Storm Water Quality
Why Should We be concerned about what enters the storm drain?
Storm drains are often used for improper disposal of paint, motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides, grass clippings, leaves, and other wastes. This improper use of the storm drain can damage your community’s water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and our environment.
Every time it rains or snow and ice melt, storm water runoff is created. The storm water carries litter, yard debris, pet waste, and other pollutants into storm drains. This NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION can be a large source of contamination of Indiana’s urban streams and beyond.
EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES TO NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION!
Materials flowing into the storm drain do NOT get treated before emptying into streams, rivers, and lakes. The untreated materials pollute waterways in our community!
You can HELP! By volunteering to help clean storm drains and the area near storm drains, you are helping make the water ways healthier. Healthy water ways are water for drinking, agriculture, recreation, industry, and provide habitat for aquatic life.
Too much storm water can cause a problem, too! If the storm drains are blocked by debris such as, leaves, litter, and other pollutants – it results in the storm water not flowing down the storm drain. This could cause flooding or erosion. It is important to keep the storm drain clear of debris.
Morgan County Partnership for Water Quality 