Despite this protection, contaminated water continued to pose health risks for Washingtonians, including President Abraham Lincoln’s beloved son Willie, who died in the White House in 1862 from typhoid contracted from contaminated drinking water.
This latest incident, resulting from a loss of pressure at a pumping station, along with reports of toxic algae outbreaks in drinking water sources from Oregon to Florida is a wake up call: We need to invest more in the nation’s water infrastructure, including our rivers, and we must uphold federal clean water safeguards.
There are 240,000 water main breaks across the country each year, and 6 billion gallons of treated water are lost each year to leaking pipes.
Nationally, rivers provide more than two-thirds of our drinking water supplies.
Fueled by phosphorous and nitrogen in fertilizer running off farmlands, the algae can be toxic if consumed, causes skin and respiratory irritation, and can be fatal to dogs that swim in or drink the water.
In Ohio, Gov.
In addition to supporting water infrastructure funding, Congress must uphold the Clean Water Rule, which protects small streams and wetlands — the drinking water sources for one in three Americans — from pollution.
As was recognized 186 years ago when Franklin Square was protected, water is life.
It is essential to our health, our economy and our future.
The warning signs this summer are a call to action for better clean water protections nationwide.