The IDDE workflow is the part of an MS4 program that most often gets re-investigated months later because the chronology fell apart. A complaint came in. An inspector went out. Photos were taken. A source was suspected. A follow-up was scheduled. Then the case sat. The next inspector who walked the outfall did not know about the prior visit.
This post is for the IDDE coordinator, the inspector who drives out for the first field check, and the supervisor who tracks open cases across the program. It walks through what IDDE inspection software should actually keep together.
One case per incident
The fundamental shape of the IDDE workflow is one record per incident. The complaint is the record. The field check attaches to the record. The source-tracing visits attach to the record. The sample results attach to the record. The closure walk attaches to the record. Enforcement, if any, links back to the case that triggered it.
Software that treats each visit as a standalone form is software that loses the chronology by month three.
Complaint intake at the moment the call comes in
The first chance to lose information is the intake call. The person on the phone gives more detail than the coordinator can write down. The address is approximate. The photos arrive in a follow-up email.
The intake record should capture the caller’s words at the time of the call, pin the location on the map, allow photos to attach as they arrive, and assign the first field check with a target response window. The full posture on the intake side is in the IDDE complaint-to-closure playbook.
Field check: where complaint intake becomes IDDE casework
The inspector goes out, looks at the conditions, captures photos and GPS, runs the indicator panel where the situation calls for it, and writes up what they saw. The field check attaches to the complaint record so a future reader sees the call, the field check, and the follow-up steps in one place.
Sample IDDE indicators include ammonia, surfactants, turbidity, fluoride, and temperature differential. The structured form should carry the indicators the program runs, not a generic note field.
Source-tracing up the storm drain line
If the first field check finds a suspected illicit discharge, source-tracing follows. Manhole pop visits up the line, observations at each, sampling where warranted. Each visit attaches to the case. Field markups for suspected source locations save on a separate exportable layer for the GIS team to review.
The chronology has to stay readable. Visit 1: outfall sample positive for surfactants. Visit 2: manhole at the next upstream junction, same indicator. Visit 3: lateral branch isolated. Visit 4: business contact at the suspected source.
Sampling visits with results on the case
Sample results are evidence. They belong on the case record, with the date, the location of the sample, the indicators tested, and the result. A future auditor reads the case and sees the sample results in order, not in a separate spreadsheet.
Follow-up and re-screening
A flagged finding that has not been re-screened is an open case. The supervisor should see overdue re-screenings across the program on a single view, not in someone’s email folder. Tasks for re-screening attach to the case.
Enforcement linked to the case
If the case escalates to a warning, a correction request, or a notice of violation, the enforcement record links back to the case that triggered it. The chronology stays intact through the next audit and the annual report.
The software does not send the notice. Notice templates draft from the inspection record and copy or download as email-ready text. The send happens through your existing channel.
Closure with verification
A case closes when the source is identified and verified eliminated, or when source-tracing confirms the original observation does not represent an illicit discharge. The closure walk attaches to the case. The closure note explains the conclusion. The case leaves the open list.
How NPDESTracker carries the IDDE case
The IDDE inspection software landing page covers the workflow page-by-page. The broader workflow framing is on IDDE tracking software, and the case-thread perspective is in the IDDE complaint-to-closure playbook.
The public demo includes a sample IDDE case on a fictional tenant. Try the demo to walk through it, or start with the 60-day Guided Pilot at $999 to test the IDDE workflow on a focused slice of your own program.