World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD), an educational event held in the fall, lets students take a scientific look at water quality in their own neighborhoods. It’s a global look at local concerns.
The City of Englewood, Colo., just south of Denver, brings the message home in a big way. “World Water Monitoring Day is our primary outreach program,” says Jim Tallent, operations division manager for the Littleton/Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“We’ve been doing it here since 2004. In conjunction with World Water Monitoring Day, we have Water Expo. We have exhibitors from the U.S. Geological Service, Water for People, representatives from other water districts, and people from our treatment plant. The presenters focus on water impacts, from industrial contributors to stormwater, urban drainage and other watershed impacts.”
Hands-on practice
As participants in WWMD (officially celebrated worldwide on Sept. 18), students collect samples from the South Platte River and measure temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. They get a taste of collecting and tabulating scientific data, noting conditions like weather and temperature, performing tests and reading results. It keeps their hands busy and minds engaged, so much so that even inclement weather hasn’t deterred them.
“We used to do the event in October, but we moved it back to September because of snow,” says Tallent. “The kids would come back from the river all wet. They didn’t seem to mind, but we did.”
Attendance is high, so careful scheduling is needed to make sure everyone gets through and the event runs smoothly. “We can’t have 300 people all show up at the door at once,” says Tallent. “We rotate everybody through. Some groups come earlier, some later. And then we split up, half at the river and half at the Expo.”
Mixing it up
Because ages span fourth grade to high school, Tallent and his group are comfortable modifying their presentation as needed. “High school students used to see this as a day to get out of class, but now they have to do reports on what they learn here,” says Tallent.
“The older students grasp more technical stuff than the younger kids do. When we’re out there sampling in the river, we will quiz them, asking them what will happen if the oxygen is low or the pH is high. That way, the data we are collecting means something.”
And younger students appreciate the characters added to the program last year. Caleb Vannice, industrial pretreatment technician, and Natalie Plegge, industrial pretreatment specialist, play the part of River Rangers. Wearing special ranger hats, they accompany groups down to the river and answer questions from students or their chaperones.
Then there is Dr. H2O, played by Phil Russell, the plant’s environmental analyst. Wearing a white lab coat and Einstein-like wig, he takes on the persona of a mad but happy scientist. He works at the treatment plant booth and gives the microbial section of the presentation, where microorganisms found at the treatment plant project onto a large screen. “Dr. H2O answers questions about the protozoa and bacteria that really do the work here at the plant,” says Tallent.
And no event geared toward students would be complete without a movie and popcorn. “You’ve got to have food,” jokes Tallent. “We have a home theater set up. We show a video and PowerPoint presentation so the students can see firsthand what happens in a wastewater treatment plant.”
A little sleuthing
Another learning experience requires a bit of detective work. The pretreatment exhibit asks students to investigate pollution that’s showing up at the treatment plant, find the source, and figure out how to eliminate it.
Water districts from around the region test the students, not on their knowledge, but their taste buds. They set up a blind study and ask the kids to rank different water samples, comparing municipal water from the tap to bottled water.
Even with other organizations coming in, it’s a big day for the treatment plant and its employees. “We pull in a lot of plant staff, from administration, the lab, pretreatment,” Tallent says. “About a third to half of the staff is involved.” TV stations and newspapers cover the event.
A run of successful Expos keep people coming back, but Tallent still reaches out to teachers. “After we did about three Expos, we put together a DVD to hand out to teachers,” he says. “It shows what we’ve done and where to get more information. We also send e-mails and make phone calls.”
Prepping for visits
Tallent also has a PowerPoint presentation he can take to schools that acts as a primer for treatment plant tours. “About three years ago, we had a new school coming in,” he says. “I visited the school, gave a 45-minute presentation, and brought in samples from the plant. That way, when they came to the plant, they were already of aware of what they were seeing.”
The presentation is adaptable to any school: All Talent needs to do is make some quick changes and he’s out the door, on to another classroom. Even with the Water Expo, about 50 groups — from school classes to professionals from other facilities — tour the plant every year.
When speaking with high school students, Tallent is sure to mention career opportunities. “I tell them engineers have to design this equipment, manufacturers have to make it and sell it, and operators have to run it,” he says. “It’s not just a pencil and paper job.”
And out of concern for an industry that’s expected to face a shortage of operators, he drives home the message: “I tell them they’re our future.”
