General Industrial & Manufacturing Businesses

Overview

If you own, manage, or help operate a business, especially an industrial or manufacturing company, you can help reduce storm water pollution. From environmentally friendly cleaning and maintenance activities to recycling hazardous waste materials, businesses can do a lot to prevent stormwater pollution.

For more information, please contact Stormwater Program Management at (731) 423-2041.

Best Management Practices

• Review your cleaning and maintenance activities to look for ways to reduce runoff into the storm drain system, especially in outdoor areas like parking lots, loading docks, and maintenance yards. Keep trash enclosures swept and trash bin lids closed.
• Train employees to wash vehicles and equipment indoors in a wash rack that is connected to the sanitary sewer or off-site at a commercial wash facility. Train janitorial staff to dispose of floor cleaning water in the sewer and not into the parking lot. Make sure that cooling towers, boilers, compressors, water softeners, and other process equipment are connected to the sanitary sewer and do not discharge wastewater into the parking lot.
• If you use hazardous materials in your everyday business, like ink and solvents for commercial printing, or polishes and chemicals for car detailing or manufacturing after-market accessories, do not put these hazardous materials in the trash or pour them into the gutter. Take them to be recycled safely. Store chemicals, wastes, raw materials, and contaminated equipment indoors or in a covered, spill-contained area, to prevent exposure of these materials to storm water.
• Take advantage of less-toxic alternatives to dangerous chemicals. From detergents to drain openers, there are a lot of ways to get the same or better result without having to rely toxic substances.