Before splitting into three teams, they gathered around a stormwater drain located in the middle of a parking lot at the campus apartments on the River Walk. Ashes from barbecues had been dumped recently in a nearby storm water drain by people who apparently didn’t realize the drain feeds directly into the White River.

“We need to make people aware that what goes into the drain goes into the river,” said Kara Salazar, education outreach coordinator for the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES). “We want people to really understand the connection between storm water and the river.”

Using cylindrical- and rectangular-shaped markers, the teams used drills to clean the surface of the drains. They then applied adhesive to the markers, put them in place and moved on to the next stormwater drains. The blue and green markers, with a fish in the middle, warn, “No dumping. Drains to River.”

The CEES is partnering with Campus Facility Services to locate and mark storm drains at IUPUI that feed directly into White River and Fall Creek. The multi-year partnership will utilize CEES’ Environmental Service Learning Program and is part of IUPUI’s compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program authorized by the Clean Water Act. The goal of the storm drain markers will be to discourage the dumping of materials down storm drains to prevent pollution and improve water quality of Indianapolis water bodies.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, stormwater runoff is the most common source of water pollution. Marking storm drains provides a way to heighten public awareness about the relationship between water quality and storm drainage systems. By raising public awareness of urban runoff, storm drain marking programs should discourage practices that generate non-point source pollutants as well such as dumping waste and chemicals down storm drains.

Non-point source pollution is caused by sources such as soil running off land from construction, fertilizer run-off from lawns and farm fields, failing septic systems and cars leaking oil.