Stormwater Management

Does this fish look familiar? He should. His image appears on storm drains in your neighborhood. He wants you to know that your creeks and rivers ~his home~ are being contaminated by pollution from our streets, sidewalks, parks, and yards. Rain and melting snow collects pollutants from these surfaces and washes them into storm drains. Many storm drains empty directly into our local waterways.

You can help protect his home & your drinking water supply by doing the following:

• Service your car regularly to prevent oils and other fluids from leaking onto the pavement so they don’t wash into the storm drains. Recycle motor oil and antifreeze at local service stations.
• Choose water-based paints and wash brushes in your sink with water. Reuse and recycle paint thinner, which is a hazardous material. Do not pour it down your drain or into a storm drain.
• Bag or compost leaves and other yard waste. Don’t allow leaves to collect in the street. Besides being a driving hazard, wet leaves clog storm drains causing local street flooding.
• Minimize the use of toxic substances such as mothballs, drain and oven cleaners, insect sprays & many other products. Substitute with products that use natural ingredients whenever possible.
• Put dog wastes in a trash can or toilet, not in the street or down a storm drain. Dog waste introduces disease-causing bacteria into our water supply.
• Keep litter off the street. Put trash in trash cans and clean up litter so it doesn’t wash into storm drains and end up in our streams and rivers.

These simple actions can help improve the quality of our streams, creeks, and rivers, benefiting both human and animal life. So please do your part in keeping our waterways healthy and safe.
And remember…

Dumping anything down a storm drain is illegal and violators may be fined!

More Information

• Municipal Stormwater
• https://extension.psu.edu/what-is-an-ms4