DEQ.utah.gov - Reducing Water Pollution

Reducing Water Pollution

Why Should I Care?

Utah is a desert, receiving only about 15 inches of rain yearly. We must protect what little water we get! Some of it fills underground formations, called aquifers, and becomes groundwater.

Groundwater provides 50 percent of the Wasatch Front's drinking water supply and 90 percent for non-Wasatch Front communities. It is very easy to pollute. Polluted groundwater is very costly, always difficult and sometimes impossible to clean up. One quart of gasoline can make one million gallons of groundwater unfit to drink.

How Does Pollution Occur?

Protecting our groundwater means understanding how it can become polluted. Groundwater can be polluted when chemicals or other contaminants are releasedabove or into an aquifer. The more sensitive areas occur near groundwater collection areas at the bases of mountains.

What You Can Do To Protect Our Water

Use Water Wisely - Use it sparingly. Check for plumbing leaks, use water-saving showerheads and faucets and water lawns mornings or evenings.
Properly Dispose of Chemicals - Properly dispose of household chemicals like cleaning supplies, paints, solvents and lawn and garden chemicals. Call your local Health Department for disposal options. Don't pour waste chemicals onto the ground or into sinks or toilets, especially if you're on a septic tank.
Keep Your Septic Tank Safe -When inappropriate chemicals are poured into septic tanks they can pass through the system without treatment directly into your drinking water supply. They may also affect normal septic system operation by killing micro-organisms that help treat your waste water.
Use Fertilizers, Herbicides and Pesticides Properly - Apply chemicals according to label instructions and avoid runoff. Do not exceed recommended application rates.
"Put Used Oil in Its Place" - If you change your own motor oil, you can recycle it free at more than 200 Utah collection centers! Place used oil in a clean, leakproof, reusable container with a tight-fitting cap. Don't mix oil with water, gasoline, antifreeze, solvents, or other substances. Call 1-800-458-0145 for a collection center near you.
Don't Use the Drain!! - Do not dispose of automotive chemicals (gasoline, antifreeze, waste oil, brake fluid, cleaning solvents, etc.), paints or other pollutants into floor drains, storm drains or onto the ground. Many floor drains and storm drains discharge directly above groundwater. Wastes discharged onto the ground often seep into groundwater.

Water Quality Resources

Lakes, Rivers, Streams Underground Water: Division of Water Quality 1-801-538-6146

Drinking Water: Division of Drinking Water 1-801-536-4200

General Information: Water Conservancy District 1-801-266-7100

Used Oil Collection: Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste 1-800-458-0145

Household Hazardous Chemicals
-Salt Lake County - Year Round: 1-801-534-4588
-Weber/Morgan Counties: 1-801-399-8169
-All Other Counties: Local Health Department

Used Antifreeze Environmental Hotline: 1-800-458-0145

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The Official Web site of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality

Reducing Water Pollution

Why Should I Care?

How Does Pollution Occur?

What You Can Do To Protect Our Water

Water Quality Resources