Trusted Drain Cleaning Services in Fort Wayne, IN

No. Storm drains and sanitary sewers have two distinct functions. Storm drains are intended to collect and transport runoff from rainfall. Storm drain systems do not remove pollutants from water before it is discharged into streams and rivers. These are typically the drains found in streets and in parking lots. Sanitary sewers collect wastewater from indoor plumbing such as toilets, sinks, washing machines, and floor drains and take it to a sewage treatment plant. The treatment plant removes many pollutants from wastewater before it is discharged to the river.

Seeing as Fort Wayne maintains thousands of drain inlets, there are too many to clean in a short period of time. Storm drain inlets are maintained on a year-round schedule, but it is important for residents to help by cleaning leaves and debris off storm drain inlets to help prevent street flooding.

On a typical dry summer day, around one million gallons of water flows through the system. This flow comes from landscape irrigation runoff (primarily lawns), fire hydrant maintenance, and car washes throughout the region, just to name a few. In a heavy rainstorm, this flow can increase to millions and millions of gallons a day, carrying hundreds of pollution sources.

The first big rain after an extended dry period (usually summer) which flushes out the accumulated pollutants in the storm drain system and carries them straight to the creeks and rivers.

Water from rain, irrigation, garden hoses or other activities that picks up pollutants (cigarette butts, trash, automotive fluids, used oil, paint, fertilizers and pesticides, lawn and garden clippings and pet waste) from streets, parking lots, driveways and yards and carries them through the storm drain system and straight to local creeks and rivers.