Water Quality
With regards to human health, water quality concerns focus on drinking water and water that people contact during recreational and personal activities, such as swimming or fishing (particularly eating fish that has been caught). Drinking and wastewater systems are typically regulated; however, planners play an important role in protecting groundwater and surface water, since a variety of urban planning and design-related features influence water quality, including the use of septic systems, management of wastewater services, location of storm sewers, disposal of toxic wastes and other pollutants, and level of runoff caused by urban development.
Design for Health Materials:
- Download Planning Information Sheet: Influencing Water Quality with Comprehensive Planning and Ordinances (1.88 MB)
- Key Research Summary on Water Quality (493 KB)
- Image Resources
- Event Presentations
- Topical planning guides
- Comprehensive Plan Review Checklists
- Example Plans
Other Resources:
- The Role of the Built Environment in Supporting Active Living and Health: A Review of Research Findings
(File is 13 MB. May take a few moments to open)
This presentation from Active Living By Design covers the findings from a variety of researchers. It is divided into three main sections: What is the built environment?; Effects of the built environment on behavior, natural environment, health, and society; and Active community environments and their impact on health.
- Environmental Public Health Indicators Project
This Centers for Disease Control-sponsored project creates a set of very important public health indicators. A work in progress the link above is to the lists of specific indicators in a number of topics. This link is actually quite hard to find on the web site. Indicators include potential sources for data. For a more general overview see: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/indicators/default.htm
- Water-Related Environmental Public Health
The Centers of Disease Control web site contains useful links to information about planning-related water issues including ground water.
- World Health Organization Drinking Water Quality
The WHO provides an informative, internationally-focused web site dealing with drinking water issues.
- NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials)
NEMO is a program of the Center for Land Use Education and Research at the University of Connecticut. This program is designed for local land use officials addressing the relationship of land use to natural resource protection. The web sitehas a wealth of planning, regulatory and design information on how to better protect water quality and manage storm water runoff.
- InformeDesign
InformeDesign is a research and communication tool for designers. Its search engine provides research summaries on many health themes. Each article summary has the following elements: design issue, design criteria, key concepts, research method, limitations, and commentary.
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