How to Prevent Water Pollution

Our water supply operates on a delicate cycle of replenishment. The cycle can be dramatically and irrevocably affected when we carelessly pollute our surface or ground water supply.

Chemical pollution is a growing danger. Today, many toxic and potentially deadly chemicals threaten our water supplies. These chemicals can be a health risk even in very small concentrations. They enter our drinking water from industrial waste landfills and lagoons, septic tanks and cesspools, dump and landfill sites, mining and petroleum operations, pesticides and fertilizers used on farms and in home gardens, leaking underground storage tanks and storm water runoff. Research shows that many sources of ground water are polluted or at risk of pollution. Because ground water moves slowly, it can remain polluted for years.

Please take care in how you dispose of household contaminants and hazardous chemicals, especially those applied directly to the ground. Buy only the amount of fertilizers, pesticides or other hazardous chemicals that you need so that you don't have to dispose of the leftovers. Read all the labels and follow proper disposal instructions.

Be an informed consumer. Consider alternatives if any of the following words are on labels: caution, warning, danger, poison, flammable, volatile, caustic or corrosive. Don't dispose of hazardous wastes in storm drains, wastewater systems, creeks, alleys or the ground. Use organic lawn and garden alternatives that do not contain synthetic chemical poisons. Recycle your used oil, automotive fluids, batteries, and other products.