Market Your Business as a Protector of the Ocean

Marketing is and will always be a necessary component for any business. It is the way of the world.

It is no different with storm water pollution prevention and if your business is following your properties Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) then why not maximize your marketing by informing your customers that your company is fighting against ocean and waterway pollution...it just makes sense.

Maintaining the storm water system on your property is not only the law but it is our duty to be an active community in the prevention of contaminants going down the drains.

What kind of contaminants get into our storm water systems?

• Dropping litter on the ground or out a car window
• Walking a dog without picking up the droppings
• Allowing paper or trash to blow into the street
• Changing oil and placing it in the gutter or trash can
• Dropping a cigarette butt on the ground
• Hosing leaves or dirt off driveway or sidewalk into the street
• Emptying a car ashtray into the street
• Watering the lawn or garden and letting the water run into the street
• Washing off paint brushes under an outdoor faucet
• Throwing something in the gutter
• Spraying the garden or lawn with pesticide and allowing it to wash off
• Washing their cars in a location that allows the wash water to run onto the pavement and into a gutter 
• Gardeners blowing leaves and debris onto the street

 

Start marketing your business by sharing on your website, blog, and social media sites, that your company is all about Storm Water Pollution Prevention. Let the world know that you care!
The bottom line is that we should care no matter the marketing endeavor behind it...IT IS TIME...will you join with SWIMS (Storm Water Inspection and Maintenance Services) and help protect our oceans? Your answer should be YES we will.
SWIMS Website - Contact us for a Free Inspection

Storm Water Pollution Causing Behaviors

DID YOU KNOW?

 

Residents contribute to storm water pollution each day by:

• Dropping litter on the ground or out a car window
• Walking a dog without picking up the droppings
• Allowing paper or trash to blow into the street
• Changing oil and placing it in the gutter or trash can
• Dropping a cigarette butt on the ground
• Hosing leaves or dirt off driveway or sidewalk into the street
• Emptying a car ashtray into the street
• Watering the lawn or garden and letting the water run into the street
• Washing off paint brushes under an outdoor faucet
• Throwing something in the gutter
• Spraying the garden or lawn with pesticide and allowing it to wash off
• Washing their cars in a location that allows the wash water to run onto the pavement and into a gutter 
• Gardeners blowing leaves and debris onto the street

Storm drains capture urban runoff water when residents over water their lawns and gardens, wash their cars in their driveways or hose anything on pavement. The water flows directly to the ocean – untreated.

STORM WATER INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES (SWIMS INC)

 

Best & Worst Beaches for Clean Water in California

Storm Water Inspection and Maintenance Services - SWIMS Inc is using the information from this website for this blog posting: http://blog.sfgate.com/getlost/2013/06/28/best-worst-beaches-for-clean-water-in-california-bay-area/#13629-1

Is it safe to go in the water? The Natural Resources Defense Council’s 23rd annual beachwater quality report can’t tell you if there are any great whites around, but it can tell you how often a specific vacation-destination beach exceeded accepted levels of  bacteria during routine testing.
Nationally, California ranked 20th out of 30 states monitored for beach water quality, according to the NRDC report. Although the Golden State has fewer than 15 percent of the 3,000 beaches monitored nationwide, its shorelines accounted for about 25 percent of the nation’s total of more than 20,000 days of beach closings or advisories due to pollution or threatened contaminations last year, the report noted.
Three California beaches, all in Southern California,  were even added to NRDC’s “repeat offender” list, meaning they have show persistent contamination problems over the last five years: Avalon Beach (in four out of five areas monitored) and Orange County’s Doheny Beach (six out of seven monitored sections) and Poche County Beach.
In 2012, 10% of all beach water monitoring samples  from the more than 430 California beaches included in the report  violated the state’s daily maximum bacterial standards, the NRDC noted. The beaches with the highest rates of exceeding the state’s bacterial maximums were:

1. Avalon Beach, on Catalina Island (Los Angeles County), specifically 50 feet west of the Green Pleasure Pier (83 percent of tests);
2. Poche County Beach in Orange County (67 percent)
3. Aquatic Park in San Mateo County (63 percent)
4. Pillar Point-Capistrano in San Mateo County (52 percent)
5. Avalon Beach east of the Casino Arch at the steps  (50 percent).

The San Francisco Bay  not surprisingly isn’t the cleanest place to take a dip: Contra Costa leads California counties with the highest violation rate of the daily maximum standards in 2012, with  17.3 percent of its samples exceeding the limit,  followed closely by San Mateo (16.5). After those  come Los Angeles (16), San Francisco (15.1), Humboldt (11.7), Santa Cruz (10.5) and Alameda (10.1); Marin was among the best, with only 3.1 percent of its samples violating the maximum standards, topped only by Mendocino (1.9) and Sonoma (1.7)
More than 80 percent of the closings and advisories nationwide were issued because testing revealed bacteria levels in the water that violated public health standards, confirming that serious water pollution persists at many U.S. shores, the NRDC press release for the report noted. The primary known causes of this pollution are stormwater runoff and sewage.
“Despite less rainfall flushing pollution to our coastal waters this year, too many of California’s beaches remain a risk for beachgoers,” said project attorney Noah Garrison. “The millions of residents and tourists who flock to California beaches each year are still swimming in dirty water that could cause serious illness. Monitoring is critical to let people know where it’s safe to go in the water, but it only goes so far. We need to address the root of the problem, which is mainly polluted stormwater runoff.”
But there are some bright spots in the report. Three beaches in California received “Superstar” ratings for their water quality and practices for testing and public notification, out of a total of 13 nationwide. Sadly for us Northern Californians, they’re all in Orange County: Bolsa Chica, Newport Beach (specifically the sections monitored at 38th and 52d/53rd streets), and San Clemente State Beach‘s Las Palmeras and Avenida Calafia sections.
To see how your favorite beach rates, check out the updated, mobile-friendly , Zip code searchable map of more than 3,000 beaches nationwide here.

