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Stormwater Pollution

Culvert on Cobham Drive, Evans Bay

Stormwater is discharged into the sea and surrounding waterways. When stormwater is contaminated, the sea and waterways become polluted.

Pollution in the sea and waterways can:

destroy plants and poison fish
harm people's health
limit swimming and other recreation activities
spoil the appearance of the city.

Stormwater can be polluted by paint, detergent, cleaning products, oil, grease, dog faeces, chemicals, silt, litter or anything else that washes down stormwater pipes when it rains.

Under the Resource Management Act, it's illegal to allow anything other than rain to enter the stormwater system.

Wellington's stormwater structure and regular maintenance programmes are designed to minimise the amount of litter that gets into the stormwater system and include:

inspecting and clearing stormwater intakes, which catch most of the debris and sediment
inspecting and clearing road sumps, which have a baffle plate to catch floatable rubbish
sweeping and removing litter from kerb channels
a proactive pollution sampling programme around the city's large culverts and beaches, which includes a visual check.

How You Can Help

To report a pollution incident, please call the Greater Wellington Regional Council Pollution Hotline: 0800 496 734.

Public awareness and careful habits can help reduce stormwater pollution.

The following fact sheets outline how you can help prevent stormwater pollution at work and at home:

Businesses and Stormwater Pollution Fact Sheet (50Kb PDF)
Residents and Stormwater Pollution Fact Sheet (61Kb PDF)

Stormwater Pollution

How You Can Help

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