Blue Thumb basics
Each person's actions can affect our drinking water supplies. By following the Blue Thumb basics- conserve, protect and get involved - you are choosing to help keep our water resources healthy, our reservoirs full and our decisions water-responsible. Every Blue Thumb action yu take adds up for the good of drinking water. Here are some ways you can help.

Good Water Measures
Use cold water heated on the stove or in the microwave instead of hot water from the tap to prepare baby formula and convenience foods that call for hot water. Hot tap water can pick up metals from plumbing pipes or solder.

Do not drink water directly from a pond, creek, stream, river or lake without bringing it to a rolling boil for one minute. Let the water cool before drinking it.

Consider the source. The safety of bottled water and tap water initially depends on the source of the water. Monitoring and testing ultimately determine the quality of the finished product. The 1996 Reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act requires that bottled water be monitored and tested in the same rigorous manner as tap water.

Know the facts about home water treatment devices. There is no single, cure-all filtration system or technique. Different water filters remove different substances from the water. Some people use home water filters to improve the taste, smell and/or appearanceof their tap water, but it may not make the water safer or healthier to drink. All home water treatment devices require regular maintenance, which if improperly performed can result in water quality problems.

Take used motor oil and other automobile fluids to a service station that advertises collection for reprocessing. A single U.S. quart or one liter of motor oil can pollute 250,000 U.S. gallons/950,000 liters of water.
Use rechargeable batteries. Full of toxic metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, household batteries should not be thrown into your regular trash.

Use a manual method to rid cracks in the concrete of grass or weeds instead of pouring on gasoline. One U.S. gallon or 3.8 liters of gasoline can pollute 750,000 gallons/2,850,000 liters of water

Take leftover pool chemicals, wood preservatives, photographic chemicals and paint strippers to a hazardous waste center for disposal.

Many items commonly found in the home, such as floor polish, oven cleaner, furniture polish, spot remover, metal polish and car wax should never be poured down the sink or thrown out with the trash. Save them for a hazardous waste collection day.

Support protection projects for wetland areas near your source of drinking water. These areas help keep our water clean.

Have private wells tested regularly for contaminants.

Have abandoned wells sealed by a licensed contractor to prevent groundwater contamination.

Have septic systems pumped out every one to three years by a qualified service.

Replace any underground tanks on your property with aboveground storage.