Apr. 22, 2008 - Wastewater Treatment Plant Field Trip
Today, Sweetheart and I went to our Regional Waste Water Treatment plant for a field trip. It was very interesting - a little more so for the adults than the children.
We started the tour in the labrortory and were intriqued by the "bugs" that clean our water. The "bugs" are micro-organisims that help filter the waste water and eventually produce cleaner water. The children loved seeing them displayed on a big computer screen - they were magnified 200x's! It was quite interesting. I think they enjoyed this part of the tour the most!
Next we were going to see the other buildings. It was rainy so our tour guide (a very nice older gentleman) took us through the tunnels to the different buildings. The children especially liked exploring all the nooks and crannies! The tunnels reminded me of catacombs -slightly larger but dark and eerie. Thankfully there were lights on all over or it would have been just a little too frightening for some of the children and possibly some adults (myself included). As we walked, the tour guide mentioned that behind the concrete walls was thousands of gallons of water! Okay - a bit unnerving! Thankfully, he also told us that the concrete at the bottom was six - ten feet thick! That set some of my uneasiness aside.
There were rows and rows of pipes (some small and some large) running along the ceiling. The first area we entered was dark and pipes lined the ceiling. One pipe rattled and moved as sludge moved through it. I was a little concerned as the tour guide said that no, it really isn't supposed to be like that but it should be okay:). Oh, the noise level was quite deafening in certain parts - especially the pumps! Overall, it was intriguing and educational. It got me thinking about everything that we put down our drains and all that has to be cleaned out so that we can drink clean water! The whole process is carefully monitered and tested. The conclusion that I came to after this tour is that our drinking (tap) water is much cleaner than bottled water. So, even though I was never a bottled water drinker (could never get passed the fact that you pay more for a bottle of water than you do for a gallon of gas) but now I am even more convinced that tap is just fine for me!
Sorry, I forgot my camera so I do not have any pic's from our field trip!
