The city of Bellevue has earned first place in a national communications competition for a series of posters and advertisements telling businesses how to prevent water pollution.

The posters and ads, which use the phrase “Nothing but rain down the storm drain,” use photographs and illustrations to show where car wash soap and cleaning materials should and shouldn’t be disposed in order to prevent pollution in local waterways.

The National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies issued the award.

The posters and the ads, which ran in local newspapers, were created for the city’s utilities department by Vivitiv, a Seattle-based graphic design firm.

This fall, Bellevue began participating in a regional stormwater prevention campaign called, “Puget Sound Starts Here,” joining a coalition of more than 300 municipalities and other organizations.

For more information on www.pugetsoundstartshere.net.