Toledo Celebrates National Drinking Water Week May 5-11

Toledo celebrates National Drinking Water Week May 5-11 with a Spring Water Clinic on May 11 and by urging residents to learn more about their drinking water and how to help protect Lake Erie.

“We are investing $500 million to modernize our water treatment plant with state-of-the-art technology,” said Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz. “We are concurrently helping to protect Lake Erie through innovations at our wastewater treatment facility, effective operation of our collection systems, and proactive environmental services.”

Toledo has been selected as a Blue Accounting Source Water Initiative Showcase Community to help deliver a big picture view of progress toward reaching five goals for source water protection: nutrient impacts, management strategies and planning, spill prevention and response, contaminants of emerging concern, and binational consistency. The Blue Accounting Source Water Initiative is a partnership between the Great Lakes Commission and The Nature Conservancy. Learn more at https://www.blueaccounting.org/issue/source-water.

Residents can learn more about their drinking water and Toledo’s high standards by reading the annual Toledo Water Quality Report at this link: https://toledo.oh.gov/services/public-utilities/water-treatment/drinking-water-quality-information/.

Mayor Kapszukiewicz urged all Toledoans to become more involved with water and source water protections during National Drinking Water Week and beyond by considering some of the following:

• Pledge to reduce your impact on the watershed at www.toledolakeerie.clearchoicescleanwater.org.
• Help Partners for Clean Streams clean-up Cullen Park at 4526 North Summit St., 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, May 10. More information at: http://partnersforcleanstreams.org/events.
• Attend the free Spring Water Clinic, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, May 11 at the Secor Road Home Depot to talk with utility professionals, learn more about our drinking water, and find out how to help protect Lake Erie.
• Learn more about rain gardens and how theyremove up to 90 percent of nutrients and chemicals and up to 80 percent of sediments from rainwater runoff at http://www.tlcraingardeninitiative.org/rgi-events/.
• Keep fats, oils, and grease out of sewer pipes to protect homes, businesses, and the environment. More information at: https://toledo.oh.gov/media/2462/toledofogpamphlet2.pdf.

The Toledo-Lucas County Sustainability Commission recommends:

• Participating in local waterway cleanup projects.
• Disposing of liquids such as paint and motor oil properly rather than dumping down storm drains.
• Conserving water.
• Installing green infrastructure features such as a rain garden, green roof, or porous pavement on your property.