• If your car is dirty, take it to a car wash facility where the rinse water is recycled and sent to the wastewater treatment plant for cleaning. 
• If you wash your car at home, use a small amount of water. Use only soaps, cleaners, or detergents labeled "non-toxic", "phosphate free", or "biodegradable". Allow the dirty water to flow into your landscaping.  You can also use a waterless carwash kit. More information on car washing.
• Properly clean oil spills and leaks from your car. Use kitty litter to soak up the oil, then sweep up the soaked kitty litter. Dispose of the used litter with hazardous wastes.  You can also use a rag to wipe up the oil.
• Keep your car in good repair and ensure that it is not leaking oil and other fluids.

• When using latex paint, wash off your painting equipment and brushes in the sink.
• Direct downspouts on your house to drain to landscaping rather than walkways and driveways. Disperse the energy of the water at the base of the downspouts with rock cobbles.  Downspouts can carry a lot of water when it rains, washing oil off pavement and carrying litter down storm drains. Directing downspouts to landscaping can allow the water to soak into the soil instead.

Helpful Resources:

• Residential Permit Application Checklist (PDF)
• Residential Zoning Compliance Checklist (PDF)
• Stormwater Pollution Prevention: Concrete and Mortar (PDF)
• Stormwater Pollution Prevention: Painting (PDF)
• Stormwater Pollution Prevention: Construction Activities (PDF)
• Stormwater Pollution Prevention: Landscape Renovations (PDF)

What is Litter?

Litter is waste (trash or recycling) that is not contained in a waste bin. Litter is a serious stormwater pollutant and it can easily end up in waterways and make its way to the ocean.

Understanding Problems with Litter

Rain can wash litter into gutters and storm drains, where it is carried to creeks, rivers, and eventually, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Some litter is blown or washed directly from land into waterways and some is illegally dumped there.

Litter in creeks, rivers, oceans, and other bodies of water can be harmful to aquatic plants and animals, and can harm humans as well.

• Plastic pollution in water acts as a magnet for toxic chemicals and substances which contaminate our waterways.
• Organic waste (such as yard clippings) removes oxygen from the water as it decomposes, harming fish and other aquatic life.
• Water polluted with dirt, soap, fertilizers, oil, and other chemicals can harm fish and other aquatic animals.
• Both aquatic and land animals mistake small pieces of plastic (something they cannot digest) as food and can become sick from the toxins attached to the plastics or die of starvation from plastic blocking their digestive tracts.
• Plastic also poses entanglement risks for wildlife which can threaten behavior and overall health.

What Can I Do?

• Always pick up litter when you drop it.
• Ensure that lids on trash, recycling and organics bins are closed to keep rainwater out and to prevent wind from blowing waste out of the bin.
• Always pick up pet waste, seal it, and put it in the trash bin. Pet waste contains harmful bacteria that can kill fish and make other animals sick. Do not place pet waste in your organics bin (or in yard material piles on the street).
• If you are transporting waste in a vehicle, make sure all materials are secured before driving away.  Placing waste in secure bags is the best practice.  Don’t place loose waste in the back of a pick-up truck where it can easily blow out when you start driving. Keep waste secured inside your vehicle so that it won’t blow out when a door or window is opened.
• If you can’t find a trash or recycling bin, hold on to your waste until you find one.
• If the nearest waste bin is overflowing, hold onto your waste until you find one that has space.
• If your own trash bin is overflowing, take out the extra trash and save it for next week. Do you find you often need more space? Be sure to separate out your recyclable and compostable items to ensure that only trash is headed to the landfill.

2015 California Statewide Stormwater Quality Permit Trash Amendments

In 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the agency that monitors stormwater quality, adopted statewide trash regulations (called “amendments”) requiring significant reductions in the amount of litter currently discharged from regulated stormwater systems. These rules will implement new and enhanced management actions aimed at reducing the amount of litter entering into, and transported by stormwater. Additionally, these regulations have set a schedule for compliance, with a target of zero litter in stormwater by the year 2030.

In the amendments, the State defines trash as all improperly discarded solid material from any production, manufacturing, or processing operation including, but not limited to, products, product packaging, or containers constructed of plastic, steel, aluminum, glass, paper, or other synthetic or natural materials larger than 5 mm in diameter (about the size of a cigarette butt).

In order to meet the requirements of the amendments, in 2018, the City of Davis performed an On Land Visual Assessment Survey and mapped out what areas and streets have the most litter. Only certain “high-trash generating land use” areas are required to be surveyed (such as multifamily apartments, industrial and commercial properties, public transportation hubs, and public schools).  City staff is now completing follow up surveys of these same areas to ensure that the volume of litter decreases by 10% every year until there is no litter in stormwater.  City staff has devised an implementation plan to facilitate trash reduction that may include the following:

• installation of devices that capture and remove litter from stormwater
• improved waste collection bins
• signage and public outreach to increase awareness of and reduce littering
• improved waste enclosures  
• more frequent pick up of waste containers and increased street sweeping in high litter generating areas.

