Please welcome today’s guest poster, Teresa Dahl.

Image credit: nashville.gov

I don’t know about you, but my family is constantly outside. We do everything outside — from having dinner on our patio to washing our cars on the driveway. We practically live outside.

It’s pretty rare that we’ll ever pay attention to what we’re washing down the gutters, but then I realized that if that stuff doesn’t come from a storm drain, it probably doesn’t belong there ultimately.

Stormwater drains are designed to help mitigate some of the problems caused by large storms and constant runoff. These drains channel the water off the streets and other impervious surfaces and send it straight into our waterways (lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water). Unlike wastewater systems, though, this water will not be treated before it reaches those waterways, so any pollutants and trash it picks up along the way will go with it to the end.

Clogged drains are problematic for people’s health, the quality of the environment, and the state of the neighborhood. If stormwater drains aren’t doing their job, the debris and trash will pile up, attracting rats, bugs, and a wide variety of questionable smells. It can also lead to flooding, erosion, and property damage. It’s not hard to keep the drains clear, and there are some simple things that anyone can do. 

• Pick up after your pets. If you take your dog out for a walk, make sure that you have a plastic bag for the inevitable cleanup.

• Do not pour pesticides, oils, and other chemical products down the stormwater drains or even on the ground near the drains.

• Dispose of household toxic substances properly. Do not just pour things out on the street, in the back yard, or toss the whole thing in the garbage.

• Don’t over-water your lawn. Flooding the yard just creates more opportunities for the fertilizers on the lawn to make it into the stormwater system.

• Wash your vehicle and pets on the lawn instead of the street or driveway. The soaps you use need to be kept out of the waterways. Remember to use biodegradable soaps.

• Don’t even dump lawn clippings down the drain. They may be organic, but they can disrupt the natural environment for many marine animals and plants.

• Take some time and clear away the garbage in the way. Yes, there’s probably someone who was supposed to be in charge of this, but it doesn’t take much effort to do it yourself and improve the community a little bit.

• Bring in a professional to clean out the system if there is constant backup even without any visible blockage. These people will know what to do if there is a problem with the underground stormwater detention system or if it’s a question of a blocked drain.

• Report people you see dumping things into the drain. No one likes being a squealer, but we like swimming in toxic water additives even less.

• Make regular checks. Again, this may not be your official job, but if you want to contribute to the neighborhood and do your part to keep things nice, it isn’t that far out of your way to look at the drains during or just after a storm.

Modern stormwater filtration systems are designed to handle a lot of water and even filter out a lot of the pollutants before the water is discharged into the ground. It can only do so much, though, and everything we do to eliminate these pollutants before they get into the water will have an immediate beneficial impact on the overall quality of our water.