Sometimes it’s not a matter of loving something. It’s more a need, a certain can’t-live-without-it quality - lacking it, life would not, could not, be worth living. It moves you beyond other reason to protect it, possess it. It’s like water.

Sometimes exactly like water.

This Valentine’s Day, MuckRock invites you to consider how that patient elixir reaches you through faucets and fountains, on good days and bad, and what steps are being taken to protect its potability for years and generations to come.

According to one estimate, municipalities may be spending an estimated $500 billion in capital improvements over the next decade. But between private water companies looking to consolidate their regional reach and activists that insist the federal government should be spending more to help towns keep their water treatment local, there willl need to be a lot of room to talk about how we handle this most precious resource, which the UN has recognized as a basic human right.

Action will be most important on the local level, and the people will have to speak up for themselves. We want to help by offering to file your water-related records request this week.

What audits have been done on the lead pipes at your child’s school?

Exactly what did your town agree to in that local water contract?

How does the testing on your water get done?

Does your town know which pipes should be replaced soon?

There are plenty of questions you might not know you had about how you and your water find each other. You’re pretty dependent on water; the least you could do is take a second to find out a little more about it.

Image via WIkimedia Commons and is licensed under CC BY 3.0