How clean is your drain?

The Kiwanis Club of Champion, Ohio, wants everyone to know the importance of keeping storm drains clean. That’s why, with the help of Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District, they plaster their township with storm drain labels.

The vinyl labels feature a friendly cartoon frog and reads “No Polluting-Flows To Stream.”

Actually, there are two streams the drains run into, the Grand River and the Mahoney River, which gives Kiwanians as well as citizens of Champion a large responsibility: making sure nothing pollutes their source of fresh water.

Mike Wilson, executive director of Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District contacted all four Kiwanis clubs, including Courtland, Newton Falls, and Niles, to help inform residents of the effects of polluting storm drains.

“All throughout Ohio there has been a lot of illegal dumping, and the state has made it clear that this needs to stop,” says Champion Kiwanis club president Keith Bowser.

The federal government requires communities to erect a given number of markers to spread the message about storm drain pollution. According to Mike, who became a Kiwanian because he appreciated the club’s work, says residential areas have the most violations. Grass clippings and motor oil find their way into the drains and poison the water system.

“A lot of people believe its going to a treatment plant, and some just don’t care. So it’s important to tell these people that there is a lot more at stake,” Mike says. He also mentions that most of the polluting is done inadvertently.

Over the past two years, Keith estimates, the club has labeled drains for about 75 percent of the six-mile-square township. The Kiwanians met Key Club members recently met to conduct another labeling session.

“It’s important to start thinking about the future, for our children’s sake,” Mike says. “That’s the connection I drew from this project to the focus of Kiwanis.”