Everything you need to get rid of leftover paint responsibly in Watertown.
45605 175th St, Watertown, SD 57201
Every load is inspected, and anyone who dumps a banned item can be fined and charged for cleanup. Tell the attendant at the stop sign what you’re hauling so you’re sent to the right area. The disposal cell is only for tipping trailers and full-eject vehicles, and it requires a hard hat and a high-visibility vest; hand-unloaded loads go to the public self-haul containers near the scale. A rollover tarp alone doesn’t count as secured; the city wants straps, nets or cords too.
Watertown Wastewater Treatment Facility, Jensen Avenue (west of the Watertown Mall), Watertown, SD 57201
The date is set each year and called tentative in the manual. Sign up for city notices at watertownsd.us/notifyme or call the landfill to learn the next date. Don’t plan on it for paint you need gone before spring.
Mix it with floor dry or cat litter, or let it dry out completely, then put the can in your blue garbage cart. No trip to the landfill is needed.
It can’t go in the garbage or to the landfill. Keep it sealed and take it to the city’s next spring household hazardous waste event. The 2026 event (April 25 or 26; the city’s manual gives both) has passed, so watch watertownsd.us/notifyme for the 2027 date.
Tie down and cover the load, or you’ll pay double. Tell the attendant what’s in it, weigh in, unload where you’re sent, and weigh out. Household trash and debris cost $60 a ton, with a $10 minimum.
You can haul dried latex to the Watertown landfill (call about out-of-area rates). For wet paint, Brookings’ 2026 regional event on August 15 was open to Hamlin and Deuel county residents (but not Codington County); it has passed, so check the city of Brookings page for next year.
In Watertown, South Dakota, dry out latex paint (the city says small amounts can be mixed with floor dry or cat litter), then put it in your blue garbage cart or take it to the Watertown Regional Landfill, 45605 175th St. Oil-based paint is banned from the garbage and the landfill; save it for the city’s free spring household hazardous waste event. The 2026 event has passed (the city’s manual gave both April 25 and April 26, 2026), and no 2027 date is posted. Questions: 605-882-6219.
This guide is for Watertown, South Dakota, in Codington County (not Watertown, New York). The City of Watertown runs the Watertown Regional Landfill, 3 miles south and 1 mile east of the junction of Highways 212 and 81, and its rule is simple: paint cans must be empty or dried, and no oil-based paint. Oil-based paint goes to the city’s free household hazardous waste event once a year in spring. South Dakota has no PaintCare program, and PaintCare’s locator lists no site in Codington County.
The city’s rule, repeated on its Solid Waste page and in the 2026 manual: paint cans must be empty or the paint completely dried. Small amounts of liquid latex can be mixed with an absorbent floor dry or cat litter and thrown in the garbage. Don’t put paint, antifreeze or garden chemicals in the blue cart as liquids, and don’t put paint cans in the tan recycling cart.
No oil-based paint is allowed in the garbage or at the landfill. The city says items the landfill won’t take can go to its annual Household Hazardous Waste Event at the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Jensen Avenue. The 2025 event took oil-based paint for free on April 26, 2025. The 2026 manual set the 2026 event for Saturday, April 25, but its FAQ said April 26. Both dates have passed, so store sealed cans until the 2027 date is posted.
The event is for Watertown households only; no commercial waste. In 2025 the limits were no container over 5 gallons, no load over 50 gallons and no more than 50 containers. Latex paint was not taken. Sign up at watertownsd.us/notifyme to get the next date by email or text.
The landfill charges $60 a ton for household trash in 2026, with a $10 minimum per load. Unsecured loads pay double, with a $30 minimum. The city’s load policy says a rollover tarp alone isn’t enough; use straps, nets or bungee cords. Cards add a 3.5% fee.
The Watertown landfill also serves nearby counties, according to a state directory. The City of Brookings held a free regional event on August 15, 2026 that took wet paint, stain and thinner (up to 15 gallons or 125 pounds per vehicle). Brookings said it was open to residents of Brookings, Deuel, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Lake and Moody counties. Codington County, where Watertown is, was not on that list, so Watertown residents could not use it.
South Dakota has no PaintCare program, and PaintCare’s locator data lists no site in Codington County. The state’s older Homewise consumer guide, still posted by DANR, says to give leftover paint to others and to let unused latex harden with the lid off before trashing it. DANR’s storm-debris guidance says household chemical waste should go to a household hazardous waste collection or the nearest municipal landfill. The city sends extra recyclables to Dependable Sanitation Recycling, 717 11th St. NW (605-886-3006); paint cans don’t belong in recycling.
For latex: leave the lid off until the paint is completely dry, or mix small amounts with floor dry or cat litter, as the city says. Put empty or dried cans in the garbage, not the recycling cart. For oil-based paint: keep it sealed in its original can and wait for the spring event; containers over 5 gallons were turned away in 2025. When hauling to the landfill, secure the load and tell the attendant what you have.
Full preparation checklist →Dried latex goes in your garbage or to the Watertown Regional Landfill, 45605 175th St. Oil-based paint goes only to the city’s free spring household hazardous waste event.
Yes, once it’s dry. The city says cans must be empty or the paint completely dried, and small amounts of liquid latex may be mixed with floor dry or cat litter first.
Once a year in spring, 8 a.m. to noon at the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Jensen Avenue. The 2026 event has passed; the city’s manual listed it for April 25 in one place and April 26 in another. No 2027 date was posted as of October 17, 2026; call 605-882-6219.
The city lists one schedule, Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with no separate winter hours. It’s closed Sundays and holidays, and the gate closes right at 4 p.m.
No. The event is for households only, and the 2026 manual says no commercial disposal is allowed. The city lists no business option for oil-based paint, and we found none in the sources reviewed.
October 17, 2026: read the City of Watertown Solid Waste page, the 2026 Refuse & Recycling Manual (PDF), the archived April 2025 hazardous waste event notice, the Uncovered Load Policy (PDF), SD DANR’s Watertown Landfill page, the Dakota at Home landfill listing, the City of Brookings 2026 HHW event page, DANR’s Homewise guide and storm-debris sheet, and PaintCare’s locator data (no Codington County listing). No calls were made. Unresolved: the 2026 manual gives two dates for the 2026 event (April 25 in its event notice and calendar, April 26 in its FAQ); both are past. No 2027 date is posted, and the city calls the date tentative each year. The 2026 accepted-items list for the event wasn’t published; the list given is from the 2025 notice. The county list for the landfill comes from the state directory, not the city. We found no paint reuse shelf or business option for oil-based paint in Watertown.
Checked October 17, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
