I've only got a few minutes to spare, what should I do?

If you have 5 minutes ...Read your drinking water Consumer Confidence Report. Each year you should receive in the mail a short report (Consumer Confidence Report or CCR) from your water supplier that tells where your water comes from and what pollutants were found in it. Among other information, your CCR will provide details about the likely source of contaminants in the supply. In 5 short minutes, you will learn what types of pollutants you may need to be concerned about and where (generally) they are coming from. Your CCR may be available online. If you have 30 minutes ...Track down your Source Water Assessment. Each public water system should have a Source Water Assessment. An assessment provides information about where your drinking water comes from and what kinds of threats the water supply faces. After spending 30 minutes with your assessment, you'll know exactly where your drinking water comes from, what pollution sources threaten the quality of your drinking water, and how vulnerable your source water is to those threats. For information on how to find your assessment, see Chapter 2. For advice on how to read through your assessment, see Chapter 3.

If you have 45 minutes ...Write a letter to the editor. If you are concerned about what you find in your Consumer Confidence Report or your Source Water Assessment, chances are your neighbors will be too. A letter to the editor is a great way to get the word out to real people. Briefly summarize the threats to your drinking water source and suggest an action or actions the community can take to make a difference. The actions might be something an individual can do, such as reducing pesticide use, or something the community must work together on, such as passing a new ordinance to protect riparian areas. When your letter appears in the paper, you will have educated hundreds or thousands of people about the need to protect source water. See Chapter 9 for advice and a sample letter to the editor. If you have an hour ...Talk with others in your community. If you have the luxury of an entire hour, why not spend that hour sharing what you've learned and finding out what others know? An hour spent talking with others can result in days or weeks worth of activity in your community as you generate interest in source water protection. Call local health care providers, land trusts, conservationists, or elected officials. Ask them what they know about the quality of your community's drinking water. Ask them if they are already working on drinking water protection or if they might be interested in doing so. Consider having a community meeting to discuss the findings of your Source Water Assessment and to design an action plan for protecting your source water. See Chapters 5 and 6 for ideas on how to reach out to others in your community.