Rain that falls on and around your property can wash oil, grease, and other pollutants into storm drains—and straight into our rivers and streams. As a business owner, you're responsible for minimizing stormwater pollution from your site. Minimizing pollution helps protect local waterways and your business by preventing sewer backups, flooding, fines, and public complaints.
Share these tips with any contractors you hire for landscaping, cleaning, or maintenance to ensure they follow City of Cambridge rules and regulations.
Building Maintenance
- Promote environmental practices: Sweep sidewalks and outdoor areas (and dispose of materials as trash or yard waste), rather than washing with a hose. If outdoor washing is needed, use biodegradable, phosphate-free cleaning products.
- Save on your water bill: Use squeegees, scrubbers, and buckets instead of spraying with a hose or pressure washer. If large amounts of water are used, don’t let it flow into the street or gutter.
- Clean-up correctly: Maintenance crews should rinse paint cans, brushes, buckets, or other cleaning materials in an indoor sink, not in the street or down a storm drain
Sidewalks
- Reduce salting costs: Avoid oversalting - only a small amount of de-icer is required to melt ice. Shovel before applying de-icers and never use rock salt. Remove slush once de-icer has done its job to avoid damage to concrete sidewalks.
- Prevent localized flooding: Sweep leaves and put out for yard waste collection. Regularly pick up trash in outdoor areas. Don’t blow or sweep any materials into the street (this is illegal and leads to clogged storm drains).
- Avoid public complaints: Never dump wash water down a storm drain or pressure wash, hose or sweep materials into the curb (this is illegal). Sweep up any spills instead of hosing down areas.
Dumpsters & Outdoor Storage
- Avoid fines: Train employees to always keep dumpster lids closed, never rinse them out, and check that drain plugs are securely in place. Regularly inspect dumpsters for leaks. Check out this Dumpster Maintenance Brochure for tips on doing your part to keep waterways clean.
- Reduce liability: Contain spills immediately. Keep spill kits (like oil absorbent pads or mops) on hand to stop liquids from reaching the street.
- Store materials safely: Keep chemicals and materials in closed, labeled containers. Only keep items outdoors if they’re weather-proof and have tight-fitting lids. For more tips, please click here.
Parking Lots
- Upgrade your design: When considering improvements to your parking lot, one option is to replace asphalt with "permeable" pavements that allow rain to soak in rather than run off. Another is to design parking lots to drain into rain gardens or grassy areas, rather than directly into storm drains or the street.
- Check storm drains to prevent flooding: Check storm drains 3-4 times per year, and clean and repair as necessary to make sure runoff can easily flow into drains. Sweep parking lots regularly to help collect trash and debris.
- Use a car wash: Don’t wash vehicles in your parking lot. Use a car wash or vehicle wash bays that direct dirty wash water to the sewer, not the street or storm drains.
Sinks & Drains
- Prevent sewer backups: Never pour cooking oil or grease down a sink or storm drain. Wait for fats, oils, and grease (FOG) to cool after cooking, and then recycle. For more information, click here.
- Dispose of wash water correctly: Always empty wash water and mop buckets indoors into the mop sink. Clean equipment in a mop sink or floor area which connect to the sanitary sewer. Don’t clean equipment outside where wash water can enter a storm drain.