HOME > DEPARTMENTS > PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

Rainy day hike

---

May 13, 2005

We have had the worst luck with rainy weekends! I know that my basement flooded, and a few people down the street from me had the same thing happen to them. But besides the soggy basement, there has also been a lot of rain on the roads. The lake that was my front yard two weeks ago is gone now, its sunken back into ground. That water was relatively clean though. I say relatively because as soon as it hits the ground, running water picks up a lot of pollution.

I watched a man the other day cleaning his driveway, with a hose. I almost stopped my car to tell him that a broom would do the same job, and it's easier to pick up afterwards. But I'm telling you now, cleaning your driveway with a hose sends any kind of pollutant that was in your driveway right to the nearest culvert or storm drain. The gas and oil that leaked from your car ends up in the ground, if it's dry enough out, or in the nearest stream heading toward the ocean. I know I mentioned this all a couple weeks ago but it bears repeating.

Polluted stormwater runoff is something that the State is starting to crack down on. Throughout the State there are 28 municipalities that fall under this regulation, and are responsible for keeping their stormwater, and the rest of their municipality, clean. These municipalities are regulated because of the size of their communities and how many people they have living in their urbanized area.

It is now our responsibility to take care of the polluted stormwater because these types of pollutants are non-point source (NPS) pollutants. A NPS pollutant means that there is no definite source for the pollution. Contrary to NPS pollutants, point source pollutants are pollutants that we can easily identify where they are coming from. These regulated communities are working hard to clean up their municipalities and to educate the public about polluted stormwater run off. The rubber ducky ads from last summer, soon to be reappearing, were a result of those efforts, the same with the radio ads.

So the next time it rains, take a walk around your yard, down your street, and check out where your stormwater goes. Just remember, if you see pretty rainbows in the water, it's gas and oil and it's not that pretty when it ends up in your drinking water. If you would like to contact me you can do so by calling me at the Public Works Office at 282-1552 or by email at swojcoski@sacomaine.org. I appreciate your comment and keep recycling.