The Need To Protect America's Precious Resource
DRINKING WATER
If all existing water could be spread evenly over a smooth sphere the size of the Earth, it
would cover the globe to a depth of almost two miles—but more than 97 percent of it is salty
ocean water and unusable as a source of drinking water. Less than three percent is fresh water,
and most of that is captured in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves less than one percent of all
the water on Earth readily available to us. This
precious and limited resource is stored in
different bodies of water, including , •.
streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs,
wells, and springs. In America, we
draw our drinking water from all of
these sources.
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We rely on a safe and abundant water supply for the C '.^v.y
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health of our families and our communities. Each American
household uses in excess of 94,000 gallons of fresh water a year. We
drink an average of one billion glasses of
Each of us lives in a watershed. A tap water per day We are an expanding
watershed is the total land area and
, ,. ,., A , . . A . , population, and our need for more food,
water bodies that dram into a single
river or lake system, and/or is the
source of groundwater recharge to the
river or lake system.
shelter, clothing, electricity, and recreation,
places more demands on our water supply,
or source water. The industries that produce
these goods and services use billions of
gallons of fresh water a day. As the number of households and businesses increase, so does
the amount of natural resources that we consume and the amount of waste we produce. If we
do not manage these activities effectively, what we do at home, at work, or at leisure, may
contaminate the watershed and threaten the quality of our drinking water. What exactly are the
threats?
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THREATS TO THE QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER
We tend to worry about threats only after our water becomes contaminated. When drinking water
becomes contaminated, one or more things may happen. You may not be able to drink your tap water
for short periods of time. You may become ill and need to seek medical assistance. You may be re-
quired to pay more for your drinking water for additional treatment and monitoring. You may lose the
resource altogether, making it necessary to find an alternate source.
How do contaminants get into our watersheds and drinking water? Below are some of the major
threats that occur every year. The threat may be a byproduct of something that we do, or a natural con-
dition or event. One or more may exist in your neighborhood or occur many miles away:
• Stormwater runoff is the single biggest threat to the health of our waterways. As this water
washes over driveways, streets, and yards, it picks up nutrients, pollutants and litter and deposits
them in surface waters or introduces them into ground water.
* We apply 67 million pounds of pesticides to lawns every year, some of which, leaches into
ground water or pollutes rivers, lakes and streams.
• We produce more than 230 million tons of municipal solid waste annually—approximately 4.6
pounds of trash or garbage per person per day—that contains bacteria, nitrates, viruses, synthetic
detergents, and household chemicals.
» We begin new construction that consumes more than two million acres of open space every
year—increasing paved and impervious surfaces (roads, sidewalks, parking lots, driveways and
roofs); these surfaces prevent rain and snow melt from soaking into the ground and returning to
the water table; paved surfaces create more runoff, make runoff move faster and with greater force,
and reduce infiltration to the ground water.
9 Do-it-yourselfers drain about 220 million gallons of used oil from their cars, but less than 33
million gallons of this used oil is recycled.
• We drive more than 200 million passenger cars and light trucks almost 2 trillion miles every
year that account for about 50 percent of air pollution nationwide, and produce acid rain that pol-
lutes surface water and leaches into ground water.
• At least one-third of the U.S. population uses septic systems that discharge more than 1 trillion
gallons of household wastewater containing bacteria, viruses, nitrates, drugs, and hormones, below
the ground's surface directly or indirectly into ground water resources every year.
» Nearly half a million animal factory farms produce 130 times the amount of waste of the
human population every year and are a potential source of bacteria, viruses, nitrates, and animal
steroids.
« There are more than 12 million recreational and house boats and 10,000 boat marinas that may
release pollutants such as solvents, gasoline, detergents and raw sewage directly into waterways.
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MUUIPLE RISKS REQUIRE MULTIPLE BARRIERS
Because we know that the human activities and natural events have the potential to contaminate our drinking
water, we have built four kinds of barriers to protect our drinking water-—the Risk Prevention, Risk Manage-
ment, Risk Monitoring & Compliance, and the Individual Action Barriers. The first three rely on government
and treatment plant activities and the support of the public, for the most part. The Individual Action Barrier
relies on us—what each of us does at home and in our communities. The four barriers are explained in the fol-
lowing table.
Type of Barrier
Purpose and Benefits of Barrier
Risk Prevention
Barrier
* Protection of Drinking Water Sources: Drinking water is only as safe as its source.
