Educational Resources
What Can I Do?
Learn about how to protect our most important resource, water. At the Trinity River Authority, we have educational resources for all ages. There is always something new to learn such as, how your water gets cleaned, how to conserve water at home, or what not to put down the drain. You can also refer to the related pages for age-specific materials.
Conservation
Conserving water is everyone’s responsibility. Although there’s a lot of water on Earth, 99% of it is saltwater. The other 1% is freshwater which we like to use for drinking, cooking, gardening, cleaning, etc. To ensure we can enjoy freshwater for many centuries to come, you can use these small tips to conserve water: Take showers instead of baths, avoid running water while brushing your teeth, collect rainwater for gardening, avoid watering during drought, and more. If everyone can make small changes to conserve water, it will create a better future!
To learn more, click here for indoor tips.
For outdoor tips, click here.
Pollution Prevention
Pollutants are a problem the water industry continues to deal with. They come from many different sources but the most common ones are actually preventable. One worth focusing on is improper disposal of fats, oils, and grease down drains. Instead of throwing them down the drain, reuse it if it's clean! Most cooking oils can be used about three times before it burns. Once you can no longer use it, wait for it to cool off then pour it in a sealable container to throw in the trash. Using this strategy, you don't waste cooking oil and you can avoid clogging your drains too. Another pollutant due to improper disposal is caused by flushable wipes, feminine products, and anything else flushed that’s not toilet paper. In fact, the only things that should ever be flushed are the 3 P's (poo, pee, and toilet paper). Anything that can cause clogs and litter in our wastewater system will have to be manually removed to trash. Help us focus on keeping your water clean rather than unclogging pipes.
Watershed Protection
Another source of pollution is water runoff which happens when pollutants drain down street sewers and feed into the nearest body of water. The pollutants in runoff could come from pet waste, car emissions, litter, fertilizer, etc. These pollutants are not good for our water, and they can cause serious repercussions in our environment too. For example, fertilizer runoff can create algae blooms in bodies of water, causing the water to be extremely hazardous. Litter runoff can also contain plastic which can be harmful to animals if ingested. Always be mindful of what you leave outside as it can make its way to our water by watershed and be sure to properly dispose of any waste.
Learn More
TRWD Texas Major Rivers: https://www.twdb.texas.gov/conservation/education/kids/MajorRivers/
TCEQ Take Care of Texas: https://takecareoftexas.org/home
Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.epa.gov/education
Water IQ: https://wateriq.org/index.html
Water Environment Federation: https://www.wef.org/resources/for-the-public/k-12-resources/