Industrial and Manufacturing
If you own, manage or help operate a business, especially an industrial or manufacturing company, you can help reduce stormwater pollution. From environmentally friendly cleaning and maintenance activities, to recycling hazardous waste materials, businesses can do their part to prevent stormwater pollution.
- Cleaning and Maintenance: Review your cleaning and maintenance activities to look for ways to reduce runoff into the storm drain system, especially in outdoor areas like parking lots, loading docks and maintenance yards. Keep trash enclosure swept and trash bin lids closed.
- Employee Training: Train employees to wash vehicles and equipment indoors in a wash rack that is connected to the sanitary sewer or off-site at a commercial wash facility. Train janitorial staff to dispose of floor cleaning water in the sewer and not into the parking lot. Make sure that cooling towers, boilers, compressors, water softeners and other process equipment are connected to the sanitary sewer and do not discharge wastewater into the parking lot.
- Recycle Hazardous Materials Safely: If you use hazardous materials in your everyday business, like ink and solvents for commercial printing, or polishes and chemicals for car detailing or manufacturing after-market accessories, do not put these hazardous materials in the trash or pour them into the gutter. Take them to be recycled safely. Store chemicals, wastes, raw materials and contaminated equipment indoors or in a covered, spill contained area, to prevent exposure of these materials to stormwater.
- Go Natural: Take advantage of less-toxic alternatives to dangerous chemicals. From detergents to drain openers, there are a lot of ways to get the same or better result without having to rely on toxic substances.
