Water Safety Tips for Your Family: 2024 Guide 

Last updated on July 31st, 2024 at 01:15 pm

As you gear up for your summer adventures this year, take a few moments to reflect on some water safety tips–many summer destinations involve fun in the pool or ocean, but water can bring unexpected dangers, and it pays to know about them ahead of time. Whether swimming, bathing, or drinking, water can pose serious risks to human health, and must be treated with the proper respect. In this article, we will cover some common water-related dangers, and tips for keeping yourself and your family safe and water-wise.

The Importance of Water Safety for Families

The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 1.4 million people die globally every year due to lack of access to clean, sanitized water. The majority of these deaths are related to the improper disposal and treatment of human and animal waste. Fecal matter is a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites, and when water is not properly treated, whole systems can become toxic, dealing disease and death to humans and animals alike. In developed countries, where there is significant water treatment infrastructure, such cases are uncommon, but not unheard of. Water is a powerful solvent, and it has a way of getting everywhere, and getting bits of everything else into it, meaning that there could be any of thousands of potential contaminants or foreign agents in any random sampling of water from the planet’s surface.

To summarize: water in its natural state on this planet is unsafe for humans to drink. It can contain heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, parasites and protozoa, and experts at All Filters state that, more recently, water is host to a whole new range of synthetic, human-made chemicals such as PFAS and microplastics.

Water obviously also poses risk in the form of death by drowning. The US Center for Disease Control estimates that roughly 4,500 people died by drowning each year from 2020 to 2022 in the United States. Many of these deaths occur in home pools, bathtubs, or even sinks. Small children can drown in a mere inch or so of standing water–even in the shallows, sometimes we’re out of our depths.

Common Risks Associated With Water Environments

So much death is a gloomy thing to dwell on, but it pays to be aware of hidden dangers. We can become so familiar with the basic elements of life that we inure ourselves to their dangers, until it is too late. The best policy when it comes to water safety is proactivity, and this can take many forms. For instance, you should regularly test your home water quality. You can mail in a sample of your tap water to a laboratory for testing–such tests are available for a nominal fee of a hundred dollars or so, which is money well-spent if it reveals a giardia infestation, or elevated chromium levels.

If you have kids in the home, treat water with respect. Don’t leave full bathtubs or sinks, uncovered pools or saunas, or even puddles of standing water. Educate children on how to bathe safely, and discourage horseplay in the pool and tub, which can lead to tragic accidents. The goal shouldn’t be to scare, but rather to instill a healthy sense of respect for the awe and power of water–it makes up our cells and it can tear them down to their basic elements–it is a primal force, and not one to be trifled with.

Water Safety Tips for the Home

Knowledge is the best thing you can have when it comes to water quality, so read your city’s most recent federally-mandated water quality report, and if need be, test your water yourself. If you are on well water, regularly have E. Coli and coliform bacteria tests done, as these are common “indicator bacteria” that can signal a deeper problem in your water.

Safety Measures at Pools

Let common sense rule the day here. Kids will be kids, and they will get rowdy on a hot day when there is a pool in front of them. As a parent or guardian, know that going in, and keep safety on the forefront of your mind. Make sure tentative swimmers are wearing life vests, swimming wings, goggles, and anything else needed to keep them safe and having fun. Don’t pressure kids into trying tricks they aren’t ready for either–let them acclimatize to the water at their own pace, or you risk rushing them into a bad experience.

Beach and Lake Safety

When it comes to open bodies of water like the ocean or large lakes, a lot more can potentially go wrong than in a pool. There are too many potential scenarios to list here, but in general, have a plan, and make sure that someone knows if you are going out on the water. Don’t ride off solo on a jet-ski far from land. Keep your bearings, and be mindful of other watercraft. You take your life into your hands when you go into the open sea, so be careful.

Technological Aids for Water Safety

Though water still obviously poses a huge number of dangers, never before in human history have we had as much control over water as we do today. For much of the past, water was not commonly drunk, because of the associated health risks–instead, people relied on low-alcohol content table beer or wine for their hydration. Innovations such as chlorine disinfection, centralized water treatment plants, and a growing understanding of what elements are harmful once in water has led to the safest water-world we have known as a species yet. There is still much work to be done, however.

Creating a Water-Safe Culture at Home

The world is full of people, and there are only so many resources to go around, so try to help your children understand early on the importance of respecting and responsibly using Earth’s resources, including water. Though water is infinitely “renewable” in the sense that it can always be filtered again, many toxins linger long, and the more synthetics we create, the more uncertain the future of our environment looks. Teach your kids to treat water with a healthy respect–it will tide them over well.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, water is closer than a friend to us–we are made out of the stuff. But it is also an implacable enemy under the wrong circumstances. It’s a strange and somewhat vexed relationship, but our relationship with water is one that we all need to keep working on–our very existence depends upon it.