Tips Can Help Keep Water Clean

Even a car leaking motor oil 20 miles inland can pollute the ocean, especially during heavy rainfall.

Anaheim’s Department of Public Works is giving out tips on how to help prevent water pollution.

Unlike water pollution associated with factories and sewage treatment plants, storm water and urban runoff pollution comes from individuals who drive, live and work on local streets, farms, construction sites and parking lots.

Storm water runoff is created when rainfall drains off paved areas. And urban runoff is created when there’s excessive water use, such as from car washes, irrigation or any time there is water that can carry litter, lawn clippings and other kinds of pollutants into storm drains. Runoff pollution collects in street gutters, flows into flood control channels and creeks, through wetlands and bays, then eventually into the ocean.

Anything people use in their homes, cars and businesses, such as engine fluids, paint, pesticides, fertilizers and cleaners, can harm marine life and recreation areas such as beaches, harbors and bays. According to the Department of Public Works, dumping one quart of motor oil down a drain contaminates about 250,000 gallons of water.

Recommendations include: Buy cleaners, furniture polish and other household products labeled “nontoxic” and use small quantities and purchase only the amount you need; take household hazardous materials and containers to a hazardous material collection center; throw litter into trash bins and keep cans tightly covered to prevent foraging by animals; do not use pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers just before it rains, and share any leftovers with a neighbor; use a broom rather than a hose to clean up garden clippings; put leaves and clippings in a trash can or a compost pile; divert rain spouts and garden hoses away from paved surfaces onto grass; pick up after your pets, and, of course, recycle.

For more information visit https://www.anaheim.net/publicworks.