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Wow, it’s really raining hard out there today.
It has been dry for a while now, so I’m sure that the plants
could use all of the new rainwater being soaked up in the soil.
And I saw a lot of puddles starting to form on the road on my way to The Fort.
Is that water on the road going to soak into the soil?
Well, not really, or at least, not right away.
Hard surfaces like paved roads or sidewalks can’t soak up water.
They’re called impermeable surfaces,
which means they’re surfaces that liquids like rainwater can’t soak into.
Instead, when rain falls on impermeable surfaces like the road,
the water stays on top of that hard surface.
Then, sometimes, a bunch of rainwater can gather in low spots and make a puddle.
It is really fun to splash in puddles,
it’s one of my favorite things to do after a rainstorm.
But big puddles on roads can be dangerous to drive through,
so most roads are built so that the water will roll right off of them.
The water is called runoff.
And on many roads, it tends to flow into storm drains.
You might have seen storm drains before, along the sides of a road.
They look like a small cut out on the side of the road,
with a metal grate over part of the hole.
When the runoff rolls off of the road, some of it falls in.
Great observation!
It works just like a drain in a sink.
Except, when your water in the sink goes down the drain,
it goes into pipes, and is carried off into the sewers, or a septic tank.
Runoff from a storm drain does something different.
It flows through tunnels to a nearby body of water, like a creek or river.
This makes sure that the water doesn’t make big puddles on the road,
and instead ends up someplace where it can be used by plants and animals again.
But with storm drains, it’s also important to remember that
all that flowing water can carry other things down the drain besides rainwater.
Squeaks, can you think of something that water could carry into a storm drain?
That’s a great answer.
After a big storm, runoff water can carry leaves and sticks
that have fallen on the ground into the storm drains.
All of that plant material can even clog up drains if there’s enough of it.
Have you seen anything else by the road that could get carried into the storm drain?
We did see that there was some trash by the road the other day, didn’t we?
Trash like that can get carried by the water into storm drains,
and even go through the tunnels into creeks and rivers.
And if the trash makes it to places like rivers or oceans,
it can make them unsafe and unhealthy for plants and animals living there.
We call this pollution.
And it’s not just about trash.
Other things can also be carried through storm drains and cause pollution,
like oil from cars or chemicals from factories.
That type of pollution can be really dangerous for the animals living
where the storm drain tunnels let out, but there’s good news, too:
There are lots of things we can do to be responsible and help out.
Something you might be able to do in your community is
keep storm drains clear of leaves, sticks, and other debris.
With a grown-up’s help, you can pull the plant material out of the way,
so the drain can work properly.
That way, you won’t get big puddles in the road.
You can also pick up litter near the road,
so that it doesn’t fall down the drain when it rains.
Storm drains are really great tools for moving water around,
and if we’re responsible and work together so that only water goes down the drains,
we can use them without polluting the streams near us.
That sounds like a fun project for the afternoon, Squeaks!
I’ll get some gloves and a trash bag,
and we can go check on the nearby storm drains later today.
If there’s any litter, or if the drains are clogged, we can help.
Are there storm drains in the roads near you?
Have you ever seen the water flowing down it in the rain?
Take some time to explore with a grown-up, and see if there’s
anything you can do to help keep storm drains in your neighborhood safe.
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We’ll see you next time, here at the Fort.