best management practice (BMP) that is designed to reduce pollution through runoff reduction and pollutant removal and is part of a site’s stormwater treatment practice.

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 12: Filtering Practices

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:36:32 -0500

A stormwater filtering practice (FP) treats stormwater runoff by passing it through an engineered filter media consisting of either sand, gravel, organic matter, and/or a proprietary manufactured product, collecting it in an underdrain, and then discharging the effluent to a stormwater conveyance system.

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 3: Grass Channels

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:12:13 -0500

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 6: Rainwater Harvesting

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:28:48 -0500

Rainwater harvesting (RWH), also known as rainwater harvesting systems or cisterns, are devices that intercept, divert, store, and release collected roof runoff from rainfall for later use as an alternative water supply (see figure 1). RWH can also be designed to provide runoff reduction benefits. Therefore, it is classified as a best management practice (BMP) for treatment of urban stormwater. Because of its dual purpose and benefit, RWH is often classified as a sustainable urban BMP

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 11: Wet Swale

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:53:37 -0500

A wet swale (WS) is an engineered, best management practice (BMP) arranged in a straight line that is designed to reduce stormwater pollution. A WS consists of a shallow, gently sloping channel with broad, vegetated, side slopes and slow flows

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 13: Constructed Wetlands

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:57:44 -0400

A constructed wetland (CW) is a low-cost and sustainable,
engineered, best management practice (BMP) designed
to reduce stormwater pollution. Constructed wetlands are
considered to be one of the most reliable stormwater treatment
practices. They are designed to function similarly to
a self-sustaining natural wetland, and should require only
moderate maintenance to function

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 9: Bioretention

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:57:44 -0400

A bioretention cell, or rain garden, is a best management
practice (BMP) designed to treat stormwater runoff
from roofs, driveways, walkways, or lawns. They
are a shallow, landscaped depression that receives and
treats polluted stormwater with the goal of discharging
water of a quality and quantity similar to that of a forested
watershed

Best Management Practice Fact Sheet 1: Rooftop Disconnection

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:05:21 -0400

Rooftop disconnection (RD) is one of the simplest means of reducing stormwater from residential lots. RD takes roof runoff that has been collected in gutters and piped directly to streets, storm drains, and streams and redirects it away from impervious surfaces to landscaped areas (figure 1). Rooftop disconnection is a very sustainable best management practice (BMP) because it controls pollutants in runoff near their source. Redirected runoff from downspouts is infiltrated, filtered, treated, or reused prior to draining into a stormwater conveyance system.

Mid-Atlantic Composting Directory

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:35:44 -0400

Urban Water Quality Management–Residential Stormwater: Put It in Its Place. Decreasing Runoff and Increasing Stormwater Infiltration

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:44:34 -0400

Humans and plants depend on an adequate supply of clean water for a number of reasons, from producingfood to sustaining life. The average Virginia resident uses 826 gallons of fresh water daily (Virginia Department of Environmental Quality [VADEQ] 2008). In the Commonwealth alone, there are more than one million households that depend on well water, withdrawing more than 50 billion gallons annually (Virginia Department of Health 2008). For groundwater replenishment, we depend largely on recharge (water moving from the surface to groundwater) from infiltration of precipitation through permeable surfaces in the environment

Virginia Master Naturalist

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:42:00 -0400

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Rockingham County, Virginia, August-September 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Rockbridge County, Virginia, September-November 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Prince George County, Virginia, January-February 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in King George County, Virginia, January-February 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Greene County, Virginia, April-May 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, February-March 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Culpeper County, Virginia, November-December 2008, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Caroline County, Virginia, January-February 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Bedford County, Virginia, June-July 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia, October-November 2009, Virginia Household water Quality Program

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Augusta County, Virginia, September - November 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Appomattox and Campbell Counties, Virginia May - June 2009, Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Amherst County, Virginia, June - July 2009, Household Water Quality Program

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Evaluation of Household Water Quality in Albemarle and Fluvanna Counties, Virginia, March-May 2009 Virginia Household Water Quality Program

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:16:39 -0500

Nutrient Management for Small Farms

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:42:51 -0400

A Summary of Agricultural Air Quality Perceptions in Virginia

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:20:13 -0400

Manure Management and Environmental Stewardship

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:30:09 -0400

Poultry and Livestock Manure Storage: Management and Safety

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:43:36 -0500

Selection and Location of Poultry and Livestock Manure Storage

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:51:46 -0500

If you raise dairy cows, broilers, layers, turkeys, horses, beef cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas, or swine for income or a hobby, you will have to deal with the manure they produce. The amount of manure produced by the birds or animals you keep depends on their type, age, size, and diet.

On Farm Mortality Disposal Options for Livestock Producers

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:30:06 -0400

On-Site Sewage Treatment Alternatives

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:35:30 -0400

The purpose of this publication is to describe on-site technologies for treating domestic sewage where conventional means (public sewer or septic tank with drainfield) are not available. These technologies are described as alternatives in this publication. Our goal is to provide information that can be used by property owners and residents to initiate action to rectify sewage-disposal problems, especially where current wastewater treatment is inadequate. This work is intended to provide information on alternative wastewater treatment options that will help the reader to make informed decisions when dealing with oversight agencies and contractors; it is not intended to serve as a stand-alone reference for design or construction.

Virginia Landowner’s Guide to the Carbon Market

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:36:54 -0400

Selecting a Treatment Technology for Manure Management

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Animal manure has been used for centuries as a fertilizer and a soil builder because it contains nutrients and organic matter. However, as animal production shifts toward fewer but larger operations, the number of confined animals has increased in some geographical locations, resulting in more manure produced than can be assimilated by the available farmland where the animals are raised.

Virginia Tech Pesticide Programs

Mon, 11 May 2009 08:19:43 -0400

Pesticides and Aquatic Animals: A Guide to Reducing Impacts on Aquatic Systems