Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
Erosion control CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sediment is the No. 1 pollutant in our rivers and streams. Gaston County Natural Resource Department is cracking down on construction sites to make sure mud and dirt don’t taint our water quality.
Gaston County’s four erosion control inspectors check every construction site once a month. If proper procedures aren’t followed during construction, there could be major problems with our water quality after the structure is built.
“A loss of drinking water would be one and an increase of cost for useable water,” said Dannon Lawson of Gaston County Natural Resources.
Every construction site in Gaston County must have a silt fence. They act as a barrier to prevent sediment or silt from entering the street.
You can also find sediment ponds on construction sites. When the mud comes, the sediment pond catches all the mud and the clean water will be distributed directly into our lakes and streams.
Storm drains have silt sacks. If there is dirt on the street, the mud will be carried along with the water into the storm drain. The silt sack will catch all of the mud so that doesn’t go into the creek.
If these procedures aren’t followed, sites could face a fine up to $5,000 per violation per day.
If you see any mud or dirt in the street that is near a construction site or any other erosion control violation in Gaston County, call 704-922-4181.
