THE - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Acknowledgements (continued) Curriculum Consulting Cathy Archibald and her Challenge students at Centennial Place Elementary for the lesson, "The Ghosts ofWater Past": Christen Bailey, Diamond Bragg, Ethan Bright, Eva Cooke, Bryan Neely, Chrystalia Pines, Brianna Fairley, Michael Hall, Arantza Hernandez, Allie Melton, RayShawn Ware and Stephen Weatherly, Natalie Anderson, Kenny Cochran, Daye Hunt, Miles Martin, James Taylor, Alexandra Thomas, Khelsea Willis Angelle Cooper, Contract Writer Virginia Elliott, (Retired Principal Tritt Elementary) Karen Garland, Environmental Education Coordinator Georgia Conservancy Jerry Hightower, Environmental Education Coordinator, U.S. National Park Service/CRNRA Dell Pamplin, AP Environmental Science Teacher, Chattahoochee High School Sally Pamplin, Curriculum Specialist, Shakerag Elementary School U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Jim Harrison, Environmental Scientist Cooperative Extension Service, Griffin Office Rose Mary Seymour, Public Service Assistant Arnold Magnet Academy, Using the Environment as an Integrating Context for LearningTeam, Developed an adaptation to ~azing Water" Teachers Benita Blanton, Becky Champion, Terri Massa, Amy Mobley, Jill Sammons Students Luke Adamson, Heather Brown, Alex DuPont, Alyssa Duvall, Logan McRae,Jenise Santos, Richie Schott Piloting Teachers Project Learning Tree/Project WET facilitator workshop Carol Anderson, Maria-Elena Araujo, 0 liver Baumann-Cole, Malisha Brown, Miriam Burnett, John Collis, Susan Davis, Holly Denham, Cindy Duncan, Don Dye, Allison Ericson, Rebecca Fielding, Chandra Gilchrist, Kathy Gunn, Sheri Henshaw, Dawn Hudson, Paul Hulsing, Pam King, Catherine Koconis, Edith Ladipo, Bobbie Laminack, Linda Lee Longsdorf, Stephanie Mack, Maureen McManus, Monica Nichols, Keri Norris, Robert Phillips, Barbara Reeves, Byron Rushing, Chris Sedgwick, Anne Shenk, Courtney Smith, Judy Ann Tanner, David Trott, Rueben Warren, Janie Whiteside, Erika Yamamoto Shakerag Elementary Wendy Bradley, Christine Burton WET workshop at Centennial Place Elementary Angela Allen, Cathy Archibald, SuSann Bagay, Sean Blass, Leslie Bogosi, Zakiya Bullock, Brian Davis, Nicole Epps,Jeanne Faas, Marilyn Johnson, Sheila Lappling, Tabitha Martin, Marie McCall, Yvette McMichael, Valerie Oliver, Brenda Pierce, Trisha Porter, Barbara Preuss, Kadasha Reid, Calvin Scott, Karin Searls, Lauren Smidansky, Molly Stanford, Alfreda Stinson, Elliott Watts, Connie Wooten Other Piloting Schools and Students A.D. Williams Elementary Fifth Grade Students Centennial Place Elementary Fourth Grade Students With support from the Environmental Education Alliance ofGeorgia Cover Design and Layout Lenz, Inc. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement SHIRLEY FRANKLIN MAYOR CITY OF ATLANTA 55 TRIN ITY AVENUE , S .W ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30335 -0300 TEL 14041 330 - 6100 Dear Concerned Teachers: Atlanta is a historic city. The years have molded us into a place where the world gathers for friendship, business and education. Our population continues to increase because of the opportunities that exist here. As we grow, we have to be flexible and change with the times. The 1873 Committee of Sewers and Drains could not have predicted the challenges that face the Department of Watershed Management in 2005 . ln order to prepare the future leaders of our city, we must educate them today. The Urban Watershed: A Supplement to the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide for Teachers in Metro Atlanta increases students knowledge of and appreciation for our natural resources. This curriculum enables students to engage in important conversations and topics. Their knowledge about the urban land area around our streams, wetlands , lakes and rivers can encourage them to take responsibility about preserving our water source. By encouraging young people to advocate for water resource preservation , our city can look forward to a future of wellinformed residents and representatives. Thank you, again, for your cooperation and support. "' <;t':.- ' .a \4\(/.J-!/ Geor2ia Department of Natural Resources 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, S.E., Suite 1152 East Tower, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-9000 Noel Holcomb, Commissioner Carol A. Couch, Ph.D., Director Environmental Protection Division 404/656-4713 Dear Educators: I appreciate the time and talent you bring to your students. Thank you for helping them become tomorrow's leaders. An adequate supply of clean water is also paramount to Georgia's future. It is critical to the economic prosperity and environmental health of our State that citizens understand their role in protecting and conserving water resources. To do so, we all must work together to educate the public. The Environmental Protection Division's Georgia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) program provides educators ofK-12th grade students with easy-to-use tools for teaching about water. WET's most recent partnership, with the City ofAtlanta Department ofWatershed Management, makes it easier than ever for teachers and students to understand the clean water process. With The Urban Watershed: A Supplement to the Project WET Activity and Curriculum Guide, 4th-8th grade students will trace the delivery of drinking water, and removal of wastewater, from River to River. They will learn water quality standards, the effects of pollution on our State's waterways and what they can do to Walk the Talk for Water. I am proud that the Georgia EnVironmental Protection Division has helped create such a valuable resource for educators and I know that you and your students will enjoy it as much as I did (see picture below). Sincerely, Carol Couch, Ph.D Director Dr. Carol Couch experiences the Urban Watershed Activity "River to River" at the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia conference. SHIRLEY FRANKUN MAYOR Dear Educators, CITY OF ATLANTA 55 TRINITY AVENUE SW. SUITE 5400. SOlJTH BLDG. ATLANTA GEORGIA 30335-0310 OFFICE 404-330-6980 FAX 404-658-6553 DEPARTMENT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT Robert J. Hunter Commissioner Atlanta is known all over the world as the host city for the 1996 Olympics. The worldwide attention during the Olympic games put the spotlight on our city and attracted people who saw Atlanta as a great place to live, work and raise a family. As our city grows, so do the challenges facing the Department of Watershed Management, the agency responsible for providing drinking water and sewage collection and treatment services to our residents and businesses. The Chattahoochee River, a small river by most standards, is metro Atlanta's principal drinking water source and also where wastewater is discharged once it is cleaned. Protecting this finite resource while making it available for potable water uses and recreation is important to sustaining the growth and prosperity our City has enjoyed. Over the next 14 years Atlanta's water systems will undergo major improvements. The Clean Water Atlanta Initiative will allow the City to continue to deliver safe and reliable drinking water and meet all state and federal water quality standards. As our children become adults, it will become their responsibility to preserve the water resources that supports life in our city. It is important that they understand where their water comes from and the technologies that allow us to use the water then return it to the river so we can use it again. The urban curriculum and educational tools were developed to help teachers create an environment where these important lessons can be taught in an exciting and fun way. This curriculum was created in partnership with Georgia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) specifically for Atlanta educators with Atlanta specific water resource lessons for all disciplines. Students can enact the history in a play about Atlanta's wastewater system, build a delivery system model that supplies drinking water and collects wastewater from a community, or become "water" in a treatment plant and simulate the process as they move through a field of activities. We hope that you will implement these engaging lessons and encourage today 's youth to become advocates for water resource preservation. Please contact the City ofAtlanta, Department of Watershed Management if you have questions or if we can provide other resources. Call404-330-6980 or email us at www.cleanwateratlanta.org. Thank you, Marilyn Johnson, Program Manager Public Involvement Office Department of Watershed Management ----------- ------- - -- - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, Watershed Protection Branch 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, Georgia 30354 Linda McGregor, P.E. Branch Chief Phone: 404/675-6240 Fax: 404/675-6245 Dear Educators, Students and others in urban watersheds need to have an understanding of their water resources. When tJ:ley turn on the faucet and get a drink, they need to be able to trace their water from the river to the river. When they watch wastewater going down the drain, students should have a sense of their river and its watershed. The urban watershed is a unique system and consequently has particular issues that one needs to understand in order to be part of an informed citizenry. An informed citizenry works toward the best possible water quality for everyone in Atlanta and those who live downstream. By integrating The Urban Watershed, A Supplement for the Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) Curriculum and Activity Guide into classroom curriculum, 4-8th grade educators can be part of the solution. Georgia Project WET, in partnership with the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management has developed this supplement especially for Atlanta Public School teachers and others in urban watersheds. Project WET activities have been adapted or extended on the topics of water and wastewater treatment, water quality standards, sewers, storrnwater, impervious surface, water delivery, the man-made water cycle, and water conservation and is based on the City ofAtlanta's water systems. The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide is a K-12tb grade international, interdisciplinary water education curriculum with coordinators in all fifty states. Headquartered in Bozeman, Montana the Watercourse, the national sponsor of WET, offers additional curriculum that support the activities in the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide. Project WET is a comprehensive curriculum covering many topics in water education such as Wetlands, Watersheds, Water Management, Urban Watershed and Nonpoint Source Pollution. The activities in The Urban Watershed Curriculum support the activities in the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide that have content and topics about the issues in an urban watershed. International Project WET has given copyright approval for Georgia Project WET to share the following lessons from The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide in this supplement: A-maze-ing Water- Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide Blue Traveler- Project WET Watershed Manager Wet Work Shuffle -Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide It is my hope that teachers will utilize this resource that is based on actual community water issues and provide urban water education across the disciplines. We are anxious to know about the activities you are using with students and always appreciate photos and stories for the Georgia Project WET newsletter, The Dragonfly Gazette. Please note that specific concepts went into the planning of the supplement. These concepts are listed in the conceptual framework for your reference. If you are interested in a Project WET Urban Watershed workshop and in receiving The Urban Watershed Project WET Supplement, please contact Petey Giroux at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division. We look forward to bringing this exciting new curriculum to you. For more information about Project WET USA and its existing programs and curriculum, visit www.projectwetusa.org Thank you, /2tu;4d~ Petey Giroux- Petey_Giroux@dnr.state.ga.us Project WET Coordinator Environmental Protection Division 4220 International Pkwy. Atlanta, GA, 30354 404-675-1638 Fax: 404-675-6245 lF\rms ~plash Georgia Teachers and Students Pilot the Urban Watershed Supplement for Georgia Project WET Atlanta - Because of the time and dedication of many educators in Georgia, the Urban Watershed Supplement for the Project WET Curriculum is now available. investigations that incorporate their communities. Research has shown that students in EIC programs improved their achievement and are more engaged in learning, while discipline, and absenteeism diminished. Fifth Grade students from A.D. Williams Elementary also piloted Urban Watershed lessons during a Water Festival in Spring 2005. No one twisted a single arm and still they came to workshops and conference sessions where Georgia Project WET and the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management piloted the Urban Watershed curriculum. The City of Atlanta's Centennial Place Elementary and Kimberly Elementary teachers came to a full day workshop to try out the lessons, to learn, and to offer their constructive criticism and suggestions. These teachers are involved in a model school program, "Using the Environment as an Integrating Context in Learning" (EIC). Fourteen schools in Georgia are using the environment to teach across disciplines engaging students in meaningful Educators also came to a Georgia Project Learning Tree and Georgia Project WET Urban Forestry and Urban Watershed Facilitator Workshop and provided valuable information on logistics and lesson adaptations for the Urban Watershed Supplement. Georgia Project WET coordinators presented draft lessons from the Urban Watershed Supplement at a conference session at the Project WET USA Conference 2004 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Coordinators from many states participated and gave valuable feedback. 4th grade students from Centennial Place Elementary, a Georgia model EIC school and the Project WET School of the Year 2004 also did some piloting. They piloted the activity, "What is Your Standard" that contributed to the final version of this activity. