Stormwater

As water from rain and snowmelt makes its way to the nearest stream or lake, it flows over rooftops, roads, parking lots, our backyards, and the entire land surface around us. The water picks up pollutants such as trash, leaked oil and antifreeze, household fertilizers and pesticides, pet waste, sediment, and any other loose or leaking thing in our combined neighborhoods, and carries this slurry into the nearest stream. In many places in and around Manassas, there is a collection of drains, curbs, ditches, pipes, and other structures places to capture water that flows across roads, buildings, pavement, and other developed surfaces. This captured water is sent to a variety of stormwater ponds, basins, or other sites that were designed to remove some of these pollutants from the water before returning the water back to the natural stream. Stormwater therefore, is the combined treated and untreated water that runs across our communities before it reaches natural streams.