All water leads to a recycling center so even it’s going down the drain, there are some things San Diegans can do to ensure our region's water is as clean as possible.
Water is always in high demand in California, so it’s necessary to take care of it in any way possible.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department says one easy thing to protect the county's waterways is to avoid dumping perscription pills.
Tossing prescription medication down the drain or toilet contaminates the water system, which can cause bigger problems when it drains back into the ocean and threatens the environment, SDSO said.
"Most controlled substances are created synthetically, and are not removed through normal water-treatment processes. This can result in the discharge of these substances into the environment and into our ground water supplies," the SDSO said in an online fact sheet.
SDSO recommends instead that residents drop off their medication at designated spots, like sheriff’s stations across the county. A list of drop boxes can be found here; most are open weekdays between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The drop boxes are park of the SDSO's Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force's drug "take-back" days.
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The City of San Diego also offers collection events throughout the year so that used oil and oil filters don't make their way into waterways. There's also several auto repair shops that will collect them. More info on that program can be found here.
