Did you know we polluting our own environment through our stormwater drains? What simple things can we do to fix this? A recent post by a leading drainlayer in Auckland has outlined some simple, yet clear and achievable things we can all do to help reduce stormwater pollution.
According to the author, stormwater pollution makes our rivers sick, makes the sea sick, makes our fish sick ,and makes us sick.
And some of it comes from unexpected places.
- Lawn clippings that aren’t mulched or picked up end up in the stormwater, introducing a massive amount of phosphorous into our waterways, and adding unwanted algae into our lakes and ponds.
- During Autumn, falling leaves also add huge amounts of phosphorous – up to 56% of all phosphorous comes from leaf matter. That’s quite aside from all the drain blockages, flooding and added debris we need to manage.
- Even using a bit too much fertilizer adds excess phosphorous into the system.
- What about the soap from washing your boat? If you washed it on your driveway the soap likely went into the stormwater along with all of the grease, grime, fuel and who knows what else.
- And every year, someone decides to tip unwanted paint, turps, or other chemical down the drain. You know where it ends up.
In a time where we are learning to prioritise our environment, this is definitely not in the too hard basket.
Anyone can improve in these small ways.
So, lets do that!
