NEWS RELEASE

22 February 2013

200 street drains to get the pollution message

Some 200 street drains in Tawa and Churton Park will, from this weekend, carry messages to remind people that only rain is supposed to go into the stormwater system. Anything else will quickly cause pollution in streams and the sea.

Councillor Ngaire Best, Wellington City Council’s Three Waters and Waste Portfolio Leader and a trustee of the Porirua Harbour and Catchment Community Trust, will join local Rotarians, students from Tawa School and other trustees, including Wellington Regional Councillor Jenny Brash, to help glue ‘Only rain down the drain’ signs to street kerbs tomorrow (Saturday 23 February).

The $2000 educational campaign is run by the Porirua Harbour and Catchment Community Trust and is funded by Wellington City Council.

The signs will be placed along main streets, near schools and other community facilities in Tawa and Churton Park.

Cr Best says many people do not realise that street drains are part of stormwater networks that lead straight into the Porirua Stream and ultimately into Porirua Harbour. All of the stormwater from Johnsonville north - including Tawa and Churton Park - drains into Porirua Harbour.

“If anyone washes their car on the road or on a driveway – or pours paint or any other chemicals into a roadside drain – then it will cause tremendous damage to the environment downstream,” says Cr Best.

“And it’s the same with everything from doggie doo to cigarette butts – if you leave it on footpaths then it’s going to get into waterways and you’ll end up swimming in the resulting contamination.”

The labels are being installed as part of the Porirua Harbour Strategy which is supported by the community trust. The strategy aims to address pollution and degradation and help restore the health of Porirua Harbour.

Cr Best says there are about 1200 street drains in the Porirua Stream catchment (some 800 in Tawa and about 400 in Churton Park). It is intended that more of the labels will be installed on drains in the catchment and ultimately on more of the 12,000 drains across Wellington City.

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