Today is Imagine a Day Without Water, a national initiative organized by the folks at the Value of Water Campaign. Each October, water advocates around the U.S. urge residents to think about how much they rely on water for their daily routines. From showering and teeth-brushing to cooking and drinking, water is essential.
In the past we’ve used this national recognition day to partner with and promote local coffee shops and breweries. But like everything about 2020, we’re doing it a little differently. This year we turn our attention to the hundreds of water workers right here in Hampton Roads who have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure our families can social distance. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 depends on handwashing and social distancing; two things made possible in part by tap water and the infrastructure systems maintained by our region’s water and wastewater utilities.
Our water infrastructure and its operators ensure the safe supply of water to our homes and businesses, to our hospitals and grocery stores. Without this critical service, even the most essential operations would cease to function. Our water systems and the water workers behind them have worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the pandemic to serve the community. An intricate maze made up of miles of pipes run underneath our feet to deliver this life-sustaining resource to the faucets in our homes and businesses. While our water infrastructure is mostly out of sight, the essential service it provides our communities should never be overlooked. Like hospital staff and grocery store workers, the job of water workers has never stopped and has allowed many others to stay at home to help decrease the spread of COVID-19. Water workers are essential.
As we recognize Imagine a Day Without Water 2020, we raise a glass in thanks to all the water professionals working behind the scenes in Hampton Roads. Water is the lifeblood of our communities and in this time of great uncertainty for our nation and our world, we can rest assured knowing that tap water is always there for us when we need it. Cheers!
