How You Can Help.

 

Home Improvement and Maintenance

    • Review your home for storm water handling. If your gutters, driveways, or decks directly discharge into a water body, retrofit it by redirecting the runoff onto grassy areas.
    • Consider replacing impervious surfaces like sidewalks, decks, and driveways around your home with more pervious materials like mulch,pervious concrete or clean stone.
    •  Never dispose of oils, pesticides, or other chemicals onto driveways, streets or storm drains. The next rain will either carry it into a surface water or help it soak into our drinking water.
    • Keep all construction debris away from the street, gutter and storm drains. Never dispose of cement washout or concrete dust into driveways, streets, gutters or storm drains.
    • Prevent erosion and sediment runoff by covering excavated material and piles of asphalt, sand and similar materials with plastic tarp.Use
      water-based paints whenever possible. Look for products labeled latex” or “cleans With water.”

 

 

Swimming Pool and Spa:

 

Water containing chlorine is harmful to aquatic life. Whenever possible, drain water into the sewer system.

 

In Your Garden

    • Purchase household and garden products that are “least toxic” to the environment.
    • Sweep sidewalks and patios rather than hose debris into gutters.
    • Reduce the amount of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides you apply on your lawn and landscaping. What the plants can‘t absorb quickly usually results in surface or groundwater pollution.
    • Do not over-water, lawns and gardens. Over watering can flush large quantities of pesticides and fertilizer directly into storm drains.
    • Control the amount of water and direction of sprinklers, to avoid waste and runoff. The average lawn requires an inch-of water each week,including rainfall, or 10-20 minutes of watering.
    • It’s Up To You. Together, you and year neighbors can make a difference to keep gutters, storm drains and waterways clean.

 

In Your Garage:

    • Have your car tuned up regularly to make sure it is operating as clean as possible with no oil or fluid leaks.
    • Find a location near you to recycle motor oil, antifreeze and other automotive fluids.
    • Wash your car at commercial car washes that recycles their wash water.

 

Pet Owners:

    • Pick-up pet waste’as soon as as possible and put it in the trash. Pet waste has harmful bacteria That can get into your waterways.
    • Dispose of pet care products like flea shampoo according to the label because they can be toxic.

 

Did You Know…

…that one pint of motor oil can produce an oil slick of approximately one acre on the surface of water?

…that dumping anything in the storm drain system is illegal and harmful to the  environment?