CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- Jonathan Winkler is a concerned Coloradan.
"You talk about a dirty dog, well this is the worst of it right here," he said. "It is nasty."
He snapped several photos of a Steam Way Carpet Cleaning Pro's truck dumping what he said was clearly waste right into the street.
Winkler said it happened in his Centennial neighborhood off Smoky Hill Road and Tower Road over the holidays.
"It just keeps going and going, the closer I get the bigger the mess is," said Winkler.
Whatever is in that gunk eventually went down the storm drain where it flows, untreated, directly into our rivers and streams.
"Didn't think that was right, had to bring it to somebody's attention," said Winkler.
Storm drains are only supposed to be used for storm water after heavy rains and too much waste or nutrients can cause other problems, such as the algal blooms that developed at City Park last year.
"It definitely adds up to something that's bad, and I'm worried about it," said Winkler.
Waste water should only be placed into sanitary sewers, which are found in homes and business. The water then goes to a water treatment plant, where it's filtered, before being sent back out.
Denver7 reporter Jennifer Kovaleski spoke to Ray Moor, a manager at Steam Way Carpet Cleaning Pros, who said he believed the water being dumped was fresh water.
"Absolutely not, it was very, very dark green -- foamy," said Winkler.
Even if it was fresh water, the Southwest Metro Storm Water Authority said you still can't dump it down the storm drain, since that normally requires some kind of permit.
Winkler just wants everyone to take Colorado's water a little more seriously.
"My favorite part of life is to fly fish and I know it affects other people down the road," he said.
Southwest Metro Storm Water Authority said it is investigating the allegation against Steam Way Carpet Cleaning.
It is illegal to dump waste down the storm drain in Centennial and violators can face more than $1,000 in fines.
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