While water suppliers can treat water to remove contaminants, it is more cost effective and
everyone is better off if we prevent the contaminants from entering the water in the first
place. Prevention keeps water treatment costs low and avoids expensive source water clean-
up costs.
* Federal, tribal, state, and local governments provide laws and regulations, and voluntary
programs for your community to prevent the potential threats from getting into your source
of drinking water. Find out what they are and how well they are working.
» Your state has completed, or is in the process of conducting an assessment of the potential
threats to your source water. Is your community moving toward prevention by taking action
against the potential threats that have been identified?
Risk Management
Barrier
Treatment and System Operation: When contaminants do get into the watershed and your
source water, the water treatment plant is the first line of defense. Treatment is only as
effective as the operator and the facility. The treatment plant collects, treats, tests, and
distributes water, hires trained and qualified operators, alerts your community to water
problems, and carries out an emergency response plan in case of a natural disaster, vandalism
or terrorist attack.
Risk Monitoring &
Compliance Barrier
Detecting and Fixing Problems: Federal law (the Safe Drinking Water Act) has established
a series of checkpoints for monitoring water quality and detecting and solving problems
before water reaches your tap. The first checkpoint is your water system that monitors water
quality before and after treatment, and in the distribution system. The system reports its
findings and activities to the state. The next checkpoint is your state's Public Water Supply
System program that monitors the operations of all its water systems and reports to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At this checkpoint, the EPA evaluates all state and
tribal programs and reports to Congress. And Congress reports to you.
Individual Action
Barrier
Consumer Awareness and Participation: Contamination occurs at the local level and can
best be prevented at the local level. The more that you know about drinking water, the
better equipped you are to help protect it. Be informed! Be observant! Be involved! Don't
contaminate! Read the next section, titled, "What You Can Do to Protect Your Drinking
Water."
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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Be Informed
* Read the annual Consumer Confidence Report provided by your public water system, sometimes referred to
as a Water Quality Report.
• Use information from your state's Source Water Assessment to learn about potential threats to your water
source. Has your state identified all shallow disposal wells?
* Does your state have total maximum daily loads for those contaminants that may pose risks to drinking
water?
• Find out whether Clean Water Act water quality standards for your drinking water source are intended to
protect water for drinking, in addition to fishing and swimming.
* If you are one of the 15 percent of Americans who have their own sources of drinking water, such as wells,
cisterns, and springs, you are responsible for protecting your water supply. Find out what activities are taking
place in your watershed that may impact your drinking water; talk with local experts, test your water periodi-
cally, maintain your well, close it properly.
Be Observant
* Look around your watershed and be alert to announcements in the local media for activities that may pollute
your source water.
• If you see any suspicious activities in or around your water supply, please notify the local authorities or call
9-1-1 immediately and report the incident.
Be Involved
• Attend public hearings on new construction, storm water permitting, and town planning.
• Keep your public officials accountable.
• Ask to see their environmental impact statement.
• Ask questions on any issue that may impact your water source. What specific plans have been made to
prevent the contamination of your water source? Notices about hearings often appear in the newspaper or in
government office buildings.
• Participate with your state, or tribal and water system as they make funding decisions.
« Volunteer or help recruit volunteers: participate in your community's contaminant monitoring activities, and
encourage testing water upstream of your drinking water supply.
• Help ensure that local utilities that protect your water have adequate resources to do their job.
Don't Contaminate
« Reduce paved areas: Use permeable surfaces that allow rain to soak in, not run off, like wood, brick and
gravel for decks, patios and walkways.
• Reduce or eliminate pesticide application: Test your soil before applying chemicals, and design your lawn
and garden with hardy plants that require little or no watering, fertilizers or pesticides.
• Reduce the amount of trash you create: Reuse containers, recycle plastics, aluminum, and glass.
• Recycle used oil: A single quart of motor oil can contaminate up to 2 million gallons of drinking water; take
used oil or antifreeze to a service station or recycling center.
* Take the bus instead of your car one day a week: On average, you will prevent 33 pounds of carbon dioxide
emissions per day.
* Be careful what you put into your septic system: Harmful chemicals may end up in your drinking water.
* Keep pollutants away from boat marinas and the waterways: Keep boat motors well-tuned to prevent fuel
and lubricant leaks; select nontoxie cleaning products and use a drop cloth, and clean and maintain boats away
from the water.
Office of Water (4606M) www.epa.gov/safewater EPA 816F05022
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