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How many cars do you have in your household? Did you know that something as simple as washing your car can pollute the ocean?
When you allow your car wash water to flow down your driveway and into the street, that dirty water could flow into a storm drain! And we all know that storm drains flow directly into the ocean. Untreated!
So, if the wash water contains detergent and gunk from your car or truck, guess what you can expect to find floating around in the ocean? Not only does it pollute the water, but the of black stuff that washes off your car can contain compounds of harmful heavy metals like lead and mercury. These flow into our streams and oceans, affecting aquatic life. Heavy metals concentrated in fish like tuna are particularly harmful to pregnant women and infants.
Here are some car care tips to prevent storm water pollution:
- Do not dump automotive fluids (e.g., antifreeze, brake fluid) into storm drains or let it run down the street where the rain could wash it down the storm drain. That would have the same result as dumping the materials directly into our oceans!
- If your car is leaking fluids, try to get it fixed as soon as possible to prevent excessive leakage on the streets and in your driveway, where rain can wash it down the storm drains.
- Give your old auto batteries to the dealer when purchasing new ones or take them to the City Convenience Center nearest you. Batteries contain strong harmful chemicals that could hurt children who might touch or play with them. Old or damaged batteries can easily leak these harmful chemicals onto the ground to be washed into the ocean after a storm.
- When changing oil, use an oil change box to absorb all of the dirty oil and throw it away in the trash.
- No oil change box? Just pour it into a plastic bag with plenty of absorbent material to soak it up, then seal the bag and toss it in with the rest of your trash. Motor oil contains many harmful metals that damage our reefs and favorite swimming areas.
- Don’t want to mess with the used oil? Consider having your oil changed at a service station.
- Consider taking your car to a commercial car wash that treats or recycles its waste water, or wash your car on grass so the water is filtered into the ground.
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