National Hydration Day is here: Drink up!

It's clean. It's cold. Now, that's what we call high-quality H20.

OK, we may be dating ourselves with that reference from "The Waterboy" movie, but it seems appropriate to use on National Hydration Day. 

Every day, hundreds of ADOT employee work outside in the heat, including members of the Incident Response Unit, sponsored by State Farm.

“It is extremely important to stay properly hydrated here in the desert,” IRU supervisor Abe Asermely said. “I drink about one bottle of water every hour. I tell my guys to do the same.”

IRU crews do many things to keep traffic moving safely on highways, including providing traffic control and assistance at incident scenes; removing debris from the roadway; and pushing or pulling inoperable vehicles from travel lanes. Because they spend entire shifts outside, water is an essential part of the IRU’s toolkit. 

“It is not only important to stay hydrated, it is also critical that people replenish with electrolytes,” Asermely said. “I tell my guys they should have their coolers full of water at all times. They are working outdoors for eight hours or more. Water is essential. Water is a must.”

For all the non-IRU crews out there, which is most of us, water is still necessary to take with you when you hit the road, especially when temperatures reach triple-digits. So, before you head out, don’t take on the heat without the right tools and be sure to stay hydrated.