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Table ofContents Urban Watershed Pre-Test and Post-Test ..........................~.......................................................... 1 Watersheds & Urban Watersheds ................................................................................................. 9 Georgia Spotlight ........................................................................................................................ 14 The Blue Traveler ........................................................................................................................ 20 A-maze-ing Water ...................................................................................................................... 42 Water Pollution on Trial .............................................................................................................. 48 Sewer System Soup ..................................................................................................................... 64 Greening the Asphalt .................................................................................................................. 87 Wet-Work Shuflle ..................................................................................................................... 115 Piped on Water.......................................................................................................................... 141 Just Pipe Up! ............................................................................................................................ 149 What Is Your Standard? ..........................;................................................................................. 159 River To River ........................................................................................................................... 174 The Ghosts ofWater Past ...................... ................................................................................... 223 Walk The Talk For Water.......................................................................................................... 235 Meter Reading : 242 Earth Friendly Household Cleaner ........................................................................................... 248 Storm Drain Stenciling Project ............................................................................. .................... 251 Rain Gardens and Rain Barrels ................................................................................................. 253 At a Glance Fact Sheet.............................................................................................................. 257 Web Resources .......................................................................................................................... 260 Urban Watershed Resources ............... ....................................................................................... 263 Georgia Water Resources ........................................................ .................................................. 264 Water Resources ........................................................................................................................ 267 Glossary..................................................................................................................................... 271 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . Conceptual Framework The Urban Watershed A Supplement to The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide For Teachers in Atlanta and other metro areas What is a Watershed? ~ Watersheds and Urban Watersheds ~ A Paper Watershed ~ The Blue Traveler What is the Man-Made Water Cycle? ~ Just Pipe Up ~ The Blue Traveler ~ River to River What is Stormwater? How Does It Impact Water Qyality? ~ A-maze-ing Water ~ Water Pollution on Trial ~ Sewer System Soup What is Impervious Surface? ~ Greening the Asphalt How is Water Delivered to and from Homes, Schools, and Businesses through a Constructed Watershed? ~ Wet Work Shuffle ~ Piped on Water ~ Just Pipe Up ~ Sewer System Soup What are Water Qyality Standards and How Does Maintaining Water Quality Impact the Economy? ~ What is Your Standard? What Processes are Used to Treat Drinking Water and Wastewater? ~ River to River How HasAdanta's Wastewater System Changed OverTime? ~ The Ghosts ofWater Past What Can Individuals Do to Conserve and Protect Water Resources? ~ Walk the Talk for Water The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page Urban Watershed Pre-Test and Post-Test Student Name----------Teacher Name ___________ Date ______ Circle the correct answer for questions 1 - 11 Qyestion 1: Mter water leaves your home and goes down the sink, it goes to the: A. drinking water treatment plant B. river C. wastewater treatment plant D. sediment basin Question 2: An example of an impervious surface is alan: A. ocean B. soil C. pavement D. flower Question 3: Most people in the City of Atlanta receive their drinking water from this river. A. Flint B. Chattahoochee C. Tennessee D. Satilla Qyestion 4: What is the biggest problem with stormwater runoff, or water that drains into gutters and flows straight into nearby water sources during heavy rainfall? A. It makes people's yards dirty. B. It produces a nasty odor. C. It carries water pollution to nearby waterways. D. It releases diseases into the air. Question 5: What is a type of pollution that is hard to identify and originates some distance from the source? A. point B. snow melt C. nonpoint D. pine tree The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 1 Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------- - ---------.----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - -- - - - - IS Student Copy Page Qyestion 6: What is one way you can help reduce nonpoint source pollution? A. Use as much water as possible. B. Throw your trash into a nearby waterway so it floats away. C. Don't throw trash out the car window. D. Ignore any leaking faucets in your house. Qyestion 7: Following the Civil War, the failure of original sewers to accommodate human waste resulted in what? A. foul smell B. disease C. water pollution D. all of the above Qyestion 8: Microbial, inorganic, organic, chemical, radioactive, pesticides and herbicides: These are types of that can be present in source water before treatment. A. ingredients B. contaminants C. disinfectants D. animals Qyestion 9: When talking about drinking water standards, contaminants are measured in ppm, which stands for: A. people per mile B. parts per million C. piles per month D. participation per mile Question 10: Who is involved in setting the safety and quality standards for drinking water in Georgia? A. United States President B. Georgia's lifeguards C. school teachers D. Environmental Protection Agency Qyestion 11: Which of the following Acts is a fundamental law that protects citizens concerning water quality? A. Safe Drinking Water Act B. Anti-Dirty Water Act C. Litter Prevention Act D. Muddy Water Act 2 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Q,!lestion 12: Organize the following terms into the correct order that water would flow through the drinking water treatment process. River (R), Raw Water Reservoir (RWR), Clear Wells (CW), Pumping Station (PS), Raw Pumping Station (RPS), Storage Tanks (ST), Water Treatment Plant (WTP) R Q,!lestion 13: Circle either True or False. Nonpoint source pollution is pollution that comes from a specific source, while point source pollution comes from many different sources. TRUE FALSE Question 14: Fill in the blank. An environmental compliance officer brings citizens before a judge who are violating _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ laws. Question 15: Circle either True or False. . A combined system has wastewater and stormwater routed together in the same pipe, while a separate system has sewage and stormwater in separate pipes. TRUE FALSE Short Answer (Q,!lestions 16-20) Question 16: Choose one step from the wastewater treatment process and give a brief description of it. Steps: bar screening, grit chamber, drum screening, primary sedimentation tank, secondary treatment/aeration basin, secondary or final clarifier, effluent filters/filtration, UV Disinfection, post aerator The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 3 Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISStudent Copy Page Question 17: Discuss the main difference between the Wastewater Treatment Process and the Drinking Water Treatment Process. Qyestion 18: What does CSO stand for? Qyestion 19: When water changes from a liquid to a gas, the process is called: Qyestion 20: Name one area water can go in the man-made or constructed water cycle: 4 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------------------------'~~~; - Urban Watershed Pre-Test and Post-Test Teacher's Answer Sheet Student Name --------------------- Teacher Name --------------------- Date ----------- Q,!lestion 1: Circle the correct answer for questions 1 - 11 Mter water leaves your home and goes down the sink, it goes to the: A. drinking water treatment plant B. river C. wastewater treatmentplant D. sediment basin Question 2: An example of an impervious surface is alan: A. ocean B. soil C. pavement D. flower Q,!lestion 3: Most people in the City of Atlanta receive their drinking water from this river. A. Flint B. Chattahoochee C. Tennessee D. Satilla Question 4: What is the biggest problem with stormwater runoff, or water that drains into gutters and flows straight into nearby water sources during heavy rainfall? A. It makes people's yards dirty. B. It produces a nasty odor. C. It carries waterpollution to nearby waterways. D. It releases diseases into the air. Q,!lestion 5: What is a type of pollution that is hard to identify and originates some distance fi:om the source? A. point B. snow melt C.nonpoint D. pine tree The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 5 Georgia Project WET Supplement Qyestion 6: What is one way you can help reduce nonpoint source pollution? A. Use as much water as possible. B. Throw your trash into a nearby waterway so it floats away. C. Don't throw trash out the car window. D. Ignore any leaking faucets in your house. Question 7: Following the Civil War, the failure of original sewers to accommodate human waste resulted in what? A. foul smell B. disease C. water pollution D. AU ofthe Above Qyestion 8: Microbial, inorganic, organic, chemical, radioactive, pesticides and herbicides: These are types of that can be present in source water before treatment. A. ingredients B. contaminants C. disinfectants D. animals Qyestion 9: When talking about drinking water standards, contaminants are measured in ppm, which stands for: A. people per mile B. partsper million C. piles per month D. participation per mile Qyestion 10: Who is involved in setting the safety and quality standards for drinking water in Georgia? A. United States President B. Georgia's lifeguards C. school teachers D. Environmental Protection Agency Qyestion 11: Which of the following Acts is a fundamental law that protects citizens concerning water quality? A. Safe Drinking Water Act B. Anti-Dirty Water Act C. Litter Prevention Act D. Muddy Water Act 6 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement _________________________________________,_~ _ Qyestion 12: Organize the following terms into the correct order that water would flow through the drinking water treatment process. River (R), Raw Water Reservoir (RWR), Clear Wells (CW), Pumping Station (PS), Raw Pumping Station (RPS), Storage Tanks (ST), Water Treatment Plant (WTP) R cw PS ST Qyestion 13: Circle either True or False. Nonpoint source pollution is pollution that comes from a specific source, while point source pollution comes from many different sources. TRUE @ Qyestion 14: Fill in the blank. An environmental compliance officer brings citizens before a judge who are violating environmental laws. Qyestion 15: Circle either True or False. A combined system has wastewater and stormwater routed together in the same pipe, while a separate system has sewage and stormwater in separate pipes. @ FALSE ShortAnswer(Qyestions 16-20) Qyestion 16: Choose one step from the wastewater treatment process and give a brief description of it. Steps: bar screening {rid ofdebris), grit chamber {solids settle to the bottom), drum screening {rid q,fsmall debris), primary sedimentation tank {smallparticles settle), secondary treatment/ aeration basin (pxygen is added and microorganisms eat contaminants), secondary or final clarifier {slumfJs settle to the bottom), effluent filters filtration {removes final fJarticles), UV Disinfection {uv light disables microorganisims), post aerator (adds oxygen to the water). The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 7 Georgia Project WET Supplement - - - - -- - - ~---~---- Q!lestion 17: Discuss the main difference between the Wastewater Treatment Process and the Drinking Water Treatment Process. The Drinking Water Treatment treats raw waterfrom the river before itgoes to homes, schools and businessesfor drinking and Wastewater Treatment treats used waterfrom homes, schools, and businesses before itgoes hack to the river. Q!Iestion 18: What does CSO stand for? Combined Sewer Overflow Q!iestion 19: When water changes from a liquid to a gas, the process is called: Evaf..Joration Q!Iestion 20: Name one area water can go in the man-made or constructed water cycle: (Blue Traveler) wastewater, recreation, water treatment, well, desalinization, urban, irrigation, rural, septic system, industry 8 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Watersheds & Urban Watersheds What is a Watershed? A watershed is a drainage system. It is the land area from which water, sediment, and dissolved materials drain to a common point along a stream, wetland, lake, or river. The area that water drains is called a drainage basin. There are 14 major river basins in Georgia. (See the River Basin map included) Every body ofwater, including Atlanta's water source, the Chattahoochee River, has a drainage basin and a system that is part of a watershed. Its boundaries are marked by the highest points ofland around the waterbody called ridges. When it rains, the water hits the ridge and runs one direction into one drainage basin, or it can flow into another drainage basin if the flow leaves the ridge on the other side. