How to wash your car without polluting stormwater
You wouldn’t pour soapy suds in the river, right? Thought not, but when we wash cars on the street or driveway, the dirty water ends up in the same place - our rivers, streams and the sea.
Stormwater is water that runs off roofs, driveways, footpaths, roads, and gardens. On its journey to the drain, it can pick up lots of contaminants (pollution).
With people now coming back from summer holidays with dirty cars and boats, it's timely reminder for Cantabrians that all contaminants used outside, like soaps or detergents, if not handled properly, will flow untreated into streams, rivers and the sea via the stormwater network.
Surface water science manager, Dr Elaine Moriarty, says its important for everyone to take responsibility and do their bit to stop pollution getting into stormwater.
"Polluted stormwater flows into waterways and can kill fish like tuna/eels and īnanga/whitebait, aquatic insects, and vegetation – ruining habitats. Even if your property is not close to a waterway you can see - the stormwater is likely to be connected through a network - so it's important for everyone to take care and avoid letting pollutants run into gutters and drains." Dr Elaine Moriarty said.
How to wash your car without polluting waterways
- Wash your car on the lawn or grass verge: The grass and soil absorbs the chemicals from car wash products. This poses very little risk to the health of grass and soil and it stops cleaning chemicals, dirt and grease from entering the stormwater system.
- Use minimal detergent: Biodegradable detergents can still pollute the environment as they’re still harmful before breaking down. Use only what you need, and choose products carefully - less soap means less runoff entering the stormwater system.
- Use a bucket instead of a running hose: If washing on a sealed surface is your only option, use a bucket and two cloths – one to wash with detergent and one to polish to reduce the amount of water washing away.
- Take your car to a commercial car wash instead: Commercial car washes must adhere to their stormwater resource consent with Environment Canterbury, which requires businesses to mitigate effects to stormwater. If you have no other option, divert water away from stormwater drains, ideally onto grass or into the garden, using tools like sandbags.
Learn more ways you can protect our Canterbury waterways (Enviroment Canterbury).
Welcome to Waka Toa Ora
Waka Toa Ora is a Canterbury DHB-led inter-sectoral collaborative partnership in the Canterbury region. The partnership is based on the WHO Healthy Cities model, and was previously known as Healthy Christchurch.
The key theme of initiative is that all sectors and groups have a role to play in creating a healthy Canterbury, whatever their specific focus (recreation, employment, youth, environmental enhancement, transport, housing or another aspect of health or wellbeing).
This inter-sectoral initiative fosters collaboration between organisations who have signed the Waka Toa Ora Charter.
Read the Waka Toa Ora Charter - updated July 2019.
The new name Waka Toa Ora communicates that we are all in a waka together. We are rowing in the same direction and navigating the many dimensions of wellbeing (physical, social, spiritual, and mental and emotional — hau ora, wai ora, mauri ora, toi ora). We are stronger navigating the regional landscape together.
There are currently over 200 charter signatories to the Waka Toa Ora Charter, including government agencies, businesses, voluntary sector groups, networks and residents’ associations. The organisations involved reflect a diverse focus and cover many aspects of health and wellbeing.
