Earth Day Reflections: The benefits of swimmable water on the environment

Each Earth Day on April 22, we celebrate the birth of the modern environmental movement and show our support for the natural world that gives us so much. And what gives us more than our waterbodies? Water is the foundation of all life—human and otherwise. In fact, we ourselves are 60% water. 

In our work, we talk a lot about swimmable waters. But what does swimming have to do with protecting our natural environment?

When we talk about swimmable waters, we’re talking about more than just recreation.

Water that is swimmable is also drinkable and fishable. Swimmable water is water that is safe to touch. And when people can safely touch the water, that means it is also clean enough to sustain life of all kinds. 

The recreational water quality standards that prevent us from contracting waterborne illness also protect aquatic ecosystems. When our ecosystems thrive, so do we. Swimmable waters benefit people, communities, businesses, tourism, physical and mental health, and the natural environment itself.

Swimmable water also means that people can regularly interact with the water by wading, swimming, paddling, fishing, and more. When we spend time with our favourite lake, river, or ocean, we become the eyes and ears of our local waters. We’re there to notice changes in the water’s health and take care of the spaces we care about. 

“I grew up on the lake and I have a lot of memories of how the lake has changed. I wouldn’t have swum in it as a kid, I never really imagined it as a place where you’d go to have fun and jump in the water. I left Canada to study for about 10 years and one of the striking things for me was coming back and just getting in the lake and seeing how much things had improved. Still a lot of problems but obviously there’s still a few things we’re doing right, making the water swimmable.”

- Loren King, Swim Drink Fish Ambassador and open water swimmer

When water is too polluted for us to visit regularly, we can become disconnected from it. And if fewer of us spend time on our local waters, there are fewer of us there to advocate for their health—both for our own sake and for the sake of all the life that inhabits the water. 

With enough recreational users that feel connected to their local waters, we can ensure a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future for all.