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes and can include homes, parks, cities, farms, lakes, and forests. Watersheds cross county, state, and international borders. They can be as large as the Chattahoochee River watershed or as small as the stream's watershed in your backyard. It doesn't matter how far you live from a stream, river, or lake, you live in a watershed. Everyone lives in a watershed. An easy way to determine which watershed you live in is to visit the EP.Ns "SurfYour Watershed" web site at www.epa.gov/sur3. A watershed is an important part of the water system. Its characteristics such as soil type, climate, topography, vegetation, and rock formations - determine how water flows. For example, an area ofland with a steep topography may produce heavy runoff (water that flows across surfaces rather than soaking in) when rainfall occurs, while runoff in a heavily vegetated area with a flat terrain may be slow, allowing water to percolate into the ground. These qualities, in turn, affect the flow of rivers, lakes, and streams. River. The Chattahoochee River is one of the smallest watersheds in the nation serving a population center of this size and is considered to be an endangered river by many scientists. In its first 100 miles through North Georgia the river drops 2,400 feet. It gains momentum as it flows swiftly through streambeds and riffling pools. According to Jerry Hightower with the National Park Service Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, "The Chattahoochee River begins in the Chattahoochee National Forest as a small spring on the south side of]acks Knob Mountain 200 yards due South of Chattahoochee Gap on the Appalachian Trail in the Mark Trail Wilderness. Then the river flows through the forest to the mountain town of Helen and crosses the Dahlonega Plateau, eventually entering Lake Lanier (Hightower, 2005)." When it leaves the lake at Buford Dam, the river begins its journey through Metropolitan Atlanta and flows through the city of Atlanta. The river takes a southwesterly path as it travels through Atlanta and through middle Georgia. As the river flows through Atlanta it moves through pipes, pumping stations and through treatment plants where the river becomes part of a man-made water cycle. At LaGrange and West Point Lake, the Chattahoochee River flows for 160 miles along the boundary between Georgia and Alabama before combining with the Flint River and becoming the Appalachicola River at the Georgia-Florida border and then emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. This river system is referred to as the Appalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint Basin or the ACF. In all, the Chattahoochee watershed encompasses a drainage area of 8,770 square miles. Some of this area, 2,830 miles, is in Alabama. Students should be familiar with their watershed address and know the source of their drinking water and where their wastewater goes. If you live in Atlanta, chances are you are part of the Chattahoochee Watershed and you get your drinking water from the Chattahoochee The Chattahoochee (Creek Indian word for "river of the painted rocks") River and watershed has a rich history and has been shaped by human activity over time. Human beings for thousands ofyears lived and prospered within the Chattahoochee watershed from The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 9 Georgia Project WET Supplement Paleo to Historic times. Persons of European and African heritage found the river important for travel, commerce and farming. By harnessing the power of the water, industry was developed along the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries, from tiny grist mills to huge textile manufacturing companies. In the early 1800s the first Gold Rush in the United States occurred at the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. Today this river is Adanta's primary source of drinking water and provides power and recreation to residents. Wildlife like the Blue Heron, beaver, muskrat, Bass and Kingfisher also depend on the river. What is an Urban Watershed? An urban watershed is a type ofwatershed where water moves through an urban area. Urban watersheds are often dominated by increased impervious surface that increases peak flows and result in channel enlargement. "Research has shown that impervious cover of as litde as 10-15 percent of a watershed can have significant adverse effects on channel conditions. Bankfull flood events are common and flooding may occur more often (Schueler, 1996). In an urban watershed water is cleaned and treated for use by residents and businesses, treated and cleaned again, and returned to the river. People have built pipes, pumping stations, wells, storage tanks and treatment facilities to move water from the river to our homes, schools, and businesses and back to the river again. Treatment facilities use modem technologies to do what nature does naturally when water percolates through the soil layers, rock, gravel, and sand that act as natural filters, cleaning the water. The natural water cycle is altered in an urban watershed because there is less green space for percolation and more hard surfaces like buildings, roads, and parking lots. Impervious surfaces do not allow rain to penetrate through the soil to be filtered of contaminants and also do not allow for groundwater supplies to be recharged. Instead contaminants are carried by stormwater runoff to the nearest body ofwater. Natural surfaces that once absorbed water and recharged groundwater supplies are now hard surfaces that do not allow rainwater to percolate through the soil. As Adanta grows and spreads outward, more and more streams, especially small tributaries feeding direcdy into the river, are transformed into urban streams. Tributaries flow faster than streams and are generally smaller. They enter a stream at an angle less than 90 degrees and this angle points to the direction of stream flow. Urban streams are dominated by increased erosion and sedimentation that threatens the aquatic habitat degrading water quality. Heavily populated areas add point and nonpoint source pollution to the river also degrading water quality. Urban tributaries such as Nancy, Peachtree, Lullwater, Intrenchment, Rottenwood, Sweetwater, March, Nickajack, Olley, Noses, Sope, Crooked, Long Island, Utoy, Powder Springs, Morning, Whitewater, Ball Mill, Camp, Deep, Bear, Litde Bear, Proctor, and Peavine are under pressure from erosion and sediment, and other point and nonpoint source pollutants. When a pipe in an industrial park leaks or drips a chemical in the river, it is called a point source because you can point to it and know where the pollution is coming from. Nonpoint source pollution comes from everywhere and is everyone's responsibility. Often it travels great distances from its origin and is therefore difficult to identify. Pollutants from roads include gas, oil, antifreeze and even litter. Chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides used on lawns, gardens, and golf courses can add pressures to urban streams. Animal waste and sewage overflows further degrade water quality. The total combination of all the pollutants is called a total maximum daily load orTMDL. This means the total amount of point and nonpoint source pollution that the waterbody is allowed to receive and still meet water quality standards. These impacts result from transportation, commercial, residential and industrial land uses. The cumulative result of these changes in an urban watershed means an increase in the volume of runoff to streams, wedands, and rivers. These increased flows in surface waters produce a greater velocity and higher peak flows that can result in flooding. More people means more pollutants for the river and the process to clean the water for drinking and wastewater to return to the river becomes more challenging. Learning about the urban watershed can provide students with awareness 10 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page and help students find ways to protect their water resources and be able to take part in improving water quality in the Chattahoochee watershed. Today water protection encourages a watershed approach in Georgia. Watershed alliances are becoming part of the solution to water protection and management. It takes everyone's involvement and concern to keep Georgia's waters healthy. Tributary Awareness: The tributaries are like the veins in your body that carry blood to arteries transporting it to every part of your body. The tributaries are small but carry water swiftly to a stream. Without the tributaries there would not be a stream or a river. Have your students locate the tributaries to the Chattahoochee River on a Georgia map. Ask students in teams to recreate the Chattahoochee River, its tributaries, and streams. Remember to place the tributaries coming into the streams and river at angles less than 90 degrees to indicate the flow toward the Gulf ofMexico. Label the tributaries and use arrows to show the direction of the flow. Some of the tributaries that become streams in the Adanta Metro Area are listed below: Sweetwater, Intrenchment, March, Crooked, Long Island, Rottenwood, Sope, Nancy, Peachtree, Nickajack, Olley, Noses, Utoy North and South, Powder Springs, Morning, Whitewater, Deep, Camp, Bear, Litde Bear, Ball Mill, Peavine, Lullwater, Proctor Tribute to the Tribs Song Key:C c F What makes a nver do you know? G c What makes the nver flow? c G Am From the moun- tains to the sea F c G c It's the Tri- bu- tar- ies that makes the river flow. C G The Tribs are very cool you see. G C They have bran - ches like a tree. C Am F C In a water - shed they fill up the stream bed; C G C A stream becomes a river, be - comes a sea. C G You live m a water - shed, G C the Chat - ta - hoo - chee water - shed C F Am C From a moun-tain stream, to city pipes it can be seen; C G C A stream becomes a river, becomes a sea. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 11 Georgia Project WET Supplement - - - - - - -- - ----~--- A great way to teach students the concept of a watershed is to build it with a paper model This is a quick and easy way to give students a visual of the watershed concept. Materials: ~ Scrap paper from the school recycling box ~ Markers (soluble) blue for the ridges, streams and tributaries ~ Soluble marking pens in various colors ~ Small bathroom cups or aluminum containers ~ Blue Tempera paint mixed with water or spray bottles filled with water ~ Plastic spoons ~ Newspaper or aluminum pan to catch the paint and water 1. Give each student a piece of paper from the recycled paper box. Ask students to look .at their watershed property and use their markers and write an H for the location of their home, an S for the location of their school, G for grocery store and M for the Shopping Mall. Use colors other than blue (figure 1). 2. Tell your students that they are going to make the land shapes or topography of their property come alive. Have them crumple up the paper in their hand and then slightly pull it apart so that it makes a land form (figure 2). Place the paper landform on the foil pan they have made on the newspaper on their desk. Is everyone's land shape the same or are they different? down and look at their landforms from different angles to determine the highest mountain ridges that will create drainage basins and systems (figure 3). 5. Have students drip the tempera paint on the ridges of the highest mountains and they will get to watch the tributaries and streams form, eventually forming rivers, lakes, and possibly an ocean. Have them continJJe to drip paint on the highest mountain ridges until the paint is gone and rivers and lakes have formed on their landform (figure 4). Another way to do this is to fill plastic spray bottles with water and have them use a blue soluble marker to color the highest ridges, tributaries and streams across their landform. The markers will run when the water is sprayed on them and will create rivers and lakes. Ifyou use the plastic spray bottles you can also have them use different marker colors to mark their home, mall, grocery store and school. When the marker runs from these places into the watershed you can discuss contaminants that get in the water from activities in these places. 6. If rain travels down one side of the mountain the rain will be in one watershed and if the rain travels down the other side of the mountain it is in a different watershed. There are also smaller watersheds in larger watersheds. 7. Ask students what makes the water move down the mountains. (gravity, wind) 8. Has anyone built their home, school, or shopping mall in a flood plain? Is it a good idea to know something about watersheds before you build? 3. Give each student a cup of mixed tempera paint in the cup and a plastic spoon. Make sure the water will drip. It should not be thick. 9. What ideas do the students have to keep the watershed healthy? List them on the board or flip chart 4. Ask each student to locate their highest mountain ridges where the rain will touch first. Where are their second highest mountain ridges? The ridges will form a divide and rain will fall on one side of the divide or on the other side of the divide. Students may have to stoop 12 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement -----------------------------'~ Sources: http:/I negeorgia.com/naturally/chattahoochee02.html http://wsfa.iewatershed.com/index.php?pagename=ow_watershed_chattahoochee chipola_ http://www. ucriverkeeper.org/EducationW a t e r s h e d /apalacicola.s h t m l http://www.rversofalabama.org/Chattahoochee/CHATT_Physical_Description.htm http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waterlwatershed/introduction.html Council of State Governments. Working at a Watershed Level, chapter 7 "Watershed Management and Restoration Practices" pgs. 59-63. 1999. http://www.epa.gov/sur3. Hightower, Jerry. 2005. Personal Discussion. Environmental Education Coordinator. Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. National Park Service. