While the federal Clean Water Act has been around for half a century, water quality remains a top concern, especially in New Jersey.
Whether upstream, downstream, or mid-stream, how healthy one’s drinking water is is no topic to be ignored, especially as both man-made pollutants, like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, used in various manufacturing processes, and natural ones, like arsenic and radon, constantly threaten to infiltrate drinking water thanks to ground seepage and stormwater runoff.
Added to those woes is also the condition of aging infrastructure, including sewers so old they permit an infusion of lead.
To be sure, the challenge of ensuring pristine drinking quality is extensive and all-consuming, requiring a cast of thousands to ensure that quality is achieved, either at headwaters or the end of the faucet.
In fact, it’s not enough for multi-level rules and regulations to be enforced to monitor water quality. True, it takes money – lots of money – and lots of lobbying to persuade state and municipal officials to overhaul decaying infrastructure.
But individuals, from kids to adults, can do their part in helping ensure water quality. It just takes a little knowledge – and the availability of that knowledge – to add a rain garden or plant native grasses, or just clean up litter and those presents left behind by that pet.
So, how do you engage them?
The answer: educate – and participate.
