GOOD TO KNOW
To ensure our tap water is safe for everyone to drink, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires water utilities to routinely test the drinking water for certain contaminants like bacteria, pesticides and heavy metals. Our water is continuously tested and monitored to ensure EPA standards are met.
We don’t often stop to consider the value of tap water, but it plays an important role in our everyday lives. Tap water delivers public health, support for our growing economy, protection from the threat of fire, and the overall quality of life we enjoy as citizens of Hampton Roads – all at an affordable price. You can pay a dollar or more for a bottle of “designer” water, or, for that same dollar, you could refill a 20-oz. sports bottle from any Hampton Roads faucet over 1,000 times. Your dollar goes a long way when it comes to tap water.
The Container Recycling Institute estimates that 22 billion disposable water bottles end up in landfills each year. Since plastics aren’t biodegradable, the bottles stick around for hundreds of years. Not only that, but only about 1/4 of the plastic bottles used by Americans gets recycled. Many end up on roadways and in parks, oceans, streams, and lakes, polluting waterways and posing a risk to wildlife.
GOOD TO DO
- Don’t waste money buying bottled water. Fill a reusable water bottle and take fresh, clean tap water with you wherever you go.
Put your knowledge to the test. Test your know-how against other Hampton Roads residents and see if you know what’s good to know about tap water by watching our “What Do You Know About Water?” Video Series.