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 13 Georgia Project WET Supplement Georgia Spotlight Georgia Rivers: Chattahoochee River Teaching Conservation 2004 Georgia Conservancy Karen Garland Part 4 of a 4 part series- Focus on the 14 Georgia river basins. www.georgiaconservancy.org As a state dominated by a system of rivers and streams that empty into a series of coastal estuaries, water has been a defining factor in Georgia's growth and development. The landscape has been continually sculpted by its 14 major river basins with more than 70,150 miles of streambed. Except for the Savannah, Tennessee, and Coosa rivers the headwaters of these rivers are entirely within the state. Approximately half of the river systems eventually drain into one of the estuaries found along Georgia's 100 miles of coast. It is difficult to fully appreciate how much water has shaped the state until you see a Georgia map on which vegetation, cities, and roads have been stripped away, leaving only the natural topography. Water is the great integrator, linking and melding our five distinct regions from the mountains to the ocean (Cumberland Plateau, Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain). Just as impressive are the vast quantities ofwater hidden beneath the ground in a system of intermeshed aquifers. The influence of the state's four major and four minor aquifers has been subtle and often unrecognized, except in recent times. The debate over the, Savannah harbor deepening for example and the impact it will have on the Floridan aquifer by allo~ng salt water to intrude into this fresh water source has heightened awareness of the importance of the state's aquifers. Ever since the first human settler forded a river and stepped onto Georgia soil, water has shaped the state's economic and political development. Rivers and bays were the first highways; every great city in the state grew .where it did because ofwater. Water nurtured wildlife, the land, and the people. However, across Georgia, people also drained the bottornlands to harvest the trees and farm the rich soil. While this has produced timber and agricultural products, it has also destroyed many naturally occurring benefits of these riparian areas, including the cycling of nutrients, flood buffering, and natural treatment of agricultural, industrial, and human wastes. It also has eliminated important wildlife habitat. What we now think of as "natural" in many cases is far from it. Historically, Georgia has no naturally occurring large lakes. Today, however, Georgia has the highest density of dams in the Southeast. The 1998 Environmental Protection Agency's National Dam Inventory showed 4,435 reservoirs and impoundments in the state created by dams 6 feet or higher. Other studies indicate the number could be as high as 65,000 when including farm ponds and the many small impoundments on tributaries. We care about the quantity of these reservoirs because they eliminate a percentage of natural flowing stream habitat essential to many of our endemic or native fishes by creating laketype habitat that is warmer. Currently, surface water accounts for about 80 percent of the state's water use. In north Georgia, groundwater is not as easily accessible as in the southern part of the state. For example, in and around metropolitan Atlanta, 85 percent of the water supply comes from the surface water sources of the Chattahoochee River, the Etowah River, Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona. The Chattahoochee River alone provides more than half of Atlanta's water requirements. According to the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, both population and water supply demands in the Atlanta region could double by 2035. As more communities in Georgia and across the country are discovering, water quality and water supply have a significant and sometimes controlling effect on growth. Local governments and even neighboring states now 14 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------------------------------------'~,~- compete for drinking water sources and wastewater discharge capacity. Federal and state regulations controlling water are becoming increasingly stringent. Growth and economic development must be managed so as not to overconsume or destroy our natural resources. The many competing demands on our water resources can create a critical situation if not addressed in a timely and effective manner. Why is natural flow in trouble? Discharges from land-based urban, industrial, mining and agricultural activities affect water and sediment quality, habitat structure, biodiversity and food webs, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as the general use of the water bodies for activities such as tourism and recreation. The instream flow of many Georgia rivers is being dramatically altered and the diversity of fish and wildlife species is suffering because of the excessive diversions to serve the demands of agriculture, hydropower, and growing cities. ~ Dams and associated diversions can transform a perennial stream into an intermittent one, change the stream ecology above the dam to reflect that of a lake, block the path of migrating fish, damage fish spawning gravels, deprive estuaries of needed fresh water, and reduce sediment nourishment ofcoastal beaches. ~ Growing cities are taking more water from riyers to quench the thirsts of homes and businesses without consideration to what is needed to sustain aquatic orgarusms ~ As towns grow, more and more of the watersheds become impervious. This means the ground, covered with buildings and paved roads and parking lots, can't absorb rainwater. Instead ofgradually seeping into the ground under natural conditions where one could expect less than 1% runoff, the water rushes over the surface and floods the nearest stream. Under suburban and residential conditions one can expect from 20 to 40 % runoff and anywhere from SG-80% runoff under urban conditions. This runoff increases stream velocity and causes erosion. In many cases, this huge influx ofwater is laden with oil and other contaminants. ~ Excessive logging can also cause water and sediments to reach streams more rapidly. A forested hillside is like a giant sponge. Remove the trees and rainwater, along with a good deal of mud, will rip down the hillside and flood a nearby stream. Add roads to the mix and you'll get even bigger landslides. ~ Channelization of a river to facilitate navigation or to provide flood control destroys a river's natural meanders. This process of straightening and deepening the river increases the velocity of flows. It also makes it harder for the river and its wedands to absorb floodwaters. Georgia's rivers are in need of protection. What can we do to help? ~ Never dump anything down a storm drain or drainage ditch. ~ Recycle motor oil and other vehicle fluids. ~ Throw litter in its place. ~ Clean up your pet's waste and dispose of properly. ~ Check your vehicles for leaks and repair them. ~ Reduce the amount of household hazardous wastes generated in your home and school. ~ Compost yard clippings. ~ Use fertilizers and pesticides only when needed (Read the label!) ~ If you wash your vehicle at home, do so on the lawn rather than on pavement. ~ Get involved: find out where creeks, streams, ponds, and wedands exist near your home or school and try to learn more about them. ~ Support agencies and private organizations that deal with water issues. ~ Purchase federal duck stamps from your local post office to support wedand acquisitions. ~ Encourage neighbors, developers, and state and local governments to protect the function and value of creeks, streams, ponds and wedands in your watershed. ~ In Georgia you can participate in Adopt-a-Stream and/or Adopt-a-Wedand programs (http://www. riversalive.org/aas.htm) ~ For a great companion curriculum to the Urban Watershed see Georgia Conservancy's "Native Waters curriculum. www.georgiaconservancy.org The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 15 Georgia Project WET Supplement River Basin: Chattahoochee River The most generally accepted name for the river comes from the 1799 travel log of Benjamin Hawkins, an Indian agent: "The name is derived from "Chatto", a stone and "hoche", marked or flowered. The Chattahoochee River originates in the southeast corner ofUnion County as a spring fittingly named "Chattahoochee Gap," little more than a trickle of water at 3200 feet near Brasstown Bald (the highest point in Georgia). Eventually streams from Habersham, Lumpkin, Rabun, Towns, Union, and White counties broaden its flow as it falls over 100 miles and almost 2400 feet following the erodible rock of the Brevard Fault Zone to form one of the most important lakes in the southeast, Lake Lanier (38,000 acres and 540 miles of shoreline), which provides water and recreation for millions of Georgians. The river continues to flow southwesterly through metro Atlanta and ten more constructed dams, includ- ing Lakes West Point and Walter F. George before terminating in Lake Seminole at the Georgia-Florida border for a total distance of 434 miles (8770 square miles). As the river crosses the Georgia-Florida border, it joins the Flint River to form the Apalachicola River, which flows on to the Gulf ofMexico (Apalachicola Bay produces 90 percent of Florida's and 13 percent of the Nation's oyster harvest, and functions as a nursery for shrimp, blue crabs and a variety of fin fish.) . The future of this river rests on the shoulders of concerned Georgians. Legislators are currently looking for solutions to our lack ofwater resources in the metro Atlanta area. One ongoing effort towards helping the health of the river is the future establishment of a 180mile greenway along the banks of the Chattahoochee from Helen to Columbus. With some 500 feet of park space protecting both sides of the river, this initiative would be one of the longest river parks in the country. Fast Facts ~ 110 species offish (of269 fishes in Georgia), of which 10 introduced and 1 is endemic ~ 24 species of freshwater aquatic turtles ~ 27 species of salamanders and sirens ~ 30 species of frogs and toads ~ 5 species of mussels-historically 30 were known to exist, but the number has dramatically declined due to damming, poor land use practices, and pollution. ~ 9 species of threatened or endangered plants The Chattahoochee River has been named one of the most endangered rivers in the United States due to poor water quality, which has resulted from sprawling development and growth. The more than 4 million residents ofAtlanta who utilize the river's water drain over 300 million gallons per day to use for drinking, bathing, washing, and watering. Because the Chattahoochee River's watershed is the smallest in the nation to serve such a large population, this river is being used to the brink of its extinction. 16 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement -------------------------'~- Chattahoochee River Basin The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 17 Georgia Project WET Supplement Georgia's 14 Major River Basins 18 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ----------------------~~- Georgia's 52 Major Watersheds The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 19 Georgia Project WET Supplement The Blue Traveler Grade Level: 4-8 Subject Areas: Earth Science Duration: Preparation: 50 minutes Activity time: Part I 50 minutes Part ll 50 minutes Setting: A large room or playing field Skills: Organize, Analyze, Interpret Vocabulary: electromagnetic forces, condensation, hydrologic cycle, evaporation, aquifer, groundwater, transpiration How can water be moving up, down, and all around? Summary With a roll of the die, students simulate the movement ofwater within and between natural and constructed systems. Objectives Students will: ~ Identify water users in natural and constructed systems. ~ Describe specifically the movement ofwater within and between natural and constructed systems for urban and rural use. ~ Discuss how understanding water's movement on the planet supports water conservation measures. Materials ~ 19 large pieces of paper (for Part I and Part II) ~ Marking pens ~ 19 boxes, about 6 inches (15 em) on a side (Boxes are used to make dice for the game. Gift boxes used for coffee mugs are a good size, or you can inquire at your local mailing outlet for suitable boxes. There will be one die [or box] per station of the water cycle. The labels for the sides of the dice are located in the Water Cycle Table. These labels represent the options for pathways that water can follow.) ~ Copies ofWaterJourney Map, Part I and Part II Student Copy Pages Optional Materials ~ Beads, 19 different colors or shapes (see Part I, step 7) ~ 19 small containers to hold beads ~ Twine or string, cut in 12" lengths (one per student) Background The pathways that water follows are part of the hydrologic cycle. Heated by the sun, water evaporates from oceans, rivers, lakes and soil; water transpired from plants also rises into the air. Cooled in the atmosphere, water condenses. It falls as rain, snow, or hail to earth, where it can seep into the ground and become ground water, evaporate again from the land, be absorbed by the roots of plants, quench the thirst of animals, or rush or meander in rivers on a course to the sea. During this incredible journey water can assume the form of solid, liquid, or vapor (gas). The chemical structure ofwater-two atoms ofhydrogen and one atom of oxygen-and the molecules' orientation to each other determine the state ofwater. 20 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide -------------------------------------------~ - - ' .: - 0 . ' - . --_.,... ______-_ ~..--.:::- ..