Water

As you are sitting here looking at the computer screen, think about this question: "how have you already used water today?"

• Did you start the day by having a shower or a bath?
• Did you wash the breakfast dishes?
• Did you clean your teeth and rinse your mouth with water?
• Did you have a glass of water to drink?
• Have you flushed the toilet?
• Did you go for a swim before school?

We all need water to survive and we regularly use water to enjoy ourselves. Our freshwater and marine environments support a large number of leisure activities, for example, swimming, fishing, waterskiing, surfing, snorkelling and sailing. Our 'aquatic environments' are also important for many other activities, such as harvesting fish and seafood for us to eat.

Unfortunately, the solid and liquid waste people drop on the ground or dump in drains eventually ends up in a water environment somewhere. Rain washes pollutants and waste from our streets into drains (for example pipes underground) and then into our streams, rivers, bays, beaches and the ocean. This waste and pollution may include animal droppings, oil, petrol, litter (for example plastic bags, cans, cigarette butts), metals, glass, car washing detergents, pesticides (from garden sprays), as well as soil and leaves. These pollutants end up in the places where we swim, go boating or fish.

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