Two types of water leave your home; wastewater and stormwater.

• Wastewater drains from sinks, toilets, and showers. It goes to a treatment facility where bacteria and pollutants are removed. The water is purified and released back into a lake or river.
• Stormwater is rain that's fallen on rooftops, driveways, streets and sidewalks and runs off the surface. Runoff does not go to a wastewater treatment facility. Instead, it flows to the nearest storm drain, which takes it to a nearby lake, river, or pond.

Only rain down the drain

Storm drains collect and transport stormwater runoff to reduce flooding. Only rain should go down these drains.  It is illegal to dump anything else in them. Protecting storm drains prevents pollution in lakes and rivers.

• Do NOT dump anything into a storm drain.
• Take used oil, unwanted chemicals and other hazardous wastes to the Carver County Environmental Center or special waste drop off.
• Pick up pet waste and place in the garbage.
• Use a commercial car wash instead of washing the car at home. The water used there goes to wastewater treatment facilities.
• Keep your surfaces clean. If you spill (paint, oil, salt, etc.) clean it up.
• De-chlorinate your pool water before draining. Chlorine is not good for wildlife.
• Sweep up leaves, grass clippings, and dirt away from storm drains and off driveways and sidewalks. This type of debris, along with fertilizer, road salt, and pet waste, becomes pollution when it hits the water.

Fall is an important time to protect storm drains. Join others in the nation’s largest Adopt a Drain program. Adopt a Drain invites residents to adopt a storm drain and commit to keeping it clear of leaves, trash and other debris. Keeping storm drains clean prevents pollution in lakes and creeks. The program began in Minnesota in 2017, and the impacts have been huge. Around 19,000 volunteers have prevented over 900,000 lbs. of debris from getting into local lakes and rivers.

Leaves, grass clippings, and dirt that build up along curbs and storm drains contain phosphorus, a nutrient which in high amounts causes algae blooms and reduces oxygen in the water.

Just 1 yard waste bag of leaves has enough phosphorus to create 100 lbs. of algae in water.

You can sign up as an individual, a family, a school, an organization, a service group and more. A few minutes a month can make a big difference in our waters.  

Visit Adopt-a-Drain.org to learn more