~:~ .. ,. ~ -:~- ;:_- ._-- . = The hydrologic cycle Partnered with gravity and other forces, water as a solid, liquid, or gas is a powerful agent of change. Expanding when it freezes, water exerts enough pressure to fracture rock. Raindrops can release tremendous energy. In driving rainstorms, droplets falling on unprotected lands can loosen tons of soil. Runoff carries these sediments into streams and rivers that may eventually find their way to the sea. Beach sand that you sift through your fingers may once have been part of a mountaintop. Although snow contains less water than rain, snowpack functions like a water bank, and is important in the water cycle. When snow in the high country melts in late spring, the runoff swells streams and rivers and recharges ground water. Although unseen, water's most dramatic movements take place in its gaseous phase. Water is constandy evaporating-changing from a liquid to a gas. As a vapor, it travels through the atmosphere over Earth's surface. In fact, water vapor surrounds us all the time. Where it will condense and return to Earth depends on loss ofheat energy, on gravity, and on the structure of Earth's surface. The water cycle connects all living and nonliving things on Earth. Living organisms help move water. Humans and other animals carry water within their bodies and transport it from one location to another. Water is either direcdy consumed by animals or is removed from foods during digestion. Water is excreted as a liquid or leaves the body as a gas, usually through respiration. When water is present on the skin (for example as a perspiration, evaporation may occur. Plants, too, take from and contribute to the hydrologic cycle. Water makes up 80 to 90 percent of the weight of herbaceous (green leafY) plants, and about 50 percent of the weight ofwoody plants. Where temperatures favor plant growth, the availability ofwater is one of the main factors that determines the distribution of plants. Through transpiration, plants give offwater to the atmosphere through pores on their leaves. Plants give up 95 percent of the water they absorb; the remaining 5 percent is used for growth and maintenance. The greatest movers ofwater among living organisms are plants. Humans have created additional pathways for water to follow in its journey on the planet. For example, water is often supplied for urban use, from a public water supply system. That is, water is withdrawn from large wells or is removed from surface waters such as lakes or rivers. This water is generally treated regardless ofwhere it International Project WET 21 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide comes from (surface or ground water). The degree of treatment depends upon the condition of the water. For example, in some areas, ground water from wells is only treated with small quantities of chlorine gas. This priceless kills microorganisms that may occur in water lines. However, if surface water is used and it contains silt, algae, microorganisms or other mat.erials, a more elaborate and costly cleaning process is required. Water is prepared for drinking and other uses in a water treatment plant and generally includes the following steps: and rocks. (This imitates the filtration of ground water through layers of sand, gravel, rock, and other materials in nature.) 5. Chlorination: To kill any bacteria that may still be in the water, chlorine gas is added in small amounts. After treatment water may be stored in large tanks. Upon demand it moves through water mains or large underground pipes to residences, businesses, industrial complexes, etc. 1. Aeration: In this process the water is sprayed into the air to release trapped gases and also to absorb oxygen. This generally improves the taste ofwater. 2. Coagulation: A chemical known as alum is added and mixed into the water. Mter a certain amount of time, alum breaks into small cohesive particles that are called floc. Does it seem contradictory to add more chemicals to water to clean it? The point of this addition is that dirt suspended in the water sticks to the floc. 3. Sedimentation: The water is allowed to stand (contained with almost no movement) to provide an opportunity for particles of dirt and floc to become heavy and finally to settle to the bottom of the tank. The cleaner water above the sediment is drawn off. 4. Filtration: To remove any other impurities, the water is then passed through layers of charcoal, sand, gravel, Water storage tanks hold treated water for city and residential use. But what happens to this water after use? Years ago, wastewater was returned directly to rivers and streams. At that time, the volume ofwastewater could be accommodated by natural systems. The small amount ofwaste was diluted by the great amount of fresh water. Also, dissolved oxygen, bacteria, and other organisms acted on the sewage to turn it into mostly harmless products. However, the quantity ofwastewater has greatly increased and the composition ofwastewater has changed. Therefore, after use, water is generally treated in wastewater treatment plants. The process used in contemporary wastewater treatment plants is similar to the natural process by which water is cleaned while moving through the water cycle. The simplest form ofwastewater treatment (primary treatment) involves filtration and settling procedures. In addition, waste materials that float are skimmed from the top. Primary techniques remove 45 to 50 percent of pollutants. Most developed countries have a secondary process ofwastewater treatment. Secondary treatment, mainly a biological process, removes between 85-90 percent ofremaining pollutants. Helpful microorganisms consume most of the waste materials in aerator tanks. Solids and microorganisms are separated from the wastewater in secondary settling tanks. Adding a disinfectant (such as chlorine) kills any remaining disease-causing organisms. The water is released from the treatment plant into nearby waterways. Some plants even have a third stage ofwastewater treatment that removes small amounts of undesirable materials such as nitrates, phosphates, and heavy metals. 22 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide ,~17( --------------------------------------------~~~ In many areas, depending upon the degree of treatment, wastewater is being used for diverse purposes. Often called reclaimed water, this is wastewater which has been treated to a level that is acceptable for specific applications. These applications include: watering of golf courses, athletic fields, and parks; cooling and processing in industrial systems; irrigation of animal feed crops, cotton, and trees; recharging ground water aquifers; and in some cases, for drinking water. However, many people do not get their water from public water supply systems. Instead, their water is provided by private household wells. In addition to providing water to residences, well water is also used for irrigating crops, watering livestock, cooling equipment and processing in industrial and commercial operation, and irrigating lawns. (Wells are also drilled to monitor groundwater.) Wells are constructed by professionals who use special machines called well-drilling rigs. Wells are drilled into an aquifer. Wells depth varies, but wells can be as much as 600-800 feet deep. Electric pumps are used to bring up the Water naturally contains organisms that cause disease and must be removed in the treatment process. water through pipes into private homes. In many cases, this water is directly removed from the aquifer and consumed without treatment. In these situations, it is a good idea to have the well water tested periodically to insure that it is still safe to drink. Consumers can get information from their state health departments to find out how often they should have their well water sampled and tested. What happens to well water after it is used by the consumer? If public sewer lines are not available, it is the responsibility of homeowners to treat their own wastewater. On-site sewage disposal is defined as "the treatment and disposal of sewage on the same property as the residence." These systems should remove pollutants and disease-causing organisms before wastewater is introduced back into ground and surface waters. How does a septic system accomplish these objectives? A septic system is compromised of a septic tank and a soil absorption area. Wastewater from the residence flows into the septic tank. In the tank organic solids in the wastewater float to the surface and form a layer called scum. Bacteria act on these solids and convert them to a liquid. Inorganic material sinks to the bottom of the tank and forms a layer called sludge. Between the layers of scum and sludge, clear water passes through the outlet pipe to the soil absorption area. Here the water passes through a filtering system. Leaching fields, filter beds, and cesspools are types of filtering systems. Individuals can help protect the quality of the water that will enter the natural water cycle by monitoring their septic system. The following may be indicators of septic system failure: ~ Water drains slowly from the home ~ Plumbing backs up ~ Pipes and drains emit a gurgling sound ~ The grass is greener over the septic system Every few years, homeowners should practice routine maintenance of their septic system by having sludge removed. As water moves through and connects natural and constructed systems, we recognize the need that all water users have for water of the right quality and quantity, at the right time and cost. Urban and rural dwellers require water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and watering of lawns and gardens. Agriculturists and ranchers need water for their livestock and irrigation of the fruits, vegetables, and grains we consume. Industrialists use water to produce the materials and goods we use. Energy producers generate the power for the production of goods and the comfort of our homes. Fish and wildlife require clean and abundant water for their survival and International Project WET 23 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide proliferation. Recreationists depend on water resources for canoeing; rafting, fishing, surfing, skiing, and other activities that renew the human spirit. As all water users recognize their dependence on this resource, protecting water quality and quantity makes social, economic, and ecological good sense! Procedure WannUp Ask students to take out a piece of paper and illustrate how they think water moves on ~e planet. Ask them to identifY the different places water can go as it moves through and around Earth and, if possible; to indicate the processes that occur (condensation, evaporation, transpiration). Remind them to include not only the "natural cycle," but also where humans have added to that cycle. As students are drawing, walk around and observe their work. Many students are likely to draw the "water circle": water rains from the clouds, falls onto the land, runs off into the ocean, and evaporates back into the clouds. Mter students have completed their drawings, ask them to identifY the different places they indicated that water can go. Discuss with them the process of condensation, evaporation, and transpiration. The Activity Part I 1. Tell the students they are going to become water molecules moving through the natural water cycle. 2. Categorize the places through which water can move into nine stations: clouds, plants, animals, rivers, oceans, lakes, groundwater, soil, and glaciers. Write these names on large pieces of paper and put them in locations around the room or field. (On a windy day, choose students to hold the station signs and help others to move through the cycle. Students may enjoy making the station signs and illustrating them.) 3. Either assign an even number of students to each station (except for the cloud station) or have all students start in the clouds. Have students identifY the different places to which water can travel from the station they were assigned in the water cycle. Discuss the conditions that cause the water to move. Explain that water movement depends on energy from the sun, electromagnetic energy, and gravity. Sometimes water will not move anywhere. Mter students have generated lists of possible destinations, have each group share their work. Have students compare the die that has been prepared for their station with the lists they wrote. The. Water Cycle Table provides an explanation ofwater movements from each station. 4. Have students discuss the form in which water moves from one place to another (i.e., solid, liquid, or gas). In most cases water will be moving in its liquid form. However, any time water moves to the clouds, it is in the form ofwater vapor, with molecules moving rapidly and apart from each other. 5. Tell students that they will be demonstrating water's movement from one location to another. When they move as liquid water, they will be moving in pairs to represent many water molecules bonded together in a water drop. When they move to the clouds (evaporate), they will separate from their partners and move alone as individual water molecules. When water condenses and rains from the clouds, each student will grab a partner and move to the next location. 6. In this game a roll of the die indicates where the water will go. Students line up at the nine different stations. At the cloud station they should be in single file; at all other stations they should line up in pairs. Students roll the die and go to the location indicated on the label facing up. If they roll "stay", they move to the back of the line. In the clouds, students roll the die individually, but ifthey leave the clouds they grab a partner (the person immediately behind them) and move to the next station; the partner does not roll the die. 7. Students should keep track of their movements. Before beginning the simulation, provide a copy of the Water Journey Map, Part I. Ask students to draw lines showing their movement from station to station. If students roll "stay", they should record a hatch mark at that station. Another approach is to place a container with 24 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide -----------------------------~ beads of a certain color at each station. For example, offer blue beads at the ocean station, brown beads at the soil station, white beads at the glacier, and so forth. Provide lengths of twine on which to string the beads. As students move from station to station, have them keep track of their movements by picking up beads and stringing them on the twine. 8. Tell students the game will begin and end with the sound of a bell. Play the game! Rural and urban, work and recreation, wildlife and industry: all depend on the hydrologic cycle. Part II 1. Ask students to describe how they think water moves in systems that have been constructed by humans. Remind them that in the constructed system water is processed for human use. That is, water is treated to be suitable for drinking and wastewater is treated to be released into the natural system or to be reused in the constructed system (for irrigation, industry, and even drinking). 2. Have students brainstorm on how water is used in constructed systems. It may be easier for them to think of different water users (urban dwellers, farmers, ranchers, industrialists, recreationists, etc.) 3. Have students distinguish between the ways urban and rural dwellers generally receive their water. Discuss the difference between public water supply systems (water treatment and wastewater treatment) and private wells and septic systems. 