Skip to main content

Stormwater Best Management Practices for Building Maintenance Activities

Painter next to ladder(PDF version of this document)

Areas where building maintenance is conducted or where maintenance materials are stored can contribute contaminants to runoff when measures have not been taken to prevent these discharges. The improper disposal of paints, maintenance chemicals, and wash waters causes pollution of campus streams and creeks.

Do’s

  • Do store chemical substances such as paints, solvents, and deicer under cover when not in use or during rain.
  • Do clean up any chemical spills immediately.
  • Do clean paint brushes with latex paint in sinks connected to sanitary sewers or in portable containers that can be emptied into the sanitary sewer.
  • Do clean paint brushes with oil based paints over a container and dispose of the material by contacting EHS at 919-962-5507.
  • Do collect and dispose of wash water to the sanitary sewer when pressure washing buildings, roof tops, and other large objects.
  • Do use a ground cloth beneath outdoor painting, scraping and sandblasting work and dispose of the collected material by contacting EHS at 919-962-5507.
  • Do properly store and dispose of generated waste chemicals by contacting EHS at 919-962-5507.

Don’ts

  • Don’t dump any chemical substances on the pavement, ground, or toward a storm drain.
  • Don’t rinse equipment on pavement or into a storm drain.