“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”
You might recognize this line from the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This part of the poem tells of a ship stuck in the doldrums. The crew is running out of water to drink and are at the risk of death despite being surrounded by water.
In April, I wrote about the limited quantity of water we have on Earth and our need to be mindful in our usage of it. We should also be mindful of the quality of our water.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, originally passed in 1948, marked the United States’ first major effort to address pollution in its waterways. In 1972, following a series of environmental crises—including fish kills in Florida lakes, dangerously high bacteria levels in the Hudson River, and the infamous fires on the Cuyahoga River in Ohio—Congress significantly amended the Act, and it became known as the Clean Water Act. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon, the updated legislation gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate water pollution by setting national water quality standards. It provided federal grants to help build sewage treatment plants, made it illegal to discharge pollutants from a point source directly into navigable waters without a permit, and initiated efforts to control non-point source pollution—pollution that travels through runoff rather than from a single, identifiable source. The Clean Water Act was designed to safeguard the rivers, lakes, wetlands, coastlines, and territorial seas that support our health, economy, and recreation.
Since its inception, the Clean Water Act has been a source of debate between industry, government, and conservationists, and there have been expansions, contractions, and changes depending on the political winds as a result. It is always a balancing act to allow industries that might pollute water, while keeping much of the water safe for humans and the environment.
So, what can you do?
- Pick up litter so it does not make it into waterways.
- Limit the chemicals you use on your property (or better yet, do not use any).
- Make sure your septic system is pumped regularly (generally every 3 to 5 years).
- Have your water tested so you can address any issues found, keeping in mind that public and private water filtration systems do not catch everything that can cause us harm.
- Pay attention to water issues locally and beyond and let your elected leaders at every level of government know that you value clean and safe water.
Water quality and quantity is both a local and a global issue as water does not recognize borders of states or nations. As an example, the Connecticut River watershed includes the entire state of Connecticut, parts of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Canada.
We all need to protect the quality of our water because it would be terrible to have water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.
