Illicit Discharge Program

The Student Outfall Program – 1993 to 2001

During each Summer from 1993 to 2001, teachers and students from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) worked with MSD to identify and field screen stormwater outfalls in Jefferson County. The Student Outfall Program met the regulatory obligations of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit element titled “Illicit Discharge Program”. The participants of the Student Outfall Program visited watersheds, located and collected data for stormwater outfalls, performed field screening for illicit connections, tested wet outfalls for contamination, and reported illicit connections to MSD. MSD’s Industrial Waste Department (IWD) worked with the students to determine the source of the outfall contamination. If the outfall was determined to be an illicit connection, IWD worked with property owners to disconnect the illicit connection.

View Student Outfall Data (, 14K)

High Use Study

For the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Student Outfall Programs, a “high use” times pilot study was introduced. The intent of the pilot study was to examine data collected during times of the day when water use is generally higher, and to determine if there are more occurrences of contaminated outfalls during these “high use” times. “High use” times were determined to be evenings, Saturdays, and non-summer months. Water use is typically higher during evening and weekends when more people are home. Similarly, water use will be higher during the months when people are less likely to be on vacations. The results indicate that there is very little difference in the number of contaminated outfalls detected during “normal” hours versus those detected during anticipated “high use” periods.

Restructuring the Illicit Discharge Program – 2002 to Present

Over the life of the Student Outfall Program, there have been over 7,600 outfalls identified along streams in Jefferson County. Of the 7,600 identified outfalls, only 114 outfalls (approximately 1.5%) have been found to be contaminated. In an effort to better utilize MSD resources, the outfall identification component of the Illicit Discharge Program was moved in-house. Identifying and eliminating contaminated outfalls is now a function of IWD’s routine responsibilities.

IWD officially took over the responsibility of monitoring blue line streams for illicit discharges, During 2003, six IWD employees attended field and classroom training on the elements of the illicit discharge program, including field chemical analysis, IWD inspected outfalls in the Mill Creek watershed with no illicit discharges being detected.

During 2003, IWD also responded to 27 calls regarding illicit discharges in Jefferson County streams.

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