Concentration and composition of total dissolved solids were determined in both surface runoff water and in water which had percolated through a bed of the residue. An empirical equation was developed to predict the concentration of the runoff water as a function of independent parameters. A tendency for saturation of the residue to occur during a period of snowmelt was revealed. The effects of this saturation on the residue were also considered. An overland flow water quality model was developed and successfully applied to runoff resulting from rainfall and snowfall oil shale retorting residue. The surface water runoff from snowfall on oil shale residue has less water pollution potential than the runoff from rainfall. The concentration of dissolved solids in the runoff was a function of the cumulative volume if runoff per unit width, the porosity of the oil shale retorting residue, the soil moisture content, the snowmelt rate, and the reaction of the snowmelt water that is runoff.