Storm Drain Care

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) offers great ways that you can help protect our waterways and reduce pollution in your neighborhood.

A group of Adopt A Drain student volunteers smile and pose for the camera.

Adopt a storm drain

Join a community of volunteers across the city who keep our local storm drains clear of pollutants to protect our waterways and reduce flooding. Seattle is part of Washington Adopt-A-Drain, leading efforts to protect Puget Sound!

Adopt-a-Drain - Washington

Visit the web page above to sign up as a volunteer and name your drain(s). You can help keep only rain down our drains!

Adopt-a-Drain volunteers prepare to stencil a storm drain.
Drain stencils help to raise public awareness and protect streams and wildlife.
Storm drains are stencilled with reminders such as, "DUMP NO WASTE" and "DRAINS TO STREAM"
Adopt-a-Drain volunteers prepare to stencil a storm drain.

Adopt-a-Drain volunteers prepare to stencil a storm drain.
Drain stencils help to raise public awareness and protect streams and wildlife.

Drain stencils help to raise public awareness and protect streams and wildlife.
Storm drains are stencilled with reminders such as, "DUMP NO WASTE" and "DRAINS TO STREAM"

Storm drains are stencilled with reminders such as, "DUMP NO WASTE" and "DRAINS TO STREAM"

Stencil a storm drain

Have fun and help raise awareness to protect our waterways. Schools, families, community organizations and individuals are all welcome to paint a stencil next to storm drains in their neighborhood from April through October.

    Learn more about stenciling a storm drain.

    Rake your leaves

    Leaves and debris can build up in our drainage system and on top of our storm drains. By raking your leaves and/or adopting your storm drain, you can reduce ponding and flooding in your neighborhood.

    To help keep storm drains clear, SPU offers its household waste customers free extra yard waste pick up in the month of November, up to 10 extra bags every collection. Put the leaves that don't fit in your yard waste container into a paper or compostable lawn and leaf bag or a reusable container with a lid (no plastic!). Leave the extras next to the yard waste container on collection day. 

    Please note that this free service is only available to customers who are currently billed by SPU for regular food and yard waste collection.

    A man holds a rake in a yard with a yard waste bin and a yard sign reading RAKE LEAVES TO PREVENT FLOODING.

    A woman stands on a sidewalk with a rake and several bags of raked leaves.

    Related resources

    Public Utilities

    Andrew Lee, General Manager and CEO
    Address: 700 5th Avenue, Suite 4900, Seattle, WA, 98104
    Mailing Address: PO Box 34018, Seattle, WA, 98124-5177
    Phone: (206) 684-3000
    SPUCustomerService@seattle.gov

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    Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is comprised of three major direct-service providing utilities: the Water Utility, the Drainage and Wastewater Utility, and the Solid Waste Utility.