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Kōrero: Marine conservation

From the storm drain to the sea

Image
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.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

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.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Gerard Hutching rāua ko Carl Walrond, Marine conservation – Pollution, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/5828/from-the-storm-drain-to-the-sea (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Gerard Hutching rāua ko Carl Walrond, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009, updated 1 September 2015.