On Oct. 12, more than 700 organizations across the country urged their communities to ‘Imagine a Day Without Water,’ as the Value of Water Campaign spearheaded its third annual day of advocacy and education to help raise awareness about the severe challenges facing water systems from coast to coast.
First launched in 2015, the idea behind ‘Imagine a Day Without Water’ is to promote the notion that water is essential to daily life and the nation’s economy, but most Americans take safe and reliable water access for granted. Every economic sector relies on water. A single nationwide day without water service would put $43.5 billion of economic activity at risk. Hospitals and firefighters require water to keep society healthy and safe.
Imagine a Day Without Water connects elected officials, drinking water and wastewater providers, community leaders, business and labor groups, policy experts, advocacy organizations and infrastructure experts in an effort to better to educate the public about the water infrastructure crisis currently facing the United States.
Organized by the Value of Water Campaign, hundreds of participating organizations have taken part in events aimed at raising awareness about the crucial need for investment to ensure that no community in America is left without water and the infrastructure that brings it to and from homes and businesses.
“Today we stand together and say that no American community should ever have to go a day without water,” said Radhika Fox, director of the Value of Water Campaign and CEO of the US Water Alliance. “The problems that face our water systems are complex-they will not be free or easy to solve. Over 80 percent of Americans believe that rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure should be a top priority for our elected officials. Now is the time to act.”
The problems that face U.S. drinking water and wastewater systems are multi-faceted. The infrastructure is aging and in need of investment, having gone underfunded for decades. Drought, flooding and climate change stress water and wastewater systems. For that reason, the Value of Water Campaign hosts Imagine a Day Without Water to give everyone who cares about water a chance to speak with one voice, on one day, about the need to invest in these critical systems.
On ‘Imagine a Day Without Water,’ across the country, water utilities opened their doors and invited the public in for tours of facilities, breweries hosted beer tasting events to showcase recycled water, schools held art contests, and much more. In 2016, nearly 500 organizations across the country and thousands of individuals are came together for this annual advocacy day to raise awareness about the critical resource every human relies on every day — water. A full list of participating organizations for 2017 is available here.
