Recently, my cub scout den was working on their Engineering Webelo Activity Badge and we made a visit to our town's water department. (This is a photo of the collage we generated about water after our visit and given to the Water Department as a thank you gift for taking the time to meet with us.) I'm not sure what the boys got out of the experience, but I sure learned a lot. Here in New England, the majority of people get their water out of the ground via wells (the same is true for our town). Once the water is pumped up, the pH levels must be adjusted, and then chlorinated. It was fascinating to see how the whole system works. We learned that to work in the Water Department you need to be knowledgeable with mechanics (machinery does break down from time to time), chemistry (the handling and fine balancing of chemicals), geology, computers (the whole system is monitored by computers), and law (a myriad of state and federal laws and regulations governing the use and "production" of water). Today, we take for granted that when we turn on the faucet something will come out and that it will be safe to drink. It certainly is a lesson for all of us to know the behind the scenes process that make our lives so comfortable. (Hint: watch the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs show sometime.) Maybe our next field trip should be to the Waste Water Treatment Facility - what goes in must come out.
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