The City is engaged in a 12-year process to achieve compliance with the state-mandated full capture goal.  The City will diligently perform measures on its own properties, and will work in partnership with stakeholders and private properties in order to meet the state-mandated goals.  

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  Wash your dog in a bathtub, at a pet wash facility, or on your grass to keep dirty water out of the stormdrain. Limit the amount of water used so as not to create runoff.

• Always pick up pet waste, seal it in a bag, and put it in the trash bin. Pet waste contains harmful bacteria that can kill fish and make animals and humans sick.  Dog and cat waste should never go in the organics cart or in on-street yard material piles (even if it’s bagged). Chicken and rabbit manure are acceptable in the organics carts.

• Any chemical used in yards and gardens can be washed off directly into streams and rivers. It is best to use less toxic pesticides or other means of controlling unwanted pests, rather than harmful pesticides. See Our Water Our World for less toxic options.
• Visit our pesticides and stormwater webpage for more information on how pesticides end up in waterways and how to protect waterways.
• If you are having structural challenges with pests (rats, mice, etc.) and are considering hiring a professional, please see the information on our pesticide and stormwater webpage on hiring pest control professionals to ensure that less toxic options are used.
• Pest management professionals can learn more about integrated pest management approaches and available training by visiting the UC IPM Program for structural pest management or landscape pest management.
• Learn more about Integrated Pest Management, a broad-based approach to managing pests that combines biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools to minimize health, environmental, and financial risks.  
• Learn more about pests in the home and garden.
• Recordings and slides from past presentations on gardening and pest management.

Helpful Resources:

• If you need to drain your pool, spa or fountain, draining to the sewer is always the best option, because the sewer system conveys water to the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant where most chemicals and pollutants will be removed.
  • Ensure that the pH is between 5.0 and 12.0 before draining to the sewer.
  • Your pool might have a permanent connection to the sewer, which is the best way to drain your pool. If not, you can pump water from your pool into an interior laundry sink or into your sewer cleanout (which is typically located within 3 feet of your house foundation). Not every home has a sewer cleanout. Never open a sewer maintenance hole in the street to drain the water!
  • When discharging water to the sewer, make sure the flow rate is slow enough that it does not cause the sewer to back up and overflow into your house, your neighbor’s house or onto the street.
• Saltwater pools may ONLY be drained into the sewer system. They may NEVER be drained to the street or stormdrain. The chemicals used in saltwater pools are not easily removed by at-home treatment and can kill plants and animals in wetland and waterways.
• If you are unable to drain water from your pool, spa or fountain to the sewer, it may be possible to drain pool water to a stormdrain under certain conditions. Please keep in mind that this water is likely treated with a variety of chemicals (such as chlorine and algaecides) to keep organisms from living in it. It is illegal to discharge  water that contains biocides or other chemicals to the stormdrain system as it will harm the wetland and waterway ecosystems. Make sure that draining your pool, spa or fountain will not pollute local wetlands and waterways by performing all the checks listed on this flier BEFORE draining water to the street or stormdrain: Draining Pools, Spas and Fountains (PDF)
• When you clean your pool filters, never clean them in your driveway or anywhere the water could run into the street and down a stormdrain. Instead, rinse cartridge filters onto landscaping so that the ground will absorb the water. Do not clean filters in a sink unless you place a filter cloth over the drain. The filter media (usually diatomaceous earth) should never go down the drain. After cleaning the filter you can place the filter media in the trash.

Carpet Cleaning and Pressure Washing Best Practices (PDF)

Anything that goes down the gutters and into the stormdrain ends up in our local waterways. Our cleaning activities can pollute waterways if not done properly. Please help us to protect our waterways by making sure that dirty water and cleaning solutions do not end up in parking lots, sidewalks, or other places where they will make their way into stormdrains.

Quick Links:

Pressure Washing
Carpet Cleaning
Cleaning Up Spills

Pressure washing is commonly done to remove dirt and grime from homes and other buildings to clean and to prepare a building for painting or other work, or to clean paved surfaces. At this time, the washing down of paved surfaces is only allowed for safety and sanitation. Only a bucket, a hose with a shut-off nozzle, a cleaning machine that recycles water, or a low-volume/high pressure water broom may be used to clean paved surfaces. Learn more about current water use restrictions.

Need to clean a paved surface? Try “dry” cleaning methods first

Instead of washing surfaces with water, try the methods below:

• Sweep the area clean of trash, dirt and other solid debris. Dispose of debris in the trash.
• Use paper towels, rags, mops, or kitty litter to clean up liquid spills. Dispose of the clean-up materials in the trash. If the spill was a hazardous material (such as motor oil or auto fluid), take the materials to a hazardous waste facility.

When pressure washing, always be sure to do the following:

Protect Stormdrains

If pressure washing is needed, pre-clean the area first. While pressure washing, prevent wash water from entering stormdrains.

