PA-AWWA Members: October 21, 2021 is Imagine a Day Without Water!
Today, we Imagine a Day Without Water. It’s a day to learn where your water comes from and where it goes.
- Turn on the tap, and clean water flows out. Flush the toilet, and dirty water goes away.
- When you have reliable water service, you don’t have to think about the infrastructure that brings water to your home or business and returns it safely to the environment–but we should.
- On Imagine a Day Without Water, we ask everyone to consider what their day would be like if they couldn’t turn on the tap and get clean drinking water, or if you flushed the toilet and wastewater didn’t go anywhere. What would that day be like?
Water infrastructure is the lifeline of our communities.
- A day without water means firefighters can’t do their jobs, hospitals can’t function, and no one can bathe themselves or their children. Water infrastructure is vital to every household and community.
- Most water systems are more than a century old. As water infrastructure ages and deteriorates, street flooding, water service disruptions, and damage increase, and it needs replacement. Each day, a water main breaks every two minutes.
- Extreme weather events and climate events, such as droughts, hurricanes, storms, flooding, and wildfires are happening more often and are intensifying due to climate change. These disasters overwhelm our aging water infrastructure and can leave communities without reliable access to safe water and wastewater services for days, weeks or months.
- Communities need jobs, and families need an income. If the US closes the water infrastructure investment gap, the GDP will grow by $4.5 trillion in 20 years, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and raising the household disposable income by more than $2,000 per household.
- There are two million Americans living without safe and reliable water and wastewater services, often relying on bottled water, and potentially living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. They deserve better.
Strong leadership for water is key to securing our future.
- Imagine a Day Without Water is an opportunity to share why water is important to you, your business, your community.
- According to the 2021 Annual Value of Water Index, the highest federal priority for voters was ensuring a reliable water supply. We can help secure a better future for the millions of Americans who don’t have reliable water service today and the generations to come.
- The 2021 Annual Value of Water Index found water to be a bipartisan issue. Americans across all demographics strongly support water infrastructure investment. Together, we can speak with one voice and ask public officials to take responsibility for our water today and tomorrow.
The call to action: Imagine a Day Without Water is a chance to learn more about your water.
- The systems that deliver water to homes and businesses are vital but often out of sight. Imagine a Day Without Water is an opportunity to learn about your water. Where does it come from? Where does it go after you use it? Are your local water utilities or providers face challenges like an aging system, drought, floods, pollution, or other problems?
More information and resources can be found at: https://imagineadaywithoutwater.org/
