DPW Stormwater Activities

Street Sweeping and Litter Receptacle Program:
The Department of Public Works actively sweeps and vacuums District streets to reduce the amounts of trash solids, fallen leaves, and dirt particles that collect on the streets. This program also removes trash from public litter receptacles, which allows District citizens to properly dispose of their trash. Both activities remove tons of litter from District streets annually.

Municipal Waste Reduction Program:
DPW actively collects municipal waste from citizens throughout the District. The program encourages citizens to recycle many of the materials that can be reused for other purposes, which reduces the amount that ends up in District landfills. These materials include clear, brown, or green glass jars; steel, tin, or aluminum cans; paper products including cardboard, newspapers, and mixed papers; and plastic bottles like those that contain water, soda, milk, juice, bleach, and detergent. This program has successfully collected thousands of tons (>100,000) of recyclable waste within the District since 2001.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program:
This program is designed to promote the collection and proper disposal of household hazardous wastes from District citizens. Household hazardous wastes include motor vehicle fluids, paint, batteries, pesticides, solvents, furniture polish, and other potentially toxic items. This program is scheduled twice a year during spring and fall months. Watch for the time and location of household hazardous waste for your neighborhood.

Leaf Collection:
This is a seasonal program usually conducted during the peak fall months (October - December) in which DPW collects bagged leaves from District citizens. This program was designed to remove fallen leaves that would otherwise have clogged storm drains and catch basins making them inefficient to prevent floatable debris from entering District streams and rivers. These activities have resulted in thousands of tons of leaves collected over the last four years from District streets. As part of this collection program, DPW also uses the collected leaves for composting material and allows District citizens to pick up free of charge.

Public Education:
DPW's Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program (SWEEP) investigates illegal dumping complaints, overgrown lots, poor trash containerization, and other sanitation violations within the District. These efforts help reduce the amount of floatable debris and trash that could otherwise enter the District's waterways.