Adopt-A-Drain

This year, the City of Darien is asking you to consider adopting a storm drain in your neighborhood!!!

Storm drains are the open grates found along the edges of our streets and in some of our local parkways. Our storm sewers drain to local lakes, streams, the Des Plaines, Illinois and Mississippi rivers. A new program, Adopt a Drain, asks residents to adopt a drain in their neighborhood and commit to keeping it clear of leaves and other debris to reduce water pollution.

Adopting a drain in your neighborhood is easy! View the front of your home for structures such as below. Once you identified the structure(s), please complete and forward us the attached Adopt a Drain-Information Sheet.

Once you’ve adopted your drain, keep it clean by sweeping and raking up the debris after each rain or during leaf fall.

If there is a storm drain near your home, please help take care if it throughout the year. Keep it free from debris and remove any litter that may get caught there. While the City does have all streets swept with a commercial street sweeper regularly during the spring, summer and fall, yard waste and trash can build up between sweepings. Leaves and other debris (and during the winter - snow and ice) can quickly clog the storm drain, preventing water from entering. This causes local flooding, which creates nuisances for you and your neighbors. Help clear away materials that may clog the storm water intake. Keep the curb in front of your house free of debris that could be washed down toward the storm drain.

As a reminder, please do not dump anything down into the storm drains. Anything going into the storm drains eventually winds up in our local ponds and streams. Dispose of oil, antifreeze and other liquid wastes with licensed recyclers. If everyone does a little, we can all enjoy cleaner, healthier neighborhoods.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us at 630-353-8105.

Thank you in advance,
The Municipal Services Team
City of Darien