In my Riverside house, I used to think a brush full of water-based latex paint could go under the outdoor hose. Let the hose run, thin out the color, and send the water toward the street: that is the reflex when the painting is done and you just want the brush clean. As of mid-September 2026, here in California, I no longer treat that hose rinse as harmless. The water looks clearer as you rinse, but the paint has not vanished from it.
The concrete Riverside part is where that water goes. Public Works describes runoff moving through streets and the storm drain system before it reaches a stream, creek, river, lake or ocean. If brush water runs toward the curb, the question is not whether it still looks like paint in the gutter. The question is what the water is carrying.
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What the Department of Toxic Substances Control says
The Department of Toxic Substances Control says, “Since most storm drains drain to streams, rivers, bays and the ocean, dumping excess latex paint into storm drains or rinsing painting equipment into the gutter or storm drain is prohibited.”…