Volunteer

Storm Drain Marking

Help protect streams and lakes by educating the community about their connection to streams and lakes! Volunteers with the Storm Drain Marking Program glue decals onto storm drains that say, “This Drain Is Only for Rain. Do Not Dump – Drains to Creek”. Help us reach our goal - mark every storm drain in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County!

According to a 2015 Charlotte-Mecklenburg public opinion survey, approximately 36% of respondents think stormwater is treated and cleaned before it reaches a stream or lake. The truth is that stormwater and stormwater pollution throughout Charlotte and Mecklenburg County drains directly to streams and lakes. The cleaner we keep stormwater, the cleaner our streams and lakes will be.

We hope that Storm Drain Marking will help prevent dumping of pollution into storm drains and inspire people to prevent stormwater pollution that drains into them.

Volunteering for the Storm Drain Marking Program can be as small or as large a project as you like. You can mark a few storm drains by yourself or you can recruit a group of people to mark a bunch of storm drains on several streets.

To learn more about what you will be doing when marking storm drains, check out our short video.

Transcription: Storm Drain Marking Tutorial

Hi everyone, I'm Iva Barnes from Charlotte-Mecklenburg storm water and today I'm going to show you how to properly apply a storm drain marker to a storm grate. So you'll have received your kit. It has everything that you need to do the job. Be sure to read over the safety sheet and instructions and sign the waiver form before you start. I've got my safety vest on, my gloves, the adhesive and the placard. The back of the placard has these handy guides to show you exactly where to apply the adhesive. So we'll pop the cap off, start at the one and work our way around the back. Then you'll need to cap this. Then we'll simply stick it on, press it down for a few seconds and you're done. When you're filling out the datasheet, be sure to mark the neighborhood, the street you're working on, the closest intersection where you started, the closest intersection where you ended and the number of drains you marked on that street. Have fun and thank you for volunteering to help keep our streams and lakes clean and beautiful.

No matter if it is a small or large effort, we appreciate any help you can provide. Help mark storm drains and educate the community about their connection to our streams and lakes!

Storm Drain Marking Rally

Upcoming Storm Drain Marking events can be found on our VOLUNTEER EVENTS page.

Help us get one step closer to reaching our goal of marking all of the storm drains in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County! Staff members will supply maps of locations nearby that need markers or you can travel to your own location. Be a part of the solution to water pollution!

Steps to Participate in Storm Drain Marking

View larger map

1) Estimate the number of storm drains you plan to mark

Walk around the area where you would like work and count the number of storm drains that you want to mark. The map above indicates areas where Storm Drain Markers have already been placed in the past, but please place or replace markers that are missing or damaged.

2) Organize friends, family and/or neighbors

Recruit a group of people to help. Explain that the activity will only take a few hours and that it will help prevent pollution of streams and lakes. Larger groups usually divide up into teams of 3-4 people so everyone has a “job” and more storm drains can be marked at once.

3) Request a Storm Drain Marking Kit

Once you have an idea of the number of volunteers you will have and the number of storm drains you plan to mark, email the contact above to request a storm drain marking kit. This kit will provide all the supplies needed. As few as 12 storm drain marking decals can be provided in this kit, or as many as 200 for larger projects. We will want to know the number of storm drains you plan to mark and the number of volunteers that will be participating so we can also provide them with gloves and safety vests.

4) Hold a Storm Drain Marking Meeting

Hold a meeting to familiarize all participants with the Storm Drain Marking Program Safety Rules and Guidelines and the Marking Instructions and Data Sheet All Participants need to sign the Participant Waiver Form and the Youth Participation Release Form BEFORE marking storm drains. Please send these forms to the contact above.

5) Mark the Storm Drains

Record the location of the storm drains your group marks and any signs of illegal dumping or damage to them you may notice. Fill out and send the Storm Drain Marking Log. Please access this form using the latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge.

6) Send the data sheet and return unused supplies

Please send the data sheet indicating the drains your group marked and any unused storm drain marking supplies back to the contact listed on this page.