All Storm Drains Inc. | Storm Water Management, Long Island, NY PHONE: 516.825.1010

Discover How Often You Should Clean Your Catch Basins Among the multitude of equipment a facilities staff must oversee, catch basins (or storm drains) are certainly not the most complex; however, they play a vital role in maintaining the safety and health of a facility. A catch basin accepts stormwater, provides some basic physical filtration, and then releases the effluent into the watershed or a sewer system.  So as long as storm water continues to drain, what is there to worry about? Probably not much — but at some point, the catch basin will back up, and a contractor will be brought in to fix the problem until the next flooding occurs. For many facilities, such a “run-to-fail” policy may be working just fine. But is it the most economically efficient approach to managing catch basins? To answer for yourself, consider some of the differences between these two options: Conduct biannual inspections and perform cleanings as needed. Fix problems as they arise.

What is a Catch Basin Catch Basins  can flow directly to a sump, brook, creek, river, lake, bay, and sometimes right to the ocean. It is not uncommon to find used engine oil, antifreeze, and other common solvents and toxins inside of  Catch Basins .  I have also found animals stuck in these drains, bullfrogs, a snake, big turtles, fish, and crawfish. I even found my cat Stormy, he was less than two months old stuck in a storm drain. Keeping toxins out of  catch basins  and  storm drains  is very necessary for the  environment .  Having a reputable company clean your  catch basins , storm drains,  dry wells , outflow pipes, is also critical. When a business cares to clean a drain correctly and dispose of the material correctly it keeps the  environment  healthy which benefits all ecosystems, our food, water, animals, and even each other. In some cases the bottom of a  Catch Basin  is solid, other times they have, what I refer to as a weep hole that leaches rain wa

Catch Basins   often referred to as Storm Drains, essentially catch rainwater, dirt, and floatable debris. Floatable Debris can be organic and inorganic materials. Examples of organic material leaves, sticks, soil, and grass. Examples of inorganic material are things like plastic bottles, coffee cup lids, Styrofoam or extruded polystyrene foam, cigarettes, even car parts. There are metal hoods that cover the outflow pipes. This keeps most foreign material in the catch basin . Now some older catch basins dont have hoods on the pipes going to other drainage structures which allow floatables to escape the catch basin and infiltrate other structures such as dry wells, inverts, head walls, sewer systems.  Catch Basins  can flow directly to a sump, brook, creek, river, lake, bay, and sometimes right to the ocean. It is not uncommon to find used engine oil, antifreeze, and other common solvents and toxins inside of catch basins. I have also found animals stuck in these drains, bu