National Drinking Water Week – May 5-11
This year, the American Water Works Association, in partnership with the CDC, the US EPA, and six other national organizations, is sponsoring National Drinking Water Week to promote awareness of and appreciation for our drinking water supplies in the US.
Tap water plays a critical role in the success of a society, from meeting the basic public health needs, to adequate sanitation, promoting dental health through fluoridation, and supporting industrial, agricultural, medical, and recreational activities.
During the past century, many improvements in the health, prosperity, and longevity of the US population can be attributed to improvements in our drinking water supply. One hundred years ago, life expectancy in the US was only 47 years, and now, life expectancy is 78 years, in a large part attributed to the increase in safety of our drinking water supplies!
The short life span was partially due to sickness and death from diseases spread through drinking water, such as typhoid, botulism, e.coli bacterial infections, and dysentery. (For a full listing, go HERE .) Though these diseases are still common in lesser developed countries, over the last century, treatment, disinfection, and the environmental regulation of waer contaminants have made the US tap water one of the safest drinking water supplies in the world.
Despite the safety of our tap water, new challenges require us to continue to work to protect our water supply. One primary concern is the aging of our infrastructure, which includes pipes that bring the water to our homes. Much of our aging infrastructure needs to be replaced or upgraded. Other challenges include climate change impacts on water availability and quality, chemical and toxin contamination of our water sources, and the increasing need to reuse and recycle water.
Visit the AWWAs page to learn more about National Drinking Water Week!
Did You Know? -- Facts About Drinking Water
- Approximately 400 billion of gallons of tap water are used every day in the US. Nearly half of that is used by the thermo-nuclear power industry.
- It takes almost seven years for an average American family to use the amount of water contained in ONE Olympic sized swimming pool, (660,000 gallons).
- In 1900, 25,000 Americans died of typhoid. By 1960, thanks to the use of chlorine in water treatment, that number dropped to 20.
- The average faucet flows at a rate of 2 gallons per minute. You can save up to 4 gallons of water by turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth.
- If you drink the daily recommended 8 glasses of water per day from the tap, it will cost you about $.50/year, but if you drink that same amount from bottled water supplies, it can cost up to $1,400.
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The first of a series! Celebrating National Drinking Water Week!
CHANGE YOUR FILTER!!! please!
Oh my!
And don't tell me it is "sweet water"...
They do seem to use a lot of water, don't they? I wonder if solar panels would be better?
I'mgoning to betthe water usage for "fracking" rivals nukes, but I may be "spoiling" another article in this series. They got to go too.
*Raises glass* may all you water be clear and tasty.
Surely,the one you're usinguses something besides a charcoal filter...
Same to you! I don't know, One... If one well uses about 1 million gallons, then our daily output here in Louisville would supply about 60-70 of those wells. For us, it's not so much that they use so much water, it's that it produces about 600,000 gallons of wastewater, each.
But, in dryer areas of the country, that's a significant chunk of the water supply.
I think a million gallons is very conservative, but I can't remember where I read it. But, I surely don't want to fr-ijack a celebration such a "Drinking Water Week".
LOL! Me either!!!
Okay, BadFish, you opened the door for me to tell this story.
During WW2 there was a Jewish scientist who saved his life by telling Hitler he could turn shit into butter, so Hitler gave him a laboratory to work out of, and an adequate supply of shit. After a month or so Hitler went to the lab to find out how the scientist was doing. The scientist said he needed more time, that he had been able to turn the shit into something that could be spread like butter but much more had to be done. So Hitler returned after 6 months to check it out. There he found that the scientist was now able to make it look like butter, but still much had to be done. Then after a year had passed, and Hitler was starting to get impatient, he visited again and the scientist was able to show Hitler, that he could make the shit spread like butter, look like butter, even smell like butter, but he needed to still do more. Hitler waited another year but by this time he could wait no longer, so he went back and demanded to know the result. The scientist then had to tell him that he could make the shit spread like butter, look like butter, smell like butter, but unfortunately it still tasted like shit.
So how does your water taste?
LOL!!!
What a great and important article Dowser. Without a healthy water supply, we are all done. I think that most individuals don't give it a second thought about their use of water and what they dump into the supply. They are only interested in immediate gratification, like green lawns.
I gave you a like!
I recall stories from years ago about the bottling companies filling the bottles with tap water.
Why thank you!
I'll be talking more about this subject-- a lot more... The operations of a water company, the decline of the available water supplies, etc. Maybe it will help us all! I hope!
I drink tap water that I put in my own bottle... And reuse the bottle!
And you are absolutely right. Bottled water is a rip off.
Most of them do, and thank God for it-- at least it has to meet drinking water standards. Regular bottled water does not. EGAD.