Storm Drain Care
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) invites you to join a community of volunteers across the city who keep our local storm drains clear of pollutants to protect our waterways, reduce flooding, and ensure that only rain goes down the drain. On this page, you will find simple actions you can take to reduce stormwater pollution.
What is a storm drain?
Storm drains can be identified by their grates, and can be found on most paved surfaces. They prevent flooding in our streets by taking stormwater (rain that has hit the ground) and channeling it to underground pipes. Most of Seattle’s storm drains empty directly to local water bodies like Lake Washington, the Duwamish River, and the Puget Sound, meaning that pollutants on the road often travel untreated into the environment. Stormwater pollution is the biggest source of ongoing pollution into Puget Sound, yet storm drains remain a crucial part of our city’s infrastructure. Through storm drain care and other pollution preventing actions, each of us can do our part to keep our waters safe and clean.
Adopt a storm drain
Seattle is part of Washington Adopt-A-Drain, leading efforts to protect Puget Sound. Adopt-A-Drain educates and empowers residents to care for one or more storm drains near their residences, workplaces, and hangout spots through “adopting” them. Upon sign up, you will be asked to spend no more than 15 minutes twice a month checking in on your chosen drains and clearing them off as needed. We will even provide free tools to help you get the job done.
See if your drains are available to adopt!
Check out our collective impact as of May 2024:
25,954 pounds (lbs.) of debris collected
2,583 Drains adopted
1,514 Adopters
Are drains not enough for you? You can adopt the whole street through the Adopt A Street program.
Stencil a storm drain
Have fun and help raise awareness to protect our waterways by stenciling a storm drain with an educational message! Groups of at least 10 people – including schools, sports teams, community organizations, neighborhood groups, and more – are welcome to paint a stencil next to storm drains in their area, from April through October. All necessary supplies will be provided by SPU.
Learn more about stenciling a storm drain
Rake your leaves
Leaves and debris can build up in our drainage system and on top of our storm drains, leading to street flooding. By raking your leaves and/or adopting your storm drain, you can reduce ponding and flooding in your neighborhood.
To help keep storm drains clear, SPU offers its household waste customers free extra yard waste pick up in the month of November. Put fallen leaves into a paper or compostable lawn and leaf bag or a reusable container with a lid.
Set out up to 10 extra bags of leaves next to the yard waste container on collection day. Please do not put leaves and other yard waste in plastic bags.