World Water Day is March 22

Water affects us all, each day, in many ways we don’t think about.

Every March 22, the United Nations observes World Water Day to raise awareness and inspire action to protect the earth’s water resources. This year’s theme is about accelerating change to solve the water and wastewater crises.

Everyone can do something to ease the stress on our drinking water systems. Many small acts combine to make a big change. You, your family, school, and community can make a difference by changing the way you think about and use water in your everyday lives. Here are some ideas to get started:

• Save water. Take shorter showers. Don’t let the tap run while brushing your teeth, doing dishes, cleaning, or preparing food.
• Be curious. Find out where your water comes from and how it is shared with your community. Visit a treatment plant to see how your drinking water is treated, filtered, and distributed.
• Protect nature. Plant a tree or create a rain garden. Use natural solutions to reduce the risk of flooding.
• Keep water in your pipes. Fix leaky water pipes, toilets, and faucets. You could save hundreds of gallons a year by fixing leaks.
• Flush safe. Don’t put food waste, oils, medicines and chemicals down your toilet or drains.
• Clean up. Take part in clean-ups of your local rivers, lakes, wetlands, or beaches.

The next time you turn on your faucet, think about where the water comes from, how it gets to you, and what can you do to protect it.

Not everyone has the same access to safe, clean water from a convenient tap. There are communities here in Washington that struggle with keeping their drinking water systems updated. Low-income communities face financial challenges if their water pump goes out or the water main breaks. Other communities can’t use their water due to contaminants such as PFAS or nitrates. A person’s social and economic status, location, race, and more can put them at a higher risk for these contaminants as a result of environmental racism.

To address some of these challenges, the Office of Drinking Water actively supports our communities’ drinking water systems. This can include preparing for climate change and severe weather events, protecting water resources, maintaining and replacing aging infrastructure, and economic development for struggling communities.

Our Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program offers low to no interest loans. They prioritize loans based on the public health risk a proposed project means to fix.

You can read about some of our local communities’ successful projects on our StoryMap webpage.

More Information

Information in this blog changes rapidly. Sign up to be notified whenever we post new articles. For more information from the Washington State Department of Health, visit doh.wa.gov.

Questions about COVID-19? Visit our COVID-19 website to learn more about vaccines and booster doses, testing, WA Notify, and more. You can also contact the Department of Health call center at 1–800–525–0127 and press # from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday, and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday — Sunday and observed state holidays. Language assistance is available.