4. Expand the playing field to include stations and die for both the natural and constructed systems. It will be necessary to change one to three sides of the following dice to simulate the natural and constructed cycle: river, clouds, ocean, lake, and ground water. A new die will have to be made for the constructed system. (See the Water Cycle Tables.) Provide students with the Water Journey Map, Part II, and tell them to record their journey just as they did in the natural system. 5. Remind students to move in pairs to represent water in the form of liquid and ice and to move as single players when they are representing water in the gaseous state. (With smaller classes and the increased number of stations, it may be necessary to explain the changes in state, but not to simulate it. In this situation, students would move singularly from station to station, regardless of the form ofwater at that station. 6. Tell students that play will begin and end with the sound of a whistle or bell. Go! WrapUp Have students study their Water Journey Maps, Part I and Part II. Ask them what conclusions they can draw about the natural water cycle based on their journey. Could they have predicted the exact pattern ofwater's movement through the natural system? Have students compare their journeys from Part I and Part II. Were there stations that could have been predicted as part of water's journey through the constructed system? (For example, water must pass through water treatment for urban users and through wastewater treatment before it enters the natural system.) Discuss water treatment and wastewater treatment with students. Have students describe how these technologies in many ways imitate the cleaning ofwater in the natural system. International Project WET 25 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Ask students how many of them live in urban systems. Aie they aware ofwhether or not reclaimed water is being used in their community for irrigation, industry, or drinking water? How do (or would) they feel about drinking reclaimed water? Have students compare water movement through rural and urban systems. How many of them depend on a well for their home water use? Who is responsible for ensuring the quality of drinking water and the treatment ofwastewater in rural households that depend on a residential well? (The family who depends on the well.) How can homeowners help to maintain the quality ofwater that is returned to the natural system? (They can closely monitor their septic system.) Why is it important that wells are not drilled too closely together? (One well can affect the supply of another. Also, the natural system in a small or confined area may not be able to finish the cleaning process if there are too many septic systems too close together.) In addition to rural and urban water users, were students (based on their family's work) able to identify with other water users? Ask students to discuss their recreation use ofwater. Although students were able to play the game without the constructed system, would it be possible to demonstrate water's movement on the planet without the natural system? How does an understanding ofhowwater moves on the planet contribute to our reasons to conserve water? Do students believe that water is without cost? (Treatment for drinking water and wastewater costs money. It requires workers, facilities, pipes, and materials to clean or treat water. The more water we use, the more water must be treated or cleaned, and that <;osts money.) Assessment Have students ~ Role-play water as it moves through the natural system (Part I, step 8) and constructed systems (Part II, step 7). ~ Identify the states ofwater as it moves through the natural system (Part I, step 4). ~ Identify the steps in water treatment and wastewater treatment and relate them to natural systems (Part II, step 1). ~ Compare and contrast the movement ofwater through natural and constructed systems (Warm Up). ~ Draw a picture of how water moves on the planet through natural and constructed systems (Wrap Up). ~ Identify how an understanding of the water cycle in natural and constructed systems supports water conservation measures (Wrap Up). Extensions Have students investigate how water becomes polluted and is cleaned as it moves through the water cycle. For instance, it might pick up contaminants as it travels through the soil that are then left behind as water evaporates at the surface. Challenge students to adapt the activity to include these processes in both the natural and constructed systems. For example, rolled-up pieces of masking tape representing pollutants can be stuck to students as they travel to the soil station. Some materials will be filtered out as the water moves to the lakes. Have students show this by rubbing their arms to slough off some tape. If they roll clouds, they remove all the tape; when water evaporates it leaves pollutants behind. Ask students to turn over the papers on which they first drew how they thought water moved on the planet. Now that they have run the simulation in Parts I and II of the activity, ask them to illustrate or create a model ofhow they think water moves on the planet through natural and constructed systems. Ask .students to compare and contrast their original and final impressions of the water cycle. 26 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide ~~-- ---------------------------------------------' ---~~ Resources Alexander, Gretchen. 1989. Water Cycle Teacher's Guide. Hudson, NH: Delta Education, Inc. Allen, Leslie Frye, Valerie Johnson, Georgann Penson, and Diane Sterling. 1996. Waterways: Exploring Northwest Florida's Water Resources. Havana, FL: Northwest Florida Water Management District. Anderson, Terry L., and Pamela Snyder. 1997. Water Markets, Priming the Invisible Pump. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute. Gleick, Peter H. 198. The World's Water. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. VanDer Leeden, Frits. 1991. The Water Encyclopedia. Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishers, Inc. e-Links Comision Nacional del Agua (Mexico) www.can.gob.rnxlportallswitch.asp?param=1000 Environment Canada www.ec.gc.ca/waterlen/nature/prop/e_cycle.htm Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) www.ega.gov/seahome/groundwater/srdcycle.htm National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasalearthlhydrocycle/hydrol.htrnl United States Geological Survey (USGS) Ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/followdrip.html Printed with permission from The Watershed Manager. International Project WET International Project WET 27 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide ---~--- ~------ IS Student Copy Page Water Cycle Table/Natural Cycle Part I Station Soil Die Side Labels one side plant one side river one side ground water two sides clouds one side stay Plant River four sides clouds two sides stay one side lake one side groundwater one side ocean one side animal one side clouds Clouds one side stay one side soil one side glacier one side lake two sides ocean one side stay Explanation Water is absorbed by plant roots. The soil is saturated, so water runs off into a river Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil. Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes to the clouds. Water remains on the surface (perhaps in a puddle, or adhering to a soil particle). Water leaves the plant through the process of transpiration. Water is used by the plant and stays in the cells. Water flows into a lake. Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil. Water flows into the ocean. An animal drinks water. Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes back to the clouds. Water remains in the current of the river. Water condenses and falls on soil. Water condenses and falls as snow onto a glacier. Water condenses and falls into a lake. Water condenses and falls into the ocean. Water remains as a water droplet clinging to a dust particle in the cloud. 28 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Water Cycle Table/Natural Cycle Part I Station Ocean Lake Die Side Labels two sides clouds four sides stay one side groundwater one side animal one side river one side clouds Animal Ground Water Glacier two sides stay two sides soil three sides clouds one side stay one side river two sides lake three sides stay one side ground water one side clouds three sides river one side stay Student Copy Page Explanation Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes to the clouds. Water remains in the ocean. Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil. An animal drinks water. Water flows into a river. Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes to the clouds. Water remains within the lake or estuary. Water is excreted through feces and urine. Water is respired or evaporated from the body. Water is incorporated into the body. Water filters into a river. Water filters into a lake. Water stays underground. Snow melts and water percolates down through soil and rock to ground water. Snow melts and water evaporates to the clouds. Snow melts and water flows into a river. Snow stays frozen in the mountains. International Project WET 29 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Water Cycle Table/Natural Cycle Part I Station Soil Die Side Labels one side plant one side river one side ground water two sides clouds one side stay Plant River four sides clouds two sides stay one side water treatment one side irrigation one side ocean one side animal one side clouds Clouds one side stay one side soil one side glacier one side lake one side ocean one side recreation one side stay Explanation Plant roots absorb water. The soil is saturated, so water runs off into a river. Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil. Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes to the clouds. Water remains on the surface (perhaps in a puddle or adhering to a soil particle). Water leaves the plant through the process of transpiration. Water is used by the plant and stays in the cells. Water is withdrawn from the river for treatment. Water is removed from the river for irrigation. Water flows into the ocean. An animal drinks water. Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes back to the clouds. Water remains in the current of the river. Water condenses and falls on soil. Water condenses and falls as snow onto a glacier. Water condenses and falls into a lake. Water condenses and falls into the ocean. Water condenses and falls to the earth for various forms of recreation. Water remains as a water droplet clinging to a dust particle in the cloud. 30 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 8 Student Copy Page Water Cycle Table/Natural Cycle Part I Station Ocean Die Side Labels two sides clouds two sides stay one side desalinization one side industry Lake one side groundwater one side animal one side river one side clouds two sides stay one side industry Animal Ground Water Glacier two sides soil three sides clouds one side stay one side river one side lake one side stay one side well one side water treatment one side irrigation one side ground water one side clouds three sides river one side stay Explanation Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes to the clouds. Water remains in the ocean. Water is removed from the ocean for desalinization. Ocean water is used for ballast in seagoing vessels for transporting goods. Water is pulled by gravity; it filters into the soil An animal drinks water. Water flows into a river. Heat energy is added to the water, so the water evaporates and goes to the clouds. Water remains within the lake or estuary. Ocean water is used for power plants and manufacturing products. Water is excreted through feces and urine. Water is respired or evaporated from the body. Water is incorporated into the body. Water filters into a river. Water filters into a lake. Water stays underground. Water is pumped for domestic uses. Water is removed and treated for drinking water. Water is removed for irrigation. Snow melts and water percolates down through the soil and rock to ground water. Snow melts and water evaporates to the clouds. Snow melts and water flows into a river. Snow stays frozen in the mountains. International Project WET 31 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide ISStudent Copy Page Water Cycle Table/Constructed Cycle Part II Station Wastewater Die Side Labels one side river one side urban one side irrig::ttion one side industry Recreation Water Treatment Well one side ground water one side clouds one side plants two sides river one side lake one side animal two sides ocean two sides urban one side industry one side ground water one side stay two sides rural one side irrigation one side animals one side industry one side stay Explanation After treatment, water is returned to the river. Water is used to irrigate lawns and parks. Water is used to irrigate animal feed crops, cotton, citrus, and other crops. Water is used in processing and cooling (for example, in the steel industry). Treated water is injected into wells to replenish ground water. Water evaporates from treatment plant settling ponds. Water is taken up by plant roots in parks and athletic fields. People enjoy water through canoeing, rafting, and birding. People enjoy water through boating and skiing. Anglers enjoy water through fishing. People enjoy beaches, swimming, and snorkeling. Water is used for domestic purposes like drinking, bathing, cooking, fire fighting, and city cleaning. Water is used for production of goods. Water is lost during transport through leaky, underground pipes. Water remains in supply facility (tanks, water tower). many people living in rural areas pump their water from wells for drinking, bathing, cooking, etc. Well water is used to irrigate crops. Well water is used for livestock watering. Well water is used for producing goods. Water remains in the well. 32 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Student Copy Page Water Cycle Table/Constructed Cycle Part II Station Desalinization Urban Die Side Labels two sides urban one side irrigation one side industry one side stay one side clouds two sides wastewater one side plant one side soil one side clouds one side river Irrigation Rural Septic System Septic System one side soil two sides plants one side clouds one side river one side animals three sides septic system one side irrigation one side animal one side clouds two sides stay four sides soil two sides stay two sides wastewater two sides clouds Explanation Water is used fro drinking, bathing, cleaning, etc. Water is used for watering crops, trees, etc. Water is utilized in the production of goods. Water remains in storage tanks after treatment. Water evaporates during treatment. Mter use, water moves through pipes to the wastewater treatment facility. Plants absorb water through their roots during irrigation of lawns and gardens. Water soaks into soil with watering. Water evaporates into the clouds with the watering oflawns. Water flows from the lawn into storm drains that may connect with the river. Water moves into the soil. Water is absorbed by plant roots. Water evaporates into the clouds. Water runs off the fields and into the river. Water is used for livestock, waterfowl, and wildlife. Water moves into the septic system for cleaning after use in homes. Well water is used for lawns and gardens. Well water is used for livestock and pets. Evaporation occurs when applying water to lawns and gardens. Water remains in the septic tank of the system. After cleaning, water moves into the soil layer. Industry recycles water. After use, water is treated. Water evaporates as steam in industrial applications. International Project WET 33 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page Natural Cycle Box Sides Directions: Replicate these pages, enlarging them to fit the sides ofyour boxes, as necessary. Cut the panels apart and glue or paste the artwork onto the six sides of each box. Or, have students create their own illustrations for the boxes. . . . .. ..... 