The American Water Works Association is celebrating its inaugural Source Water Protection Week from Sept. 26 – Oct. 2. Source water is the raw, untreated supply of surface or groundwater used for current or future drinking water needs.

Utah’s drinking water comes from either surface water (lakes, reservoirs, rivers) or groundwater (wells or springs), altogether 1,850 sources. Utah’s larger cities generally use surface water and wells. Smaller towns depend on springs that serve the system all year long or wells during the summer months.

Protecting source water is a proactive approach to safeguarding and maintaining the quality of drinking water sources and is especially important in times of drought when water is scarce.

How you can help protect the source

We can all help conserve the watersheds that are the source of our water, protect our shared water resources from pollution, practice water conservation, become involved in local water issues and plan to protect water for future communities.

For more information, watch Whiteboard Animation on Nutrient Runoff video.