stormwater - one word, or two?

[froude]

Okay ladies and gentleman,

I'm engaged in deep argument here...

Is stormwater one word (stormwater) or two words (storm water)?

 

[gbam]

When in doubt hyphenate. I always use as single word but get redlined by other non water peeps.

 

[cvg]

waste water
raw water
potable water
distilled water
storm water
sea water
dirty water


they are all two words. Never the less, I have often written as just one word.

 

[rjanoch]

i use stormwater and wastewater as one.

 

[froude]

It is indeed quite the conundrum (and contentious, around my office). Wikipedia, numerous state DOT websites, and EPA websites all refer to it as one word. However some of our local municipalities and the local council of governments refer to it as two words.

I think the real answer here is that they're probably both correct...I still like it as one word, though.

 

[jgailla]

I use wastewater and stormwater as one word. I never thought about it, but potablewater isn't one word.
ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers, for hokie66's dislike of acronyms) uses stormwater and wastewater as one word.
ASTM (American Society of Testing and Materials) uses wastewater as one word.

 

[ptmoss]

storm (descriptive) water (noun) = two words
red (descriptive) dog (noun) = two words

That said, I always type it out as one word and I see it most often used as one word.

 

[tobeace]

One word

Want to Learn More About Civil Engineering? Visit:

http://www.cemp3.info

 

[glenncrowley]

I HAVE SEEN THIS WORD BOTH WAYS - IN FACT FEMA USES IT BOTH WAYS IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ON THEIR WEBSITE. I AM NOT SURE IF THERE REALLY IS A REAL ANSWER TO THIS ONE! I AM GUILTY OF WRITING IT BOTH WAYS MYSELF.

I HATE TO GET INTO SEMANTICS HERE - BUT EVEN THOUGH I DO BELIEVE THAT IT CAN BE WRITTEN EITHER WAY, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THE ANALOGY DRAWN ABOVE IS ACCURATE:

WHILE RED TRULY IS A DESCRIPTIVE (I.E. A DOG CAN BE DESCRIBED AS BEING RED), STORM IS NOT. WATER CANNOT BE DESCRIBED AS BEING A STORM. IT CAN BE CAUSED BY A STORM IN WHICH CASE I IMAGINE STORM WOULD STILL BE A NOUN.

SORRY, NOT TRYING TO ARGUE OR ANYTHING. I JUST THINK THAT LOGIC IS FLAWED.

 

[cvg]

Glenn
I hate to disagree, but storm is a descriptor of the type of water, just as much as cold, hot, raw or potable, pond or sea are all descriptors of different types of water, none of them are one word.

 

[rowingengineer]

I use Stormwater, gives you that extra bit of room in your title block.

 

[Drew08]

Just because a one word modifies another doesn’t mean they can't be joined into one: dragonfly, airport, parrothead, they're called compound words. All the above are listed in dictionary.com. Once general use and acceptance of a word becomes commonplace (another compound word), the dictionary publishers consider it for addition. Case in point: if you're of a certain age, you were taught that ain't ain't a word...but it is now.

My point, if we all start, or continue, using stormwater (one word), eventually it will become universally accepted and added to Webster, and this whole thread will become moot. Until then, with the lack of an engineering dictionary equivalent to a medical dictionary, the Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam uses one word "stormwater".

And, glenncrowley, why are you yelling?

 

[ptmoss]

I just read Drew08's post and the two Google ad's below it. One for "Catch Basin Cleaning", the other for "Stormwater Drainage". So the beat goes on...

 

[psmart]

As far as common usage, try a google search for each of these 2-word terms:

sea water
waste water
storm water

At least half the results employ the compound word, and it's over 90% for "storm water".


Peter Smart
HydroCAD Software

http://www.hydrocad.net

 

[glenncrowley]

My apologies Drew,

Wasn't yelling. Had just switched over from CAD to the message box and didn't even realize it was CAPS until afterward.

 

[Crystalct1]

This is definitely a two answer question. If you are a water guy or girl, it is one word: stormwater, wastewater. Probably because we use the words so often together that they just seem like they need to be one noun by themselves. In other words, stormwater is a whole different kind of water than any other water and needs to be its own entity. See: I'm a water girl.

But if you're any other type of engineer or professional, you are not going to see it my way. Technically, I believe that these are all two words to the rest of the world. Even Microsoft Word "red lined" stormwater in my documents until I added it to the dictionary. I guess it is like the other poster said: This will all be moot as soon as it catches on and gets added to Webster's.

 

[beej67]

The big blue book on my shelf says "Georiga Stormwater Management Manual," not "Georgia Storm Water Management Manual." It's abbreviated GSMM, not GSWMM.

Having made all sorts of other begrudging concessions in my life to regulatory bodies, this one seems pretty minor.

 

[Hoagie]

It's a matter of the engineering vernacular. Maidment's Handbook of Hydrology uses stormwater.

 

[60prospect]

I beleive that stormwater to us engineers is one noun - not the noun "water" with the adjective "storm". Thus, for me, it is clearly one word. (Add it to your spell checker, because it will not otherwise recognize it).

 

[puzzler77]

I would suggest performing a poll but it is just a matter of time before it is recognized by the world as one word. Interesting discussion, I've caught myself going back and forth between one word and two several times before settling on one word. Crystalct1's suggestion to add it to the dictionary, so spellchecker (spell checker?) will finally overlook it, is a good one!