TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Keeping Toledo's drinking water safe can happen on the large scale, like at the city's Collins Park Water Treatment Plant. But there's a new push to get residents to do simple things at home.
A new website launched Tuesday shows Toledoans what you can be doing at home to make our water clean and safe.
"We should think about Earth Day every day," said Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson as she helped kicked off the "Clear Choices: Clean Water" program at the city's Division of Environmental Services.
The city teamed up with TMACOG and the Stormwater Coalition to design with a website to show ways folks at home to cut back the storm water and pollutants getting into the watershed.
"Every little bit helps, just as every little bit that harms," Mayor Hicks-Hudson added. "If we reverse it by taking home those small steps, that continually impact our lives, but are really going to help the Earth in general."
The website shows visitors how to plant a rain garden to soak up stormwater and nutrients and how to reconsider how you treat your lawn.
"So what we're really pushing, through the information on the website, is working with your soil and water district or the Ohio State Extension office to have your soil tested and determine if you need fertilizer to begin with," said Kari Gerwin, a water quality planner for TMACOG.
Kids are also encouraged to get involved by shutting off the water while brushing their teeth and cleaning up their pet's dog droppings right away.
Gerwin said, "If a rainstorm would come along and hit the pet waste, it would run off into our storm drains, carrying with it all that bacteria and the nutrients that go along with it."
The Clear Choices: Clean Water website is fully interactive. It will even show who made a pledge and in what region they live in.
