Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE)

Did you know that Fuquay-Varina is an MS4? That means the Town is a public entity that discharges, collects, or conveys stormwater via drains, pipes, and ditches.

What is an Illicit Discharge?

An illicit discharge is any discharge, dumping, or spill into an MS4 that is not composed entirely of stormwater, except for allowable non-stormwater discharges and discharges resulting from firefighting activities.

Examples of allowable non-stormwater discharges include water line and fire hydrant flushing, landscape irrigation, uncontaminated pumped groundwater, foundation drains, air conditioning condensate, water from crawl space pumps, footing drains, lawn watering, residential and charity car washing, dechlorinated swimming pool discharges, and flows from firefighting activities.

  1. Why is preventing illicit discharges important?
  2. What does the Town do to help prevent illicit discharges?
  3. What can residents do to help prevent illicit discharges?

Stormwater is what flows over sidewalks, streets, and parking lots collecting excess nutrients and pollutants with no opportunity for soil and plants or water treatment to filter out pollutants before entering into a water body.

Stormwater runoff is often worsened by human activities. Anything on the ground such as sediment, pet waste, pesticides, fertilizers, automobile fluids, yard wastes, and litter flows over HARD SURFACES directly into storm drains. This type of pollution is different from the water that goes down a sink or toilet in your home because it is untreated and flows directly to a lake, river, or ocean. By carrying all of these different kinds of pollution into our waterways, stormwater runoff itself becomes a pollutant.

Public Works

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Tips for Helping Keep Fuquay-Varina Clean

  1. Go Green with Your Yard
  2. Good Practices for Restaurants
  3. Household Hazardous Materials
  4. Litter
  5. Pet Waste
Only Rain Down the Drain