Advocacy Project: Water Science

According to the Water Pollution Guide... Heavy metals from industrial processes can accumulate in nearby lakes and rivers. These are toxic to marine life such as fish and shellfish, and subsequently to the humans who eat them. Heavy metals can slow development; result in birth defects and some are carcinogenic.

The EPA estimates... drinking water systems will need to invest
$150 billion over a 20-year period to ensure
clean and safe drinking water.

The purpose of this activity is to raise your awareness about the real statistics of water use around the country. The following website allows you to submit your personal water use information and then shows you statistics from other people's personal water use around the country!

Since my project is centered around water quality, I wanted to show you how much we rely on clean drinking water and how hard it would be if somewhere like the Great Lakes became too polluted for us to use it as a water resource. Go to this questionnaire and complete each question. After you enter your information, look at what others contributed around the country. Some of the stats are a bit shocking! 

This next link I'm having you click on, is an opinion survey. This shows what our current water worries are. Complete this activity the same way and check to see what others answered around the country!

All of these activities are provided by the United States Geological Survey.

Click here to see the current water quality around the state of Minnesota.

Hopefully these activities and links have raised your awareness about how water is one of the most IMPORTANT resources. Keeping large fresh water resources like the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River clean and safe is something we shouldn't take lightly.

(Next time you are back in your hometown, see if they do any kind of water quality testing there. If they don't encourage them to start!)