Contain and dispose of the wash water

Plan to collect and dispose of the dirty wash water using the following strategies:

• If there are obvious low spots on the ground, you may be able to set up temporary berms and containment pools to collect wash water that flows from the area you are cleaning.
• When possible, collect the wash water and pump it into a sanitary sewer drain (sometimes a sewer clean-out can be used). Sump pumps and wet/dry shop vacuums can be used to pump the wash water.
• Wash water can also be drained to a landscaped area, as long as it does not overflow the landscaped area, contain hazardous materials, or create nuisance conditions.
• Other options include using vacuum booms, inflatable pipe plugs, wet/dry vacuums, or manual pumps to contain, transport, and discharge wash water into a proper disposal point.

Use environmentally friendly cleaning products

If it is necessary to use cleaning solutions along with the pressure washer, consider nontoxic or biodegradable products. While improper disposal of these products can still harm or kill wildlife, they are much less damaging than using toxic cleaning products that contain hazardous substances like hydrofluoric acid, sodium hydroxide, bleach, etc.

Don’t power wash surfaces that may contain lead paint

Paint can chip off when washed with high pressure water. Most paints are fairly benign, but lead-based paints can cause serious pollution problems when they enter waterways.

Carpet Cleaning

Professional carpet cleaning can generate a significant amount of dirty wash water. In order to protect our waterways, it is important to make sure that wash water does not enter the stormdrain system.

Wash water from carpet, drapery, or furniture cleaning must be poured into a sink, toilet, or other drain connected to the sanitary sewer. If no other option exists, wash water may drain into a pervious area, such as a lawn, however the wash water must not flow from there into the street, gutter, parking lot or stormdrain and biodegradable detergents must be used.

Never pour wash water into a parking lot, driveway, street, or any place where the wash water will flow into the gutter and down a stormdrain.

If there are no pervious areas or sanitary sewer cleanout drains that can be used, all wash water should be hauled away and disposed of into a drain that flows to a wastewater treatment plant.

Before disposing of wash water, it should be filtered through a strainer to prevent debris in the wash water from clogging the pipes. Debris collected from wash water can be placed in the trash.

If it is necessary to use cleaning solutions along with the pressure washer, consider nontoxic or biodegradable products. While improper disposal of these products can still harm or kill wildlife, they are much less damaging than using toxic cleaning products that contain hazardous substances like hydrofluoric acid, sodium hydroxide, bleach, etc.

Cleaning Up Spills

Accidents happen. If wash water or other liquid debris are spilled on the ground outdoors, it is important to act quickly to ensure that nothing enters the stormdrain.

If a spill occurs:

• Stop the source of the spill immediately.
• Contain the liquid. Consider using containment booms, vacuums, and absorbent materials so the spill does not reach stormdrains or streets.
• Absorbent materials may include products such as kitty litter, paper towels or rags to soak up the liquids. Always dry sweep up products such as kitty litter. Never wash anything down the stormdrain. 
• Dispose of the spill clean-up materials in the trash. If the spill was a hazardous material (such as motor oil or cleaning products), it cannot go into the trash. Residents can bring spill materials containing hazardous wastes to the household hazardous waste drop-off facility. Businesses have several options for disposing of their hazardous wastes, but they cannot use the free household hazardous waste drop-off.

• Ensure that lids on trash, recycling and organics carts are closed in order to keep rainwater out and to prevent wind from blowing waste out of the carts. Keep fluids out of these bins.
• Always be sure to put waste in the proper carts.  Never leave litter on the ground.
• Recycle and compost as much of your waste as possible.
• Securely bag any trash so that it doesn’t blow out of the cart when it’s being emptied.  
• When possible, limit the use of single-use plastics. Single-use plastics, including water bottles and straws, are a significant source of plastic pollution.  Plastics do not biodegrade and they bond with toxic chemicals already existing in the environment. Plastics can enter the food chain and the concentration of toxic chemicals increases as the plastics move up the food chain.

• Make sure that your irrigation sprinklers do not spray onto pavement and create runoff that reaches the street.
• Make sure to turn off hoses at the spigot.
• After gardening, sweep any dirt or fertilizers left on the sidewalk back into your yard to ensure it won’t be blown by wind or washed by water down the storm drains. Avoid applying fertilizers when it’s windy or just before rain events.
• If you are planning a garden, add a border to keep the mulch and soil in place and prevent it from being washed into the gutter.
• Rake fallen leaves and place them in the organics cart. Never blow them into the street. You can also leave them in your yard and utilize them as a natural mulch.  
• Consider installing bat or owl boxes to encourage natural predators such as owls and bats. The City also has a Barn Owl Nest Box Program to support the local barn owl population and benefit from the natural pest control they provide. Residents that wish to participate in the program may donate a barn owl box and have the City install it into a City-owned tree. Contact the Public Work Utilities and Operations Department for more information.
• Learn more about green gardening.

Helpful Resources: 

• Backyard composting (PDF)
• Worm composting (PDF)
• Food scrap composting (PDF)
• Yard Material Collection

Climate-Ready Landscaping