Keeping Our Waters Clean
More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, and is vital to supporting all types of life on the planet. Despite this, a large number of water supplies around the world are tainted with a variety of pollutants and refuse that makes them unusable or can cause hazards to the animals and people that rely on it.
If there were ever a time to give some consideration to how we take care of water, it would be during this month. August is National Water Quality Month. Although it should be practiced every month of the year, Water Quality Month is the perfect time to think about what we could be doing to keep our waters clean.
You may be wondering, are we really treating our water that badly? The answer is yes. There is much more that we could be doing – and should be – to keep our water clean. As a matter of fact, in many developed countries, as much as 70 percent of industrial waste is poured into local waters, impacting the available local water supplies, according to UN statistics.
Here in the United States, the water conditions are almost as dire. The National Parks Conservation Association reports that 52 percent of our 397 national parks have waters that are classified as “impaired” using the standards of the Clean Water Act. Further, the group Conserve Energy Future says that almost half of America’s lakes – 46 percent – and 40 percent of our rivers are so polluted that they are considered to be too unhealthy to allow swimming or fishing or even, for that matter, habitable for aquatic wildlife.
So what can we as individuals do to try and combat this senseless destruction of our waterways? For one, you can volunteer to clean the lakes and rivers near your town by picking up trash along the waterways. We can also be vocal about these issues to our local community leaders.
We can also save our water by taking shorter showers, washing the dishes only when we have a full load, and avoiding flushing junk like paper towels down our toilets.
At Woody’s Watersports, we are doing our part to contribute to cleaner waterways, too, including keeping our amazing fleet of watercraft well maintained while also using clean fluids to operate them. We have also ensured that our personal watercrafts run their best without releasing fuel or other byproducts into the water.
Not only do we enjoy saving the water, but we also enjoy playing on the water! We offer jet ski rentals that are great fun all throughout the year. Make your reservations today!