Get to Know Your Water
by Jennie Saxe
Get to know your H2O during National Drinking Water Week. US EPA Photo by Eric Vance
There’s no time like National Drinking Water Week to get to know your H2O. Here are a few ways you can boost your water IQ.
Check out the Consumer Confidence Report that you should receive from your water utility no later than July 1st. These reports are a snapshot of community water system water quality results from the past year. Your water provider may also post this important report online or deliver it to you by email.
Get to know the drinking water sources in your area by using EPA’s Drinking Water Mapping Application to Protect Source Waters. Find out who supplies your water, whether there are potential contaminant sources nearby, and learn how you can get involved with a source water protection partnership, such as the Schuylkill Action Network or the Lower Susquehanna Source Water Protection Partnership. You can also explore the Source Water Collaborative infographic on protecting drinking water sources using different Clean Water Act programs.
Or take this new EPA training on climate change impacts on water resources to learn how a changing climate affects water quality and availability. Kids can learn more about drinking water and the water cycle with a lesson plan or hands-on activity from EPA’s website.
And in case you missed it, EPA is embarking on a concerted engagement with key partners and stakeholders to develop and implement a national action plan to address critical drinking water challenges and opportunities. Learn more about the effort in this recent blog.
About the author: Dr. Jennie Saxe joined EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region in 2003 and works in the Water Protection Division on sustainability programs. She spent her first 7 years at EPA working in the Region’s drinking water program.
Get to Know Your Water
Source: EPA Pesticides recalls news