To report a problem with a storm sewer or illegal dumping, click here or contact Ed Helton at 682-831-4614.

To report an illegal dumping you are witnessing, please call 972-434-5500 (metro).

Is There a Difference Between a Storm Sewer and a Sanitary Sewer? Yes!
When I was a kid, there was a storm drain in the gutter in front of the house. Water would flow in whenever it rained or when we washed the car. It seemed like an endless hole in the ground, covered by a large metal grate. The grate could be removed, if you rolled a hot wheel car in there, but it was more fun to fish things out with a long string and some tape or chewing gum. Sometimes we would drop fireworks in, to see what they would sound like, although we were always concerned that the fuse would be extinguished by the water we assumed was down there.

Some time in the last ten years, signs began appearing on the curbs above storm drains. Like "Please Don't Feed the Storm Drain!" Like many warnings, these signs don't give much of an explanation.

It was many years before I really understood how the storm drain system works, so I thought I'd share what I've learned. Rainwater fills the storm drains and pushes the trash that has accumulated in them into the local bodies of water, in our case… it's Lake Grapevine. The storm drain system was built to make sure that streets do not flood when it rains. Unfortunately, rainwater picks up every kind of garbage on the streets and in gutters, and washes it into the lake. Cigarette butts, leaves, gum wrappers, Styrofoam peanuts, grass clippings, fall foliage all flow down the drain (some times with a little help!!). This is what is often referred to as urban runoff. In addition to these solid waste items; liquids like paint, anti-freeze, pesticides, bleach, soap and motor oil flow with the rainwater, too. According to the Keep America Beautiful website, 18% of all littered items end up in waterways as pollution.

The storm drain system has to be able to process millions and millions of gallons of water in just a few hours. Just one acre-foot is equal to 325,851 gallons of water, so imagine how much rainwater can fall onto each square mile of a city. I'm sure many people treat these gutters like bottomless pits. Because debris falls down into the drains, away from view, it is easy to treat them like garbage chutes.

Warning signs on the storm drains should read "NO DUMPING, FLOWS UNCHECKED AND UNFILTERED INTO THE NATURAL WATER SUPPLY", but that's a little wordy. I think the most important bit of drain information is that there are two wastewater systems and they are completely separate.

Dumped fluids don't flow directly into our drinking water, but it does go directly into natural waterways, maybe a river, a lake or the ocean. It is an easy bet that wild animals, fish and plants are going to have to deal with whatever gets dumped in these.

Research by Keep America Beautiful Inc., has found that people litter because:

• They feel no sense of ownership, even though areas such as parks and beaches are public property.
• They believe someone else-a park maintenance or highway worker- will pick up after them.
• Litter has already accumulated, and a little more is okay.

The reality is… YOU do make a difference, each and every person can and does make a difference, so PLEASE "Don't Feed the Storm Drain."

For more information, please contact Ed Helton at 682-831-4614.