NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — This week is Drinking Water Week.
It’s an opportunity for residents in Hampton Roads to know about how they get safe drinking water, and where it comes from.
For Anna Tucker and her son, Gregory, they prefer to use tap water.
“In Yorktown, it’s pretty clean and good,” Tucker said.
The same goes for Newport News resident Denise Vaughn.
“It’s easily taken for granted that you’re going to turn on the tap, and have safe, quality water that keeps you and your family well,” Vaughn said.
This week, they’re drinking in knowledge about their water and provider, Newport News Waterworks, as part of Drinking Water Week.
Katie Cullipher is with askHRgreen.org, helping educate and inform Hampton Roads residents about clean drinking water.
According to askHRgreen.org, on average, just less than 100 million gallons of tap water per day.
“Drinking water is the lifeblood of our communities,” Cullipher said. “There are people working around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to make sure that our water is safe.”
Newport News Waterworks Director Yann Le Gouellec told News 3 roughly 280 people, including lab techs, operators, maintenance teams, and foresters, work around the clock to provide a critical resource to 410,000 customers across the Peninsula.
“Our goal is to make sure that everybody has a water that they can trust,” Le Gouellec said. “No water, no beer. No water, no coffee. No water, no flushing the toilet. No water, no hospitals.”
So what’s the process look like from start to finish?
“People will just turn on the tap, [but] how often do people really start thinking about where is that tap water coming from,” Le Gouellec asked.
Newport News Waterworks maintains 5 reservoirs with environmental buffers to curb contamination.
According to Newport News Waterworks, from there, large pumps transport more than 35 million gallons of water a day to two water treatment plants.
At the plants, large screens remove leaves and large debris, and particles are removed from the supply.
The water is also disinfected to keep you from getting sick, and filtered and treated to prevent tooth decay, pipe corrosion, and preserve water as it travels to your home or business.
Le Gouellec said they also do testing and offer customers water quality info.
“It is incumbent on water facilities to actually advertise what we’re doing,” Le Gouellec said.
Meanwhile, experts say if you have any questions to contact your water provider so you know what goes in to making sure your drinking water is safe.