34 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Natural Cycle Box Slides .. . ...: : . .. .. .. .. . .... . . .... . .... : . .. -........ - LAKE Student Copy Page International Project WET 35 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page Natural and Constructed Cycle Box Sides - .. . . 36 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Constructed Cycle Box Slides IS Student Copy Page ... " a . 'J ~ ' a ' ... , ~ . . II r ~ ~ I ' .... ~ .".. . ...... oP ' 1 I ...... ' a URBAN 0 Q 0 0 D 0 0 0 C) c> Q' ... 0 .. (1 .. .. 0 " 0 0 f7 . 0 0 0 . . International Project WET 37 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page Constructed Cycle Box Slides ~ !== r== t:r_rr:_, / .... lol ro " ~ r! I II ta ~ r. II r.-' - ~ !Ill: m ~ ~ ;_ r.- ~ '~ INDUSTRY SEPTIC SYSTEM 38 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide WaterJourney Map, Part [ 8 Student Copy Page International Project WET 39 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 8 Student Copy Page Water Journey Map, Part II .. .. .. 0 v~~=~!:;::r:~4y; ; h~:~.~~7?i~-:..:; WELL INDUSTRY RURAL 40 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Student Copy Page You can introduce the water cycle words by singing this song with your students and sing it faster each round and then try and act out the meaning of the words. Water Water Water Water (to the tune ofMary Poppins' SOJ!g Supercalafrajalisticexpialadocious) Precipitation Transpiration Accumulation Condensation Infiltration Evaporation Water Cycle Words Are Sure To Cause Some Perspiration Say Them Fast And You Will Feel A Little Frustration!!!! Water Water Water Water Water Water Water Water International Project WET 41 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide A -maze-ing Water Imagine turning on your water tap and having everything that you dumped into the gutter last week flow into your glass. Summary Students guide a drop ofwater through a maze of"drainage pipes" to learn how actions in the home and yard affect water quality Grade Level: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Environmental Science, Health Duration Preparation time: Option 1: 15 minutes Option II: 50 minutes Activity time: Option 1: 30 minutes Option II: three 50-minute periods (includes drying time for maze) Setting: Classroom Skills: Organizing (manipulating materials); Interpreting (identifying cause and effect); Applying (designing) Charting the Course Prior understanding of how water flows through a watershed supports this activity ("Branching Out!"). Students can investigate the role their school plays in adding to the city's runoff in "Rainy-Day Hike." The activity"Sum of the Parts" can be adapted to include the schoolyard as a nonpoint source contributor. Vocabulary Storm drain, nonpoint source pollution, runoff, contaminants, aquatic, biodegradable Objectives Students will: ~ Describe urban forms of pollution. ~ Provide reasons why people should monitor what they put on their lawns or in streets. ~ Identify ways to treat urban runoff. Materials For Option 1: ~ Can or bottle labeled "chemicals" or "oil" ~ Chalk ~ Pieces ofself-stickingpaper, flour, or other materials to representpollutantsfound in urban runoff For Option 2: ~ Cardboard 8 inches (21.3 em) x 10 inches (25.4 em) (1 per student or group) ~ Waxpaper ~ Tape ~ Woodglue ~ Clay or modeling dough (Following is a simple recipe for modeling dough: Knead together 1 cup (22.4 g) flour, lh cup (11.2 g) salt, 1 cup (180 rnl) boiling water, 1 tablespoon (15 rnl) salad oil, and 1 tablespoon (5 g) alum [optional]; if too sticky, add more flour and salt.) ~ Water ~ Sugar, salt, pepper, food coloring, oil, and other materials to represent pollutants found in urban runoff ~ Wax marking pencil ~ Pipette or eyedropper ~ Pencil and paper Making Connections Most students have washed family cars, seen litter on the sidewalk, or walked a dog. In urban settings, car wash detergent, litter, animal waste, paint, and oil all wash into the street and down storm drains. Investigating what happens to 42 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide -----------------------------------------------~ 4 these materials after they enter drainage systems helps students understand how these materials can affect water supplies and aquatic plants and animals. Background Removing water quickly and efficiendy from city streets, parking lots, and schoolyards following precipitation or snowmelt is an important task for municipal governments. Water flowing through city drainage pipes is often referred to as an urban watershed. Before storm drainage systems were common, cities experienced localized flooding because of poor or nonexistent drainage patterns and flooded sewer systems that overflowed with storm water. Both circumstances caused significant health and safety concerns that warranted solutions. Today, most city governments require housing developers to install city-approved storm water drainage systems. distance the storm water in the drainage system appears dark-colored. Perhaps the road salt used to melt ice on roads and sidewalks has mixed in. How about the paint a neighbor pours into the gutter? The pet waste near the sidewalk? Whoosh, more water moves by! What next? What about the nearby stream and the people using water downstream for their drinking supply? You can follow the water to a large pond that the city constructed to catch storm water. The water in the pond is now moving slowly through cattails and other emergent wedand vegetation, and its color has started to change. Where is the debris and the sediment? And what about other waste materials? A woman from the city health department tests the water as it enters a small stream; she concludes that the water is cleaner than the river it is about to enter. Traditionally, water diverted to storm water systems received litde or no treatment before flowing into a stream or body ofwater. Environmental agencies found that water draining off lawns, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, and streets carried significant amounts of pollutants. These pollutants included fertilizers, motor oil, litter, pesticides, animal waste, and other contaminants. Receiving waters were degraded, and aquatic plants and animals were affected. Some communities resolved the problem by channeling storm runoff into a wastewater treatment plant. But this is an expensive procedure, and some plants are unequipped to process the inorganic materials found in urban runoff. A more cost-effective system was needed to treat storm water discharge. The scenario below describes one such water treatment system. Imagine the parking lot of a large shopping center. Each year thousands of cars park in the lot, each depositing a small amount of engine oil-and grit (loosened road materials). A gende rain begins to wash the lot. At the lot's lowest point, oil- and gas-tainted runoffwater begins to flow into the street's gutter. A few blocks away, an urban river flows, filled with floating debris, sediment, and multi-colored water from another street, then another, and another. The flow now nearly fills a ditch constructed to channel urban runoff. From a Solutions to urban storm water pollution problems require participation by everyone. Homeowners can help by carefully following directions when applying pesticides and fertilizers, using biodegradable products whenever possible, cleaning up pet wastes, not disposing of household wastes in the street, and fixing oil leaks in vehicles. City sanitation departments can supply information on proper disposal procedures for paint cleaners, used oil, or leftover paint. In addition to developing wedand systems to help treat urban runoff, many city governments periodically sweep roadways to remove wastes. They plant greenways and preserve green space to help filter runoff from streets and parking lots. International Project WET 43 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Procedure WannUp Show students a can or bottle labeled "chemicals" or "oil". Tell students you need to dispose of the chemicals and plan to dump them in the street in front of the school. Ask students if they think this is a good idea. Have students describe what they thi~ will happen to the waste material. Read the first paragraph of the scenario in the Background. Ask students what they think might happen to the runoff. The Activity Following are two options for simulating urban runoff being collected within a storm drain system. Option 1 1. Discuss how water is used to clean things, such as the surface ofa table after a spill. Relate how rainwater washes the outdoors. Explain that as it flows over plants, soil, and sidewalks, it picks up and carries away soil and other materials. Inform students that cities use water to clean the waste from city streets and sidewalks. Often the water goes-down storm drains, collects in pipes, and flows to a river or a treatment plant. (If a media center or water table is available, younger students can use pieces of tubing and plastic pipe to create a mini-water transport system. They can explore how pipes help water travel over distances by pouring water into one end of a tube and watching it run out in a different location.) 2. Draw a simple but large maze on the school blacktop or arrange the chairs in the classroom to form the maze. The maze represents underground pipes that collect and transport surface water that has flowed.down storm drains. Have students run the maze. Inform them they are water flowing through the drainage pipes to the river or treatment plant. themselves along edges ofthe maze. They represent storm drains and the contaminated water flowing through them. They should hold pieces ofself-sticking paper or bowls offlour to symbolize the pollutants. When other students run through the maze, the students representing storm drains stick pieces of paper or sprinkle flour onto the clothing ofthe maze runners to represent contaminated water mixing with water (that may or may not be clean) flowing through the system. Allow students to take turns playing different roles. 5. After several trips through the maze, discuss what happens to this dirty water. What ifit flows into the river? Can treatment plants process all the waste? Have students summarize why they should not litter. 6. To represent a treatment system, have two students stand at the maze exit. Similar to the game London Bridge, the two treatment students "trap" each passing water student and remove as many pollutants as possible before he or she goes into the river. What are students' attitudes about the quality of this water passing into the river? Option2 1. Prepare or have students make mazes representing storm pipes carrying away street runoff. Build each maze on a piece of cardboard covered with wax paper. The walls of the maze are made from clay or modeling dough. Coat the walls and floors of the maze with wood glue and allow to dry. (Allow one day for clay to dry, and one day for glue to dry.) 2. The maze should have one starting point and two exits. One exit leads to a sewage treatment plant, and the other flows into a stream. Use a wax pencil to label the exits. 3. Discuss sources ofwater that run into the storm sewer system (streets, lawns, parking lots, etc.). What might this water carry? (Oil from cars, fertilizers, litter.) 4. To simulate surface water transporting pollutants into drainage pipes, have several students position 3. Have students list materials people purposefully or inadvertendy add to gutters and storm drains. Have students draw a picture of a city street depicting these activities. They can switch their drawings with a partner to see if their classmates can identify the polluting activities. 44 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide -------------------------------------'~<~ students identify or research ways contaminated water affects aquatic life and drinking water supplies. Introduce students to the many actions people can take to limit contaminants entering urban runoff. These include properly disposing ofpet waste and litter, and discarding chemicals and oils according to manufacturer's directions. Inform students that many cities have developed systems to treat runoff. Refer to the scenario in the Background and read the second paragraph. Have students contact their local wastewater treatment plant or public works department or determine whether their street runoff enters the treatment plant or ifit flows directly into the river or filters into ground water systems. 4. Place drops offood coloring, salt water, and sugar water mixed with pepper on different places in the maze. Allow one day for the water to evaporate. Drops of oil can also be placed at certain locations. These all represent contaminants added to urban waste systems. 5. Tell students to place a drop ofwater at the starting point and to tilt the maze so that the drop flows slowly toward one ofthe exits. Toward which one should they aim? 6. As the drop flows through the paths, it should pick up dye from the food coloring, particles from the salt and pepper, and possibly oil droplets. This represents water moving through a municipal storm water system. 