Frequently Asked Questions

  • Your local Department of Public Works (DPW) is in charge of repairing and overseeing public storm drains. Municipalities and local Departments of Public Works have a lot on their plate. There are hundreds of storm drains within each municipality making it hard for them to check on all of them consistently. Therefore, it is the residents duties to help make sure that storm drains are clear of any debris and leave a clear path for water to flow. . However, rest assured that if your storm drain is clogged or experiencing other problems, they will come fix it if you call and let them know.

  • Adopt Your Drain is one of Sweet Water’s (Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust Inc.) programs. Sweet Water’s mission is to restore the Greater Milwaukee’s watersheds to conditions that are healthy for swimming and fishing. By committing to keeping storm drains clean, we are preventing hundreds of pounds of debris from entering our waterways, directly supporting Sweet Water’s mission.

  • The Drain Inspection Survey helps us track drain adoptees' impact on their community and our waterways. It only takes a minute to fill out, and lets us know what you found in your drain, how many pounds of debris were collected, and how long it took you to clean it. At the end of the year, we gather all that data to track the overall impact. Check out last year's metrics here.

  • Temporary cloths are placed under storm drains during construction to help filter out sediments and prevent those pollutants from going down the drain. These cloths should be removed once construction has ended, but if you suspect that the construction has concluded and the cloth was left there, please do not remove the cloth yourself. Once construction is complete, you can contact your local Department of Public Works, and they will remove it for you.

  • In the greater Milwaukee area, there are two types of sewer systems. 

    • Combined Sewer System - the water that goes through a storm drain is transported to a Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District facility (MMSD) where it is treated.

    • Separate Sewer System - the water that goes through a storm drain is not treated. It goes straight into our local rivers and lakes with all of the pollutants it gathered. 

    Most communities in SE Wisconsin have separate sewer systems. By cleaning storm drains, you are reducing the amount of pollutants that are entering our rivers and lakes, including pet waste, pesticides, vehicle fluids, and other forms of household hazardous waste which are harmful to aquatic ecosystems, wildlife, and human health.

  • Although you cannot formally adopt a culvert on our website, helping keep your culvert clean is a great way of preventing pollutants from entering our waterways and reducing localized flooding. You can do so by picking up any trash and debris, removing fall leaves, and keeping chemicals and road salt away from the culvert. It is important that you please do not reach into the culvert and only remove any debris or blockage that is in the entrance of the culvert. If you suspect that there is a clog inside the culvert, contact your local Department of Public Works.  

  • Yes, leaves are naturally occurring but they contain a lot of nutrients including Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Potassium. When leaves are left on top of storm drains, those nutrients are leached out and carried into our rivers and lakes causing unwanted algae blooms. The algae can then deplete the oxygen in the water, harm aquatic wildlife, and limit recreational activity. It is important that you clean out any leaves, grass clippings and other organic materials on or surrounding your storm drain. Learn more about leaf management alternatives here.