How to stop paint polluting our waterways

​​How paint damages our waterways

Paints and thinners contain a number of harmful substances that severely affect our waterways.

The impacts include:

• poisoning animals that drink water from the stream
• restricting light entering a stream
• smothering organisms, and clogging the gills and eyes of fish
• reducing oxygen levels in waterways, making fish and shellfish unsuitable for consumption, and killing plant and animal aquatic life.

How to stop paint polluting our waterways

Before you begin work:

• cover and protect all stormwater drains while you are painting
• don't paint in the rain
• keep all paint tins and equipment well away from stormwater drains
• use water-based paints wherever possible.

How to clean your paint equipment

Keep our waterways safe by:

• never washing off paint where it will flow to a stormwater drain or natural watercourse
• cleaning the site and removing all excess paint and paint chips
• not putting paint waste into the stormwater system.

Water-based paint equipment can be washed:

• in sinks that go to a municipal sanitary sewer system (not a septic system)
• on an unsealed surface such as a lawn or gravel.

How to dispose of your paint

• You can filter out paint chips and re-use the paint – or take it to a hazardous waste facility.
• You must not put thinners or solvents into the sewer system.

How to store your paint

Store your paint and thinners in sealed containers and place them securely indoors.