How Dogs Affect Your Drinking Water

Did you know that what comes out of a cute little puppy can be as toxic (and smellier) than a chemical or oil spill. Yes, that's right. Although dogs are cute, the steaming gifts they leave us are not.

The average dog producesapproximately 3/4 pounds of poop every day. And as 40% of people in the US don't pick up after their dogs (poopbuddy.com), this can add up to a lot of poop lying around in parks and on sidewalks. It may seem like more of an esthetic annoyance than a danger, but dog poop can drastically affect your drinking water.

The toxic effects of not picking up dog waste

I got the low down on dog poop withCity-Dogdaycare located in the nightclub district of downtown Vancouver. Dana Edwards, dog daycare attendant, knows all about the nuisances of dog poop: "Every time I am out and about to drink a glass of tap water, I always hope that it has been filtered properly to get rid of dog bacteria and parasites."

See if you leave Fido's beautifully formed poop on the ground,it decomposes and the bacteria and parasites from it seep into the soil. The water and pollutants then flow into stormwater, waterways and lakes contaminating sources of drinking water.

But isn't dog poop like fertilizer I hear you say? Unfortunately, dog poop makes an awful fertilizer. In fact it's toxic to your lawn. And once the water runs into natural waterways it causes algae blooms and starves fish of oxygen. Our natural eco-systems can only naturally handle the waste from 2 dogs per square mile, but in urban areas in the US there are about 125 dogs per square mile (poopbuddy.com).

To find out the most sustainable ways to dispose of dog poop, click here.