10 Things You Can Do to Protect Stormwater

How many of you have an idea of what stormwater is? How many of you understand why you should care? However, have you ever thought of the significance of why we should keep our stormwater "clean"? Do you realize what happens when we pollute our stormwater? Stormwater can pick up all sorts of garbage. Guess where it goes? It drains into our lakes, rivers, and streams. The stormwater can even drain into our unfiltered water for drinking, fishing and swimming. Ok, do I have your attention now?

Here are ten tips on how you can protect your stormwater in your area:

First, consider that everything we throw onto the ground ends up in our Stormwater. And in many parts of the US our drainage systems do not go to a wastewater treatment facility, but directly into our rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

Do not throw cigarette butts or other litter on the ground. Cigarette filters have the most harmful compounds in it after the cigarette burns like cadmium, arsenic, and lead. They are also deadly to birds, fish and other wildlife. A study conducted in 1998 showed that the chemicals from used filters per two gallons of water shown a biohazard within an hour of exposure to water.

Do not blow grass clippings in the street. Grass clippings should be blown on the lawn because they are a natural organic matter and it is good for the lawn. If they wash down the storm drain, they can take the oxygen out of the water and suffocate fish and other water life. Not to mention clog the drainage system and cause flooding.

Do not flush old drug prescriptions down the drain. Waste water treatment plants are not able to remove drugs from sewer water and they end up in our lakes and rivers.

Install rain barrels and rain gardens to collect water runoff from your house roof.
Slowing the storm water down, keeping it off of sidewalks and allowing it to permeate into the soil will improve our bodies of water and groundwater.

Reduce or eliminate the use of fertilizers and pesticides from your lawn. These chemicals applied to your lawn kill beneficial insects and are long lasting in the soil. Again, this will run into our bodies of water and pollute them.

Reduce the amount of grass in your lawn. If you xeriscape and use native plants to reduce your watering needs you help protect stormwater. The reason this is important is when you irrigate your lawn and there is added rain water, this creates an excess amount of run off which carries pollutants into the storm water system.

Take your car to the car wash rather than washing it on your driveway. Car washes treat the wash water. If you wash your car on the lawn the wash off goes into the sewer. Are you aware of some of the chemicals that are in your liquid car wash? If not, read the ingredients.

Check for your local government recycling programs. It's not just about recycling the plastics and bottles. It's also about disposing of your hazardous waste products like old paint or motor oils. Never pour them in the soil or bushes because they permeate down to the ground water.

Report Pollution. If you see any unusual activities that could hurt the environment, report it to your local government agencies.

Pass these tips along to others. If we all can come together and unite against harmful adversities to our environment, we can become the solution, and stop being the problem.

Source: Community Service of Orange County Public Works Dept, Orlando, Florida