Background Information on Drinking Water
Where Does Our Drinking Water Come From?
Our drinking water comes from two major sources: surface water and groundwater. Surface water includes rivers, lakes, streams, and springs. Groundwater includes aquifers, also known as underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). Aquifers are one of our most valuable resources and the source of most of our drinking water, even though you cannot see them and may not even know they are there!
Rain and snow melt add water (recharge) into the porous rock of the aquifer. The rate of recharge is not the same for all aquifers, which must be considered when pumping water from a well. Pumping too much water too fast draws down the water in the aquifer and causes a well to yield less and less water and eventually to run dry. In fact, pumping a well too fast can also cause a nearby well to run dry if both wells are pumping from the same aquifer.
Our Drinking Water is a Precious Resource
Click here to visit the Navajo Safe Water website hosted by the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Water Access Coordination Group (WACG). Their mission is to identify, acquire, prioritize, and use available resources to increase access to quality water for tribal homes. The WACG is using available data to identify and design interventions to guide the mission.
Most people take drinking water for granted. Many people assume that water will always come out of their kitchen tap and will always be safe to drink. It is the job of the water system operator to get the water from the source to the consumer's tap and ensure that it is safe. This may involve pumping water out of the ground or diverting a stream, removing harmful contaminants through filtration and treatment and pumping the resulting water through miles and miles of pipe. The PWSSP ensures that these actions are performed correctly.
Water in and on the ground is a natural resource, but getting the water from the source to people’s homes and making sure that it is safe takes work and costs money. That’s why the provision of clean piped water to people’s homes is not free.
CLICK HERE to download the Public Water System Inventory Sheet (coming soon)
CLICK HERE to download the NNEPA-PWSSP’s Emergency Water Supply Plan (coming soon)