Office: 518-432-0617
Sales Hours no sales hours
Address 45 Discovery Drive, Rensselaer, NY 12144
Fax: 518-432-9146
Sales Hours no sales hours
Address 45 Discovery Drive, Rensselaer, NY 12144

How Recent Hurricanes Impact Water Quality: The Role of Septa in Stormwater Testing

HomeBlogsHow Recent Hurricanes Impact Water Quality: The Role of Septa in Stormwater Testing
A satellite image of a hurricane. Highlighting the need for stormwater testing.

In the wake of back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, Florida and its surrounding states have been left reeling from the destruction caused by these powerful storms. Hurricane Helene, which struck the Gulf Coast with 140 mph winds and a storm surge of over 15 feet, brought unprecedented flooding across the southeastern United States, affecting areas from Georgia to Western North Carolina to Virginia. Just 13 days later, Hurricane Milton followed suit, slamming into Florida’s peninsula with 100 mph winds and catastrophic rainfall, which qualified as a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event in some areas. Communities in St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Tampa were inundated with more than 18 inches of rain, resulting in widespread property damage, power outages, and loss of life.

While the immediate focus after these storms is often on rescue operations and rebuilding, a less visible but equally dangerous aftermath emerges: water contamination. The massive amounts of floodwater caused by hurricanes like Helene and Milton severely impact water quality by introducing pollutants, debris, and harmful chemicals into the water supply. As floodwaters recede, testing for contamination becomes critical, particularly in stormwater, where pollutants from urban areas, chemical spills, and agricultural runoff can severely compromise the safety of both drinking water and the environment.

How Hurricanes Affect Water Quality

When hurricanes strike, the force of the wind, rain, and storm surge carries debris and pollutants into water sources. In urban areas, stormwater systems can quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water, causing untreated water to flow into nearby rivers, lakes, and even reservoirs. This is exacerbated in agricultural regions where pesticides, fertilizers, and animal waste can be washed into floodwaters, contaminating the surrounding environment.

Hurricanes also disrupt sewage treatment facilities and industrial plants, leading to raw sewage and hazardous chemicals being released into floodwaters.

Contaminants like oil, heavy metals, and pathogens are then carried into local water systems. For instance, the storm surge from Hurricane Helene swept away entire coastal communities, and the resulting flooding carried both household waste and industrial pollutants into Florida’s waterways. Meanwhile, Milton’s torrential rainfall flooded Tampa Bay and nearby rivers, potentially mixing hazardous runoff with drinking water sources.

The immediate effects on water quality can be seen in elevated levels of bacteria, increased turbidity, and the presence of dangerous chemicals. These factors make testing stormwater for contamination critical after any hurricane. Proper testing not only ensures that water supplies are safe for human consumption but also helps detect environmental pollutants that can harm wildlife and ecosystems long after the floodwaters have receded.

The Importance of Certified Caps and Septa in Stormwater Testing

Testing the quality of stormwater following hurricanes requires precision, and the tools used for collecting and analyzing samples play a crucial role in ensuring accurate results. Caps and septa that are used to close and seal vials are essential components in stormwater testing. They help prevent contamination during the sample collection process and ensure the integrity of the test results.

Caps lined with silicone/PTFE septa are used in combination with vials for sample collection to create an airtight seal. This prevents air and external contaminants from interacting with the stormwater samples, which could otherwise skew the test results. When testing for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, or bacteria, maintaining the purity of the sample is critical, as improperly sealed vials may allow volatile chemicals to escape or external pollutants to enter, resulting in erroneous conclusions about water quality.

ILT currently provides reliable products that laboratories use to conduct stormwater testing. Our caps and septa have been tested against the EPA VOC compound list for water and soil methods to ensure no contamination will come from the cap and septa. Our certified caps and septa are designed to withstand the rigorous demands of environmental testing, ensuring that every sample collected after a storm like Hurricane Helene or Milton is protected from external contaminants.

As hurricanes continue to grow more intense due to climate change, the risks to water quality become increasingly severe. The aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton serves as a stark reminder of the challenges that stormwater and floodwater contamination pose to public health and the environment. In these critical moments, accurate testing is essential to ensure the safety of water supplies and to detect environmental pollutants. By using reliable testing tools like ILT’s certified caps and septa for EPA water testing methods, laboratories can play a pivotal role in assessing water contamination, ensuring that communities can begin the process of recovery with confidence.

Learn more about ILT, the world leader in manufacturing seals and septa.

Read more about environmental testing and ILT septa on our blog page.