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September 18th, 2023 is World Water Monitoring Day! Smart Rain is celebrating World Water Monitoring Day along with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) to bring awareness to growing issues surrounding our water sources.
Smart Rain typically focuses on reducing water waste, but for World Water Monitoring Day, we are going to shift our focus and talk about the importance of keeping our waters clean and uncontaminated.
Unfortunately, the world population hasn’t been too kind to its water sources. Pollution is still a big problem. Technology is being developed to try to mitigate the effects of pollution. But as the world becomes more industrialized, it seems harder and harder to keep our water clean. This is why this day exists: to bring water monitoring awareness.
It’s time to bring awareness. Let’s take a look at a few examples of some of the horrible ways in which humans have treated their water sources, and why water monitoring is becoming increasingly more important.
Mistakes of A Modern Society
Certain industrial processes are scientifically proven to improve aspects of a human’s quality of life, increase our lifespans, and assist in helping us develop as a species to new heights of achievement that historical science fiction writers could not have ever imagined.
While some processes have led to wonderful new heights, and even helped to reduce waste, the unfortunate truth is that for all industry, there isn’t a process to eliminate waste completely. Waste that ends up in the water that we all use.
While there are some treatments that can be done to sewage and gray water, there are certain products that cannot be removed. Products that are known to have horrendous effects on the human body and brain. And this is an important reason why we need water monitoring.
Some cases of companies intentionally getting rid of waste in public waterways have been found out, and publicized, even movies have been made about them. Yet, they are still doing it. Paying a fine and continuing to make money despite the efforts to stop them. Our complacency allows them to continue. Water monitoring can help us fix this.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (or PFOAs) are chemical substances (“forever chemicals”) that were developed by 3M but sold to DuPont who used it as Teflon in cookware and dumped the waste and byproduct outside their plant. 1.7 million gallons of PFOAs were dumped and ended up in water sources. This eventually caused horrible effects in humans and animals including birth defects and several kinds of cancers and dementia.
Despite being sued, and fined, there are still some products that contain this material. Teflon once was a substance that was found on every frying pan as a non-stick surface agent. According to a study by Environmental Health Perspectives, 98% of the U.S. population’s DNA has been permanently affected by this contaminant. It's time to put emphasis on water monitoring.
Another True Nightmare
In 1993 another environmental disaster was discovered that changed a lot about California. In 2000 Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her role in Erin Brockovich, an unfortunate true story in which the company PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Company) had been found using Chromium 6, a known endocrine disruptor. It was used as an anti-corrosive agent but was being dumped into unlined ponds that found its way into ground water.
This water was being used through wells for drinking water and for irrigation, causing the population that was consuming it to have significant and severe endocrine system issues including certain types of cancers because Chromium 6 is severely carcinogenic. Experts claim that the waste is only 70% cleaned up as it takes an average of 30-50 years to clean toxic spills.
The movie was based off a real whistle blower named Erin Brockovich who has now made a career of litigating corporations who have been found purposefully generating hazards with industrial substances, instead of paying to either update their tech, or dispose of the hazardous chemicals appropriately.
We need to put a priority on water monitoring.
Awareness, Water Monitoring, and Grass-Roots Progress
Many of these disasters may have nothing to do with any of us. We might not have been born yet or we were too young to take a stand. However, what we can do is be aware. We can grow where we are planted and make the decisions now to do what little we can to help.
World Water Monitoring Day is internationally recognized day for education. It also spreads public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources. It seeks to empower citizens of the world to carry out basic monitoring of local bodies of water.
The way that we treat our water will impact our water sources. And the way we treat our water sources will impact us. You may have heard the adage: we all live downstream. Smart Rain finds this a fitting statement for World Water Monitoring Day. If we all realize that the way we treat water will affect our own water sources, we will take better care that we don’t pollute those water sources.
Smart Rain Style
Smart Rain is developing products that are meant to conserve water. We understand that water is a life-giving resource that we will never be able to live without. It would be irresponsible to only consider water-use in our water conservation efforts, and not to consider the quality of our water sources. Smart Rain makes water monitoring easy.
But what can you do today? Visit www.monitorwater.org. There, you will find resources to learn about your own water sources. You’ll be able to participate in monitoring your own water sources by ordering a water monitoring test kit. You can also see what others in your area have done to monitor your local water.
At the end of the day, whether you are monitoring water in order to cut down on your water use, or you are measuring the quality of your local water sources, water monitoring is essential for all humans. We need to take the extra time and effort that is required to ensure that we have clean and safe water sources. If the task of water monitoring ever seems too daunting, just remember—we all live downstream.
