WaterWays

Keeping storm drains clear is important for two big reasons here in the low country: 

1. Preventing street flooding: during a rain storm, storm drains are designed to quickly move water off the street. A clogged drain can cause water to pool and flood our streets. 

2. Protecting water quality: Pollutants left on the ground, like bacteria-laden pet feces or plastics and Styrofoam in litter, are swept into storm drains with rain. These pollutants then end up passing through untreated to our local waterways, ultimately impacting our water quality.

Savannah residents can now play an active role in preventing street flooding and protecting our water quality by adopting a storm drain through a locally designed interactive website.



Savannah’s new adopt-a-drain program has been led and managed by OpenSavannah, the Savannah chapter, or “brigade”, of the national organization Code for America. Through its brigades, Code for America seeks to improve the delivery of government services, by leveraging the skills of civic-minded residents in communities across the country. 

OpenSavannah volunteers used data provided by the City of Savannah to build out a website which allows users to claim and care for storm drains in their neighborhood. As a storm drain adopter, your job is to make sure leaves, limbs, litter, and other debris is cleared away from the drain you’ve adopted. Even organic materials like grass clippings and leaves can degrade water quality. Pet waste, oils from our driveways, fertilizers, and street litter that wash into a drain pollute our waterways too. 

To adopt your own storm drain, just visit DrainSav.org.

Report polluters
If you see anyone dumping pollutants into the street or storm drain, or if you spot someone blowing leaves and yard waste into a drain, please report this to the City of Savannah 311 Action Center. You can dial 3-1-1 locally to reach an operator, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or anytime via the online form at www.savannahga.gov/311. Reports to 311 can be made anonymously.

Remember: nothing but rain down the drain!

This month, March 16 kicks off Fix a Leak Week, the annual national campaign to raise awareness about water leaks in the home, how very costly they can be, and how fixing leaks promptly helps save you money and preserves our limited fresh drinking water supply.

Household leaks waste more than 1 trillion gallons annually nationwide. That's equal to the annual household water use of more than 11 million homes. Ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day. Common types of leaks found in the home include worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and other leaking valves. All are easily correctable and in most cases fixture replacement parts don't require a major investment. 

Should you experience a leak in your home and you’re faced with the resulting high water bill, remember the City of Savannah offers leak adjustments once you’ve repaired the leak and provided appropriate documentation of the repair. Visit our website to learn more. 

During Fix a Leak Week, the City of Savannah Utility Services team will be giving away free toilet leak detection tablets to customers who visit our offices at 305 Fahm Street during the week of March 16 (while supplies last). We also encourage folks to visit our web page for Fix a Leak Week, www.savannahga.gov/fixaleak, as it includes helpful information on how to find and repair common leaks in and around the home.