Join the Chatham Township vs. Berkeley Heights “No More Scary Drain” Adopt-A-Drain Contest!
It’s the time of year when leaves fall, make their way onto our storm drains, and collect there in scary amounts. There is hope! This Halloween, participate in the Second Annual Adopt-A-Drain “No More Scary Drain Contest” between Chatham Township and Berkeley Heights that runs from October 31, 2025 to November 27, 2025.
In a friendly rivalry, neighboring towns of Chatham Township and Berkeley Heights will see which municipality can adopt the largest number of drains during the contest period.
How can you adopt a drain? Just go to the Chatham Township Adopt-A-Drain page at www.chathamtownship.org/adoptadrain and follow the instructions for adopting a drain at https://nj.adopt-a-drain.org/, pick your drain, name it, clean it, and report your cleanings. Every cleaning helps to keep leaves, grass clippings, newspapers, and other litter from clogging our stormwater infrastructure!
The Contest is also an opportunity to showcase your creativity and style. For creativity, name your newly-adopted drain with a scary name. Have a drain already? You can re-name your drain with a scary name. The Chatham Township Environmental Commission (CTEC) and Department of Public Works (DPW) will publish a list of the top scary drain names after the contest. For style, if you’re dressing up for Halloween, the CTEC and DPW encourage you to take a picture of yourself in costume next to your scary drain, clean it, report your cleaning, and share your picture and amount you cleaned up with the CTEC, at [email protected], for posting on the Township’s Environmental Commission web page.
Adopt-A-Drain cleanings are in addition to regular town-wide street cleanings. These “bonus” storm drain cleanings benefit our town by helping to keep our stormwater infrastructure working properly. Ridding storm drains of coverage from leaves and litter helps to keep these gateways to our stormwater infrastructure clear. Fewer impediments to water flowing down into this infrastructure can prevent sewer system back-ups, which can lead to flooding. So, the best part of this No More Scary Drain Contest is that no matter which municipality prevails, both towns are actually winners!
The CTEC was established to protect, develop or use natural resources, including water resources, located within the Township. It is an advisory group of volunteers, whose responsibilities include recommending plans and programs to the Zoning and Planning Boards for the development and use of open lands and wetlands.