— Jeanne Cooper

San Clemente State Beach is a national 'superstar' in terms of clean water and testing practices, as far as the Natural Resources Defense Council is concerned. Above: Its Las Palmeras section, one of two areas singled out for acclaim in the NRDC's annual beach water-quality report.

Bolsa Chica, another Orange County gem, is also one of the three NRDC 'superstars' out of 13 nationwide when it comes to clean water.

Six out of seven monitored sections of Orange County's Doheny Beach earned it a non-coveted spot on the NRDC's 'repeat offender' list.

Poche County Beach in Orange County is also on the NRDC's national 'repeat offender' list. 

SWIMS is all about making sure our waters are clean. We don't like seeing our ocean water polluted. Contact us if you need your property storm drains on a maintenance program. We look forward to partnering with you! 

www.swimsclean.com

 

Massive Underground Storm Water System in Tokyo - The Temple

Located on the outskirts of Tokyo, behind a small government building, underneath a soccer field and skateboard park, is an incredibly huge storm sewer system, built to protect the city’s 13 million residents from heavy rainfall and tropical storm floods. The official name of these long, underground tunnels is the “Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel”, but is more commonly called G-Cans. Built between 1992 and 2006, at the cost of $3 billion, this huge underground water management system comprises of 6.4 km of tunnels up to 50 meters underground connecting 5 giant silos, 65 meters tall and 32 meters wide, to one massive tank – the Temple.

                                               The Temple. Photo: Michael Johngrist

The “Underground Temple” is the most impressive feature of G-Cans, that has been used as an atmospheric backdrop in various films and dramas. This giant metal reservoir measures 25.4 meters by 177 meters by 78 meters and is supported by 59 gargantuan pillars. Flood water from the city’s waterways are collected through the tunnels and into the silos. When these fill, water from the silos works its way through a series of tunnels and into the massive “Underground Temple”. From there, four turbines powered by jet engines, pump out 200 cubic meters or 53,000 gallons of water per second into the Edo River.
The utility of such a colossal drainage system is debated by some people. According to Tokyo’s Central Disaster Management Council, if rainfall totaling 550 millimeters over three days hits Tokyo, causing the Arakawa river in Kita Ward to overflow its banks, then up to 97 subway stations would be flooded. That is however a once-in-200 years event, but one that G-Cans would help to drain away.
The G-Can’s project is an incredible engineering feat and strangely beautiful too, and therefore a fascinating tourist destination. When not flooded, tours are conducted twice a day, from Tuesday to Friday. Unfortunately, the tour is conducted only in Japanese. Make sure to bring an interpreter.

Original Blog Address:
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/03/g-cans-tokyos-massive-underground-storm.html
Sources: CNN, Michael Johngrist

Storm Water Inspection and Maintenance Services - SWIMS Inc
http://swimsclean.com/

SWIMS are "The Experts in Storm Water Compliance Solutions"

SWIMS INC - Storm Water Inspection and Maintenance Services

Mission Statement:

SWIMS exists to provide superior customer service in the storm water industry while developing and maintaining long term relationships with honesty and integrity!

Our Commitment:

Storm Water Inspection & Maintenance Services, Inc. (SWIMS) provides comprehensive services and unparalleled expertise in the storm water pollution prevention industry. Our commitment is to provide cost-effective and compliant solutions that meet EPA & NPDES Storm Water Regulations.

Ric Campos

President/CEO

Ric is a pioneer in the Storm Water Management Industry and is also an accomplished and respected Superintendent with nearly 30 years of construction experience.
Considered a "Storm Water Expert", Ric assisted several municipalities with education and implementation of their local storm water ordinances.

Ric started SWIMS over 13 years ago and now has two offices in California where he has strategically positioned himself to service the entire state of California. He has a fleet of trucks and heavy equipment and the talented staff to effectively take care of ALL storm water issues.

Ric leads with integrity, honesty, and a heart of gold!

http://swimsclean.com/

Storm Water Pollution

Why does it matter to me?

• Our planet is 70% water. 97.5% of that is saltwater.
• This means only 2.5% is available for the 6+ billion people on the planet today.
• Dirty water causes 80% of all sickness and disease and kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
• Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year.
• More oil is seeped into the ocean each year as a result of leaking cars and other non-point sources than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
• Polluted coastal water costs the global economy $12.8 billion a year in death and disease.
• Over 1 million seabirds are killed by plastic waste per year. Over 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish are killed per year due to pollution.

SWIMS (Storm Water Inspection and Maintenance Services) has prevented pollution for over 13 years and has partnered with hundreds of companies and property owners throughout California. Together we are strong!

http://swimsclean.com/

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