Every year on September 18, starting in 2003, World Water Monitoring Day, or World Water Quality Monitoring Day, is celebrated.
This environmental holiday, established on the initiative of the American Clean Water Foundation, has now become an information and educational program aimed at raising public awareness of the problems of the planet's water resources and participating in protection from pollution. The program provides an opportunity for people to carry out basic monitoring of the condition of local reservoirs themselves and is supported by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the International Water Association (IWA).
World Water Monitoring Day was originally planned to be celebrated on October 18, in honor of the date of adoption by the US Congress – October 18, 1972 – « Clean Water Act». This document is devoted to the issues of restoration and protection of national water resources. But over time, the holiday gained fame and began to be held in other countries. Therefore, since 2007, its date has been postponed a month earlier, to facilitate the participation of those countries in whose territory water in reservoirs already freezes at this time of year.
The traditional event of this Day is – taking water samples in different bodies of water on the planet to assess its quality and safety for the lives of people and living organisms. Those interested are invited to conduct a series of simple tests to determine water quality in local rivers, lakes and other sources, and publish the results on the World Water Quality Monitoring Day (WWMD) website. Moreover, the test period starts on March 22, World Water Day.
In Russia, monitoring of water bodies is carried out regularly by employees of the Centers for Hygiene and Epidemiology, who work in each subject of the Russian Federation and are part of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor). And the requirements for tap water in Russia are regulated by SanPiN standards (sanitary rules and regulations).
Every year more and more people take part in the celebration of Water Monitoring Day. According to the WWMD website, in 2011, 340 thousand people from 77 countries took part in the Day’s events. And today, 1.8 million people from 150 countries monitor their reservoirs. Using a simple set of tests, both adults and children can examine the quality of nearby bodies of water, including water temperature, acidity (pH), transparency (cloudiness) and dissolved oxygen (DO). The results are then shared with participating communities around the world through the WWMC site.
Lake Baikal – is one of the cleanest reservoirs on the planet (Photo: sbelov, licensed by depositphotos.com)
Water is an element without which life on Earth would not appear. The human body, like all living things, cannot exist without life-giving moisture and consists of 3/4 of water. Water quality requirements make it possible to protect people from pathogenic bacteria and viruses, so attention to its quality – is an important task for every inhabitant of the planet who thinks about their health and longevity.
Also on World Water Monitoring Day, I would like to talk about the cleanest bodies of water in the world. For example, Lake Baikal – is a lake of tectonic origin, located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia of Russia. This is the deepest lake on the planet and the largest natural reservoir of fresh water, which is very transparent – at a certain time of year transparency reaches 40 meters. Also among the cleanest bodies of water in the world is the Five Flowers Lake in China. The water in it is so clean that you can see the trunks of fallen trees at the bottom. And water acquires a specific color, which changes depending on the time of year, thanks to mineral salts and water plants. They also note the cleanliness and beauty of Peyto Lake in Canada. It is located within Banff National Park and is fed by a glacier.
Postcard «September 18 — World Water Monitoring Day»