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Story: Marine conservation

From the storm drain to the sea

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From the storm drain to the sea

This painted mural at Mt Cook School in Wellington illustrates a little-understood fact of urban drainage. Water and anything else that enters storm drains is not treated at any point. So if you tip paint or mineral turpentine into a storm drain you are effectively pouring it straight into the sea.

Using this item

Evening Post Collection (PAColl-0614)

by Simon Nathan

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Gerard Hutching and Carl Walrond, Marine conservation – Pollution, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/5828/from-the-storm-drain-to-the-sea (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Gerard Hutching and Carl Walrond, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 September 2015.