Rapid Assessment of Pollution Sources
The Rapid Assessment of Pollution Sources (RAPS) is a method for estimating the quantity of contamination arising from diffuse sources within a particular area, based on knowledge of land use and activity within that area. This has been developed for the GIWA project, but can be applied by any user to assess diffuse pollution in any area.
The aim of this methodology is to provide an accessible, comprehensive and readily updated means of assessing the causes and sources of diffuse pollution. The methodology asks questions about the type of contaminant sources that are within an area and will calculate the expected contaminant loads.
The diffuse RAPS is designed to provide a ball park estimate of significant sources of pollution, and to identify major sources and provide a focus for future management plans and environmental research.
The definition of diffuse sources adopted here includes atmospheric emissions. The impact of atmospheric emissions on the aqueous environment can be highly significant, hence the inclusion in this analysis. Within the scope of this methodology it is not possible to link emission load to the load entering the aqueous environment. For this reason contaminants arising from atmospheric emissions are clearly labelled, and marked by a * symbol in the final results table. This allows the user the option of including them directly in the overall analysis, hence assuming all the contaminants emitted will reach the aqueous environment within that region, or if resources are available it may be possible to model the impact of the atmospheric emissions.
It is important to note that there is no geographic component to this system, it does not determine where a pollutant will enter watercourses, but determines an estimate of the total pollutant load which will enter the whole area under consideration.
A considerable
amount of data is required to complete the RAPS, and the entire process
may take a significant period of time. It is advised that the user should
assess the data requirements of the process prior to beginning the analysis.
This can be done by looking through the first few pages of the methodology.
