Storm Drains Carry All Of Our Life's Blood

by Gerry Rasmus
(Thailand)

Taking care of nature starts at home

Have you ever seen rain rushing down the street after a storm? Those little rivers don't just disappear - they carry bits of our daily lives straight into streams, rivers, and oceans. You won't be able to unsee it... and you might just be inspired to help protect water.

Also, I can help with similar intros for other sections of your site if you like.

Gerry starts with - Aloha:Way too many people have no idea what a storm drain is for... The only purpose for storm drains is to take the rain water away from out homes, shopping centers, roads, to prevent flooding. Storm drains empty into creeks, streams, rivers, lakes and ocean.

Many people, due to lack on knowledge or lack of care, are contaminating all of our natural waterways, making our drinking water contaminated and not fit to drink by contaminating all waters that fish live in while killing many or even making us sick when we eat them. Storm drains carry our life's blood (Water).

We all need to educate the unknowing, fine the "I don't care's", stencil heavy foot traffic areas with storm drains...
(GOES TO OCEAN)(NO GARBAGE)(GOES TO LAKE)(NO GARBAGE) - A PICTURE OF FISH (DON'T POLLUTE OUR HOME) (DRINKING WATER) DIFFERENT SIGNS FOR DIFFERENT AREAS..

We all need to take an active part. Once our life's blood is all contaminated (AND IT IS GETTING CLOSE), we might as well kiss our back side good-bye...

Talk to City Hall, Local Radio and TV Stations, News Papers. We are all in this neighborhood together. "The Life of the People Shows in the Land" - NOW Is the only time there is. Carpe Diem.

Barry's Response - Yes our water is important for sure. Maybe we should start a website called stuffinthewater.com as well. Thank you for your concern, Gerry.

Search this site for more information now.

We carry all of our life's blood down storm drains

Take a look at the sky breathing. Clouds exhale rain, forests drink it, rivers move it like veins, and oceans return it. Heartbeat of the hydrologic system.

There's also your curbside storm drain - the city's capillary. It's not a garbage hole. It's not a mystery pit.

Someone's drinking glass, fishing spot, or kid's swimming spot is right there at the mouth of the river.

The water remembers

Our storm drains become tomorrow's plankton, next month's algae bloom, next year's fish kidney problem - or Tuesday's coffee water.

Here's a bit from The science corner:

• It scrubs the air - dissolves nitrogen dioxide, picks up soot and metals
• Oil films, fertilizer dust, rubber tire particles get scavenged by runoff
• The storm sewers don't treat - they deliver
• Toxins get magnified in fish gills since they have delicate membranes and need oxygen
• Roots filter storm energy, canopies slow it
• Nature's wastewater engineers - wetlands metabolize waste

It's not romantic environmentalism. It's physics, chemistry, and biology. We're pouring the internet's favorite drink down a chemical slip-n-slide.

Moment of teenage angst

-Don't dump oil down the drain.
-Don't throw away your paint.
-You can't pretend microplastics are "tiny fish decorations."

Earth would raise one eyebrow if she had a face,
"Are you serious? Did you spray weed killer right before rain? Just wow."

Don't despair - innovate

It's better than guilt posters. Here's an idea or two:

• Contests for storm drain art - such as fish saying "This is my home, not just yours"
• Citizen drain sensors - low-cost turbidity, temperature, and conductivity sensors
• "Rain apprenticeships" - kids track drains, map "secret rivers"
• See your pollution path in color with street-to-reef transparency maps

We could use the same math that predicts factory plumes to warn neighborhoods about storm pollution spikes.
Science shouldn't just be in boardrooms - it should be in puddles too.

Playful, honest counter-narrative

Water pollution kills ecosystems way faster than climate change. It's not CO2 vs. no CO2 - it's care vs. neglect.

Water stewardship existed before climate conferences - Genesis mentions rivers before parts-per-million. Water protection isn't political. Morally, it's right. It's scientific.

Pick your worldview - as they say, don't poison the water.

Stewards, not spectators

Forestry, meteorology, limnology - everything is connected. Rain is modulated by trees...Rivers are nourished by rain...Fish are raised in rivers...Families eat fish.

A gum wrapper in a storm drain? It's the first domino in a chain we never intended to break.

What's next?

Tell storm-drain stories. When you walk by one, whisper: "It's not like you're a sewer. More like you're a river."

Drains should be labeled. Put up markers in your city. Make rain gardens and green infrastructure a priority. We're fun at parties, I swear.

❓ Now it's your turn

Where does the storm drain near your house go? Have you ever followed it? Do you want to?

Leave a comment: 👇 "Where does my nearest storm drain go?"
Or, "I just learned something new about water."
Let's map our hidden rivers.