Protecting Water Quality … at Construction Sites

It’s Everyone’s Responsibility

Silt Fencing

• Inspect and maintain silt fences after each rainstorm.
• Make sure the bottom of the silt fence is buried in the ground.
• Securely attach the material to the stakes.
• Don’t place silt fences in the middle of a waterway or use them as a check dam.
• Make sure that stormwater is not flowing around the silt fence.

Construction Phasing

 

• Sequence construction activity so that soil is not exposed for long periods of time.
• Install sediment controls before site grading begins.
• Schedule site stabilization, such as landscaping, to begin as soon as the site has been graded to its final contour.

Vegetative Buffers

• Protect and install vegetative buffers along waterbodies to slow and filter stormwater runoff.
• Maintain buffers periodically to ensure their effectiveness.

 

Storm Drain Inlet Protection

 

• Use rock or other appropriate material to cover the storm drain inlet to filter out trash and debris.
• Make sure the rock size is appropriate (usually 1 to 2 inches in diameter).
• If you use inlet filters, maintain them regularly.

Construction Entrances

• Remove mud and dirt from tires of construction vehicles before they enter a paved roadway.
• Properly size entrance BMPs for all anticipated vehicles.
• Make sure that the construction entrance does not become buried in soil.

Protect Natural Features

• Minimize clearing.
• Minimize the amount of exposed soil.
• Identify and protect areas where existing vegetation, such as trees, will not be disturbed by construction activity.
  

Information from PiedmontWaterQuaility.org Contact your local government for details
City of Archdale 336.431.9141	Forsyth County 336.727.2087	City of Greensboro 336.373.2812
Guilford County 336.641.3334	City of High Point 336.883.3111	Town of Jamestown 336.454.1138
Town of Kernersville 336.996.3121	Town of Lewisville 336.945.5558	City of Randleman 336.495.7500
Randolph County 336.318.6555	City of Burlington 336.222.5005	Village of Clemmons 336.766.9170
City of Winston-Salem 336.747.7480	Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority 336.547.8437	City of Trinity 336.431.2841