If you dump anything in the city sewers, you are going to make most of the students at Southwest Middle School pretty angry.

The students spent Thursday putting signs around city storm drains warning about dumping materials into the city’s sewers, which drain to the lakes.

The signs are from the Lake Improvement Committee and they were funded by both the city of Albert Lea and Freeborn County.

&uot;It’s really good for educational purposes,&uot; said Andy Henschel, the Watershed Technician for Freeborn County Environmental Services Department. &uot;We are hoping that people understand when they mow their lawn and clippings fall into the street, when they fertilize their grass and the fertilizer goes in the gutter, or just dump gas or oil into the sewer, that it all ends up in our lakes.&uot;

Henschel said those materials &uot;are creating our green lakes.&uot;

The most common items that get into the storm sewers, such as grasses and fertilizers, cause organic overgrowth. That growth eats up oxygen in the water, making the lake a tougher place for fish, with the exception of rough fish, to survive. It also creates premium conditions for algae blooms.

Henschel hopes that the signs will make people think twice before putting something in the city’s drains.

Jerry Bizjak, the teacher who brought out his five classes to help put signs up, said he hopes his students will learn that their actions can help their city environment.

&uot;In December we always do a section on how people effect the environment,&uot; he said. &uot;I always use Albert Lea Lake as my example because it’s local and the effects are visible.&uot;

&uot;I wanted to do something that my students could get out and have fun with, but also learn that they can have an impact.&uot;

Bizjak said he thinks students may take some pride in what they’ve done and pass the message along to their parents and neighbors if they see wrongdoing.

&uot;I’ve got some students today that were already saying, ‘Let’s pick that up,’ about grass clippings that might have gone into the sewer,&uot; he said. &uot;So I think they will take something away from this.&uot;

The students took care of almost a fifth of the total signs for the city Thursday.

&uot;We’re probably going to get 170 signs with five different classes today,&uot; Henschel said Thursday morning.

He said there are many more signs to be put around town, and asks that any group interested in volunteering to put them up contact him.

&uot;Overall, we have about 1,000 signs that we need to put up, probably more than that eventually,&uot; he said. &uot;We’re looking for groups to help us get them out there.&uot; The environmental services phone number is 377-5186.