Dealing With Rainwater
The "used" water that goes down the drain in your home is carried by the sanitary sewer system to treatment plants for processing prior to discharge in lakes or rivers.
When it rains, sewers receive a huge volume of rainwater in addition to the normal daily flow of used water. For each inch of rainfall, your local sewers may handle over one million extra gallons of water!
During heavy rains, storm sewer overflows occur when high volumes of rainwater mix with sanitary sewage, exceeding the capacity of pipes carrying wastewater to treatment plants.
Discharge points relieve the excess capacity by releasing untreated sewage into the lakes and rivers that also provide our drinking water.
Help prevent overflows by disconnecting your downspouts from the sewer system. Water will seep into the earth and replenish your natural groundwater aquifer. Some runoff may enter the sewer at a catch basin, but the rate of entry is much slower. The delayed entry (and lower volume) of storm water reduces the frequency of sewer overflows.
When you disconnect your downspouts from the sewer system, install Rainguard™ Automatic Downspout Extensions to disperse the rainwater at a safe distance from your foundation. Rainguard™ also helps protect your lawn and flowerbeds from erosion damage, and helps to prevent wet basements.