7. When the drop reaches the exit, have students describe what the drop looks like and feels like. Ifit ended in the treatment plant, the drop gets replaced with a clean drop ofwater. Ifit ended in the overflow ("untreated water" exit), the drop is added to a cup labeled "stream." Wrap Up and Action Discuss the problems associated with untreated urban runoff entering rivers or other bodies ofwater. Have Students may want to begin a storm drain monitoring program. This involves sending messages to the community illustrating how and why it should monitor what flows down streets into storm drains. Students can design a brochure describing ways individuals can reduce their contribution to surface and ground water pollution via urban runoff. Students can contact recycling centers, wastewater facilities, or their state department of natural resources to research ways individuals can reduce the amount of fertilizers and pesticides they use, choose alternatives to home and garden chemicals, and safely dispose of household wastes. If the city or county recycling office has a hazardous waste collection program, this could be included in the brochure as well. In addition to the brochure, students can start a stenciling program. Students can make or purchase a stencil with a message about monitoring what flows down storm drains (e.g. "DUMP NO WASTEDRAINS TO STREAM"). The stencils are used to spray-paint the message near neighborhood storm drains. Students can include information about the stenciling and its intent in their brochure, which they deliver to community members who live near the drains. Make sure students obtain permission from city or county public works departments before beginning the project. International Project WET 45 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Assessment Resources Have students: Cole, Joanna. 1986. The Magic School Bus at the Water- ~ Identify urban sources of pollution (Warm Up, works. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, Inc. Option 1, step 3, and Option 2, step 3). ~ Design mazes to simulate storm water drainage Environmental Concern Inc., The Watercourse, and systems (Option 2, step 1-4) Project WET. 1995. Activities "Treatment Plants" and ~ Explain why certain materials should not b~;: "Water Purifiers." WOW! The Wonders ofWetlands. Pub- dumped into the street or used carelessly (Option lished through a partnership between Environmental 1, step 5, and Wrap Up). Concern, Inc., St. Michaels, Md., and The Watercourse, ~ Design a brochure describing steps individuals Bozeman, Mont. and communities can take to prevent surface water contamination (Wrap Up). The Water Education Foundation, 717 K Street, Suite Extensions 517, Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 448-7699. Students can research alternatives to house and lawn For information on storm drain monitoring and stencil- chemicals and cleaning agents. Contact the local ing programs, contact: recycling center, the waste treatment facility, or a local environmental group for details. Invite a representative Step Coordinator, Oregon Department ofFish and from the local water treatment plant to enrich the Wildlife, P.O. Box 59, 2501 S.W . First Avenue, Port- activity. Visit a local gas station and have the manager land, OR 97207. explain what happens to oil after cars are serviced. Earthwater Stencils, 4425 140th SUGGESTED MAZE PATIERN START SW Dept. WT, Rochester, WA 98579. Center for Marine Conservation 306A Buckroe Avenue, Hampton, VA 23664. SPOTS OF FOOD COLORING, SALT. AND PEPPER THAT REPRESENT WATER CONTAMINANTS (ANTIFREEZE. ROAD SALT, OIL. ETC.) THAT ENTER THROUGH STORM DR/\INS. Printed with permission from The Project WET Curriculum and A ctivity Guide International Project WET 46 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Jlrms ~plash In The they constructed a crawl-through drain pipe out of cardboard boxes. The boxes wound their Drain way through the classroom and emptied in the stream. The Arnold students cut holes in the top of the boxes and cut up Students at Allen Elementary . squares of stick-on colored paper. School in Columbus, Georgia Each color of paper represented a Get Storm Drain Education different type of nonpoint source from Arnold Magnet Academy pollution such as oil, chemicals, Students by Flowing Through the litter, and sediment. As the Allen Storm Drain Elementary students crawled through the pipe (large boxes) Columbus -Fourth and fifth grade representing water droplets, they Allen Elementary students in were stuck with a pollutant (sticky Columbus got quite an experience notepaper) as they made their way when they learned about storm to the nearest stream. Once in the drains from their seventh grade stream, Arnold students gathered peers at Arnold Magnet Academy, all the ''water droplets" to discuss a Georgia Project WET School of point and nonpoint source the Year. pollution and to explain that the choices we make everyday can reduce the amount of nonpoint source pollution. Arnold Magnet Academy is a model school in Georgia selected to implement the "Using the Environment as an Integrating Context for Learning" (EIC) Program. These students investigate their During the Make A Splash With Project WET Water Festival at Allen Elementary School, the seventh grade students from Arnold Magnet Academy took the Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) activity, A-mazeing Water to another level when environment using all subjects which provides real world learning experiences. Research on EIC programs is demonstrating improved student achievement, decreased absenteeism, decreased disciplinary actions, and students who are engaged in learning. Is your school involved in water education? If so you may want to be a Project WET School of the Year like Arnold Magnet Academy in Columbus, Georgia. For more information on how your school can be a Project WET School of the Year and receive a Make A Splash With Project WET Water Festival, contact the Georgia Project WET office at 404-675-6240. The Make a Splash Festival is sponsored by International Project WET and Nestle Waters. Project WET is an international water education curriculum for grades K-12 and a training program for formal and nonformal educators. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 47 Georgia Project WET Supplement Water Pollution on Trial Grade Level: Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Science, Language Arts, Health, Civics, Social Studies Duration: Preparation Time: 40 minutes, Activity Time: 60 minutes Setting: Classroom Skills: Organize, Analyze, Interpret, Present, Knowledge, Synthesis Charting the Course: The activity "A-maze-ing Water done prior to this activity will help students understand stormwater Vocabulary: best management practice (BMP), integrated pest management (IPM), nonpoint, and point source pollution, stormwater, pollution, nutrient, percolate, water pollution Summary During this role-play, students sit on a pollution panel to determine whether characters portrayed by their classmates are doing all that they can to protect Atlanta's water system. An environmental compliance officer will present an account of the suspects' violations to the pollution panel and the judge will call on expert testimony. This scenario actually takes place in the City ofAtlanta when an environmental compliance officerfinds a citizen violating environmental laws. The citizen will be given a citation and has to appear with the compliance officer before a municipal court judge. Ifconvicted, the citizen may befined or may be assigned to do community service. You can reportpolluters byfilling out aform. Go to: www.cleanwatercampaign.com/ what_can_i_dolreportonline.html Objectives Students will: ~ Understand the role of the environmental compliance officers and the municipal court system in enforcing water quality and environmental laws. ~ Understand how urban runoff and stormwater contribute to water pollution. ~ Describe ways that people contribute to and can prevent point and nonpoint sources of pollution. Assessments ~ Give the students questions from the post-test- 4, 5, 6, 13, and 14. ~ Give students the visual props pictures and have them list the pollution potentially associated with each picture, labeling whether it comes from a point or nonpoint source. (Rubric) ~ Ask students to write a paragraph describing how any nonpoint source pollution associated with the pictures can be prevented. (Rubric) Materials ~ Pollution Profile Sheet ~ Environmental Compliance Officer, Expert Witness, and Dr. Lenzpoint script ~ Panelist score card ~ Mini Fact Sheet and Best Management Practices (BMPs) on pollution topics ~ Nonpoint Source Pollution Poster, "You're the Solution to Water ~ Pollution" (Resource in your Curriculum Packet) ~ Students can collect costume props for their character portrayal (See suggestion list) ~ Visual props for suspects (See copy page) 48 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------------------------------------------~~~ Making Connections Students have all seen the storm drains in their neighborhoods and have probably seen pollution and litter wash down these drains. They may not have realized that water pollution goes straight to the stream from storm drains untreated and then to the river. They also may not have realized that human actions and choices everyday can cause point and nonpoint source pollution and that they can make a big difference. Background Have you ever wondered what happens to water after it rains? When it rains, water has two options. It can percolate through the soil or it can become runoff. In areas where there is green space, water from rainstorms has an opportunity to soak into the soil and vegetation or percolate, which gives it an opportunity to be cleaned by passing through rock and sand layers that act as filters removing pollutants. However, when rainwater hits parking lots, highways, roads, and other hard surfaces that are impervious (water cannot seep down into the soil) it has no other choice than to runoff. This happens often in an urban watershed because there are more impervious surfaces in urban areas. Rainwater becomes stormwater and rushes to the nearest storm drain. As stormwater drains from streets, farms , parking lots, lawns, construction sites, and industries, it carries with it many pollutants. Eventually, the polluted water goes down a storm drain, travels through pipes, and empties into nearby waterways. Untreated pollution that comes from stormwater and runoff is often hard to source or identify and is called "nonpoint" source pollution. These nonpoint source contaminants include litter, motor oil, pet waste, pesticides, fertilizers, sediment from runoff, chemicals, and antifreeze, that all result from our daily activities. People are the source of nonpoint source pollution and they are also the solution to this kind of pollution. Point source pollution is caused by a direct source, a pipe for example, dumping waste into a stream. It is called "point" source pollution because you can point to it and know where it comes from. Nonpoint source pollution is the most serious pollutant in our waterways nationwide. It damages the environment and kills plants and wildlife along the way. It not only affects the local water supply, but those of our neighbors downstream as well. "More than 1,000 stream miles in the metropolitan Atlanta area violate State water quality standards due to pollution from stormwater runoff. Over 98 percent of Atlanta's water supply comes from surface water sources. We depend heavily on our rivers, lakes and streams for recreation, habitat, and preserving the quality oflife we have come to enjoy" (Clean Water Campaign 2005). Over the next few years, many metro Atlanta counties and communities will work on new ways to combat stormwater runoff and water pollution. Procedure WannUp Begin by showing students the "You're the Solution to Water Pollution" Poster. If you do not have this in your Supplement from the workshop you can order it through the Nonpoint Source Program at the Environmental Protection Division (EPD). Ask the students to look carefully at the poster and find ways that people are contributing to water pollution. Make a list of all the possible pollutants and their sources. This review will help students when they are on the "Pollution Panel" and have to determine who is polluting the river. Ask the students to locate and identify their water supply and the name of the watershed in which they live (Chattahoochee River, Chattahoochee Watershed). It may be a good idea to do the warm up and give assignments on day one and let the students study their parts, gather props, and present on day two. The Activity 1. Assign each student a role in this simulation. You will need ten Suspects, one environmental compliance officer, one judge (Judge Clearwater), and one expert witness, (Dr. Lenzpoint). The rest of the class will become the Pollution Panel. 2. Give all students a Suspect Profile Sheet and the Water Pollution Fact Sheets. You can also find further information on urban runoff under Fact Sheets at the end of the curriculum. Instruct the students to read the sheets thoroughly. Tell the Suspects they can create The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 49 Georgia Project WET Supplement props and costumes and bring their characters to life. If they have no props, they can pretend to have them. This is an opportunity for some acting. Students can also use the visual props provided in this activity and make signs for their Suspect Characters. Suspects should read their character description and be prepared to be that person. Each Suspect should read the Water Pollution Fact Sheets and the Best Management Practices. Suspects will need to be prepared to present a Best Management Practice to the judge and Pollution Panel if they are found guilty by the Panel. 3. After students have read the Profile Sheet, Fact Sheets, and Best Management Practices, the Pollution Panel is given about 20 minutes to come up with questions for the Suspects. They can do this as a large group or break into smaller groups. Remind them to pick a person or two to record their questions. The group(s) should come up with at least four questions for each suspect. The questions will help the Pollution Panel determine whether a suspect is contributