It’s time to give some thought to water
Inever thought much about water growing up. I don’t remember anyone telling me to hydrate. I actually remember people telling me not to hydrate. Back then, coaches would drill the idea of “no water” to athletes. It was designed to make you tough and get you in shape. It was a terrible approach by today’s standards, yet I don’t remember a single player dropping from dehydration or going to the hospital. Don’t ask me how or why.
And as for bottled water, forget it. Back then the only water you drank was from the good old kitchen spigot; nothing like the sweet smell of chlorine in every drop. One other great use we discovered was running through our lawn sprinkler to cool off. It was our version of a water park back then.
The water I remember best was the beautiful clear water of the city’s Cedar Beach Pool. I loved every minute of my public pool. “Cedar,” as we called it, meant blasting music on the outdoor speakers, the alluring odor of Coppertone and what seemed like thousands of happy, loud people. Among all the noise was the periodic lifeguard whistle to keep everyone in line. Occasionally my mom would give me 50 cents and I’d get a hot dog, cherry snow cone and two pretzel sticks on my way home. It was every bit of heaven on earth.
Turns out, the water we use and wastewater we treat will play a big part in our future. Believe it or not, our country uses more than 330 billion gallons of water per day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That is the equivalent of filling up the Empire State Building 1,163 times. Wow, that is a lot of water.
While we go about our daily routines in the Lehigh Valley, know that the Lehigh County Authority pumps about 40 million gallons of high quality water every day under our feet. As we continue to grow at a rate more rapid than most regions in the country, delivering that water supply will be hugely important, as we could soon be at a tipping point. We are dealing in many cases with infrastructure built more than 100 years ago. Supplying our new arrivals, as well as growing companies, could be a challenge.
Treating all the water we use in our homes and businesses, well, that’s something we need to address sooner rather than later. Our treatment systems will be close to capacity and an upgrade investment is for sure in the cards.
So, hats off to the incredible community leaders of our past who created systems that have accommodated our growth. Their initial foresight and monetary investments produced the infrastructure necessary for us to improve our ever-growing economy and quality of life.
Now it’s time for us to step up and address the investments needed to provide our children’s and grandchildren’s future. After all, if our forefathers were responsible enough, why shouldn’t we be?
So, next time you water your lawn, flush your toilet or wash your dishes, know that while water thankfully rains down from the heavens, it needs to be cherished and used wisely here on earth. After all, what would our world be without summer fun at the local pool?
Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at tonyi@lehighvalleychamber.org.