Beckman, David S. “The Threats to Our Drinking Water.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Aug. 2014. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.

In the United States people generally do not have to worry about the tap water they drink. However, water supply have been interrupted twice this year. First, in January 300,000 people were exposed to contaminated water supply in Charleston West Virginia. The water was contaminated after a chemical leaked from a ruptured storage tank into El River. Second, 400,000 people were said to be unsafe in Toledo, Ohio. In Lake Erie, there has been a presence of microcystin. Microcystin is a toxin released by algae blooms. Due to this issue a lot of citizens have been going to the stores to buy bottled water. The United States is aware of the fact that water pollution is not a “set it and forget it.” These two events are refocusing the United States on how important it is to protect our waters.

I think that the United States should have not waited for these major events to occur to realize that our water is valuable. There is pollution all over the United States. Water pollution is affecting many people. I think one way to prevent a leakage it to check on it frequently. If people were checking it once every two weeks, they should change it to once a week. It’s small things like this that can help our country from having polluted water. We can’t wait until water is already polluted to do something about it. We should do something ahead of time to prevent it from happening. If we had done something before, 1,000s of people would not have to depend on bottled water, which is something else that is harmful to our environment.