Everybody who lives in Brisbane has the responsibility of keeping our waterways healthy. Every creek and tributary in the Brisbane catchment either flows into the Brisbane river or straight into Moreton Bay. These waterways can become contaminated by pollutants they pick up along the way. Pollution can be traced to either point or non point sources. Point source pollution comes from one known outlet. Examples include industrial discharges, bilge water from vessels, building and  development sites and sewage discharge. Non point pollution is harder to trace as it comes from a variety of sources such as pollutants found in urban storm water ( e.g. sediment from erosion, litter and domestic chemicals and fertilizers). There are many ways that we can help protect Brisbane waterways. For instance garden fertilizers and detergents may lead to nitrogen and phosphorous polluting Brisbane water. To prevent this from happening you should wash your car on the lawn and avoid using too many fertilizers and pesticides, especially if rain is on the way. Erosion can also cause sediments to run into the water. We can fix this by planting suitable plants along our waterways. Building and renovation can cause sand dirt and concrete to run into the water. We can prevent this from happening by covering sand cement and other materials. Swimming pools can cause chlorine to run into the water if we do not  make sure they are backwashed into the sewer and  not the storm water drain. Pollution of our waterways endangers it’s future health but it also puts at risk the recreation and lifestyle typical of Brisbane.