You might not think that anything you do inside your home could have much of an impact on the Everglades, but it often does! How? We use, and need to dispose of, a lot of water in and around the house. If your home or business is connected to a central sewer system, wastewater from your shower, toilet, dishes and laundry is sent to a regional wastewater treatment plant. If not, you likely have a septic tank in your yard.
Older or improperly maintained sewage and septic systems can leak. Those kinds of leaks can contaminate our interconnected water systems, from individual yards and neighborhood or community drinking water wellfields, lakes or waterways to the regional systems that flow eventually into wetlands, acquifers and the oceans, bays and estuaries surrounding Florida.
Water supplies are finite. That means that the overall quantity of water on the planet never really changes, but its location, cost to obtain and quality do change. When more people need to "tap into" that supply, the share per person gets smaller. People are drawing from the same sources that wildlife and wild places depend on. And as the way we use water and land adds pollutants, or increasing demands force us to draw from less easily found water sources, the costs of water increase.
Conserving water can lessen the load on sewer and septic systems, help protect the environment and make existing freshwater supplies last longer.
Other special uses can also have a sizable impact on our water resources. Examples? Building or remodeling your home, or having horses or other livestock on your land can also positively or negatively impact natural and man-made water systems.
Debris in your yard, how you use pesticides and herbicides, and how you create and maintain your irrigation systems, pool and landscape can also all have an impact on our water resources. Read more.
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