“Let’s protect our water supply and conserve water to prevent a shortage of clean water. We must prevent trash and pollution from contaminating Earth’s oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers.”
Learning about my Drinking Water
- Work with your school to organize a field trip to your local water district.
- Ask them what makes water safe to drink?
- Make a list of the contaminants in water that need to be removed to make water safe to drink. This is something Rainey likes to do.
- Label the drinking water fountains and faucets in your school.
- Keep track of how often they are tested.
- Ask your teacher or principal to get this information, if necessary.
- Make a chart and share it with your classmates, teacher, and principal.
- Keep track of how often they are tested.
- Learn the source of your drinking water.
- What are the drinking water sources in your area?
- Who manages or owns the water? Is it a water company, local water district, or private well?
- Can you invite a representative to your school or community center?
- If you cannot talk to someone write a letter. Ask these questions:
- Is our water safe to drink? Explain why.
- What threatens our water’s safety?
- What can kids and parents do to help the water remain safe to drink and use?
- Now, that you know where your drinking water comes from, make a map. Show how the water comes from its source to your tap at home. Use it to teach your classmates.
- Ensure people understand that only clean water is safe and good for your health.
- When you visit lakes, reservoirs, or streams (drinking water sources), make sure the areas are clean and free of pollution.
Water Conservation: What can I do?
- Determine how much water you use at home.
- Ask your parents for a copy of their water bill. Have them show you how much water your household consumes each month.
- Determine how water at home is used.
- Make a list of ways water is used at home.
- Water is commonly used for drinking, cooking, washing, and bathing.
- Water is also used for watering plants and yards.
- Determine if any water is being wasted.
- Water is commonly wasted from leaky faucets, letting the faucet run, watering lawns, or washing down patios.
- Identify ways you can conserve water at home.
- What can you and your family do differently to conserve water?
- Encourage your family to replace water-thirsty lawns with drought-tolerant plants. They will save money and conserve water.
- Start a water conservation program at home based on what you learned.
- Check your water bill to see how much water your family is saving each month.
- Keep track of water conservation practices you are doing at home.
- Can you conserve more? How?
Protecting Water: Keep Pollutants Out
- Ensure you and your family never flush or pour household products down the toilet or drain.
- Return unused pharmaceuticals to your local pharmacy or drug store.
- Sewage goes to a wastewater treatment plant to remove solids, sewage, and bacteria. The treatment does not remove hazardous chemicals found in many household products.
- The treated wastewater is typically discharged into an ocean, river, lake, or other water resource.
- Toxic chemicals and pharmaceuticals remain in the treated wastewater and will contaminate and pollute water resources.
- Return unused pharmaceuticals to your local pharmacy or drug store.
- Prevent household products from spilling onto the ground. You must prevent these products from flowing down the curb and entering a storm drain or nearby waterway. You also need to prevent household products from contaminating the soil.
- Stormwater or water collected in a storm drain discharges into an ocean, river, or lake without being treated.
- If the stormwater becomes polluted from a household product, then the water in the ocean, river, or lake becomes polluted.
- Contaminants in the soil can move deeper into the soil. They eventually contaminate groundwater in aquifers below the ground surface.
- Groundwater or well water is a source of drinking water for many people.
- Stormwater or water collected in a storm drain discharges into an ocean, river, or lake without being treated.
Protect Stormwater
- Sweeping and picking up garden waste (leaves), trash, and dirt help protect our water from pollution.
- Stormwater runoff originates from rain. Runoff also forms from irrigation systems, sprinklers, and other activities such as washing cars, rinsing equipment, or cleaning patios. This runoff can pick up and carry pollutants and trash on the ground surface.
- This water from runoff carries the leaves, trash, dirt, and other pollutant it picks up. Eventually, it flows into a storm drain, lake, river, or ocean, and contaminates the water supply.