Summertime is pool time for many Huntington Beach residents.  That means pool noodles, floaties and bellyflops!  But it also means chlorine, bromine, and diatomaceous earth to keep your pool clean.   

If pool water with those chemicals or compounds is released into the storm drain system, it can pollute our waterways and significantly impact the marine life in our harbors, bays, wetlands, and ocean. 

Pool filters should be washed or backwashed into the sewer system, not the street, curb or gutters, which flows untreated into the storm drain and directly into our waterways. 

If you wish to clean your pool filter outside, do so over a grass or landscaped area so the water does not flow into the storm drain system. 

Diatomaceous earth in particular has a negative impact.  Not only can it cause a mess in street gutters, but when it enters the storm drain system, it chokes out aquatic life in our waterways. 

Click here to learn more about proper pool care.