Highland Beach Home Water Quality | 6 Steps You Can Take To Protect Our Water Supply

Highland Beach was incorporated in 1949 as a result of an impasse related to drinking water. While the divorce from Boca Raton proper was velveteen, the unwillingness of neighboring municipalities to support the improvement of Highland Beach's water supply is why this tiny seaside town has its own name in the first place. In fact, Highland Beach City Hall is home to the town's own water treatment plant. Highland Beach's identity is inexotricable from water - both saline and potable. There is much we can do as individual citizens to protect the quality of our water supply. With that in mind, read on for these 6 helpful steps to keep our drinking water safe!

Clean Up After Your Pets

One thing you'll notice as you read through our six tips is that some overlap with common sense, or in this case, reasonable human decency. Without getting too deep in the details, a failure to clean up dog droppings or other animal waste leads to remaining nutrients and chemicals to drain into our water supply and put a greater strain on our water purification systems.

Avoid Phosphorus-Based Fertilizers

If only more people knew the deleterious impact that lawn-worship has on our water supply. Fertilizers are often loaded with synthetic ingredients, chemical additives, and nutrients that are dangerous to our local environment. Chief among these is phosphorus, which in large quantities led to some of the worst algal blooms in recent history. At the worst, the impact of phosphorus based fertilizers have led to mass fish kills, the death of invasive species, massive setbacks to our tourism and fishing industries, and respiratory issues for locals living miles inland.

Dispose of Hazardous Materials Properly

Pet waste could factor in here, but by "hazardous," we mean batteries, motor oil, medication, and more. The commonplace practice of flushing medication down the toilet is one of the worst decisions one can make when seeking to dispose of old or unneeded drugs. The same can be said for batteries and motor oil, both of which can do immense damage in tiny quantities. Be sure to collect batteries in a bucket and keep an eye out for the many planned collective drug-dumps organized by city health and law enforcement officials.

Landscape with Native Plants

An immutable truth behind all living things is the constant need to maintain homeostasis - or the physiological state of equilibrium. For plant life, it's clear that the billions of years have been wisely utilized, hence why we see cacti in deserts, fir trees in alpine woods, and the robust-yet-thorny flowers that grace many of our homes. Simply put, the more localized a species is, the less intensive its care will be - meaning less water, fertilizer, and resource use. All this yields a more naturally splendid space that is as good on the eyes as it is to our water.

Use Green Cleaning Products When Possible

This is another example of a multiplicitous improvement to your home and lifestyle. Green cleaning products don't have to be overpriced. As a matter of fact, almost anything can be cleaned with white distilled vinegar - a natural and incredibly cheap alternative to the dozens of cleaners that in some cases are no better or worse than the next. We understand that not all messes can be cleaned by nature, but the heavy duty chemicals that are associated with the vast majority of household cleaners means that every time a counter is wiped and a towel is disposed, there's a greater chance for these chemicals to seep into our water supply.

Wash Your Car On The Lawn

This is a simple question of fluid dynamics. Nobody is telling you not to wash your car, but if you can't take it to the pros, parking the car on the lawn allows for more natural absorption of the soap-laced water washing off your car. If washed on the driveway, more water and the subsequent chemicals from the cleaning products and runoff from the vehicle itself will reach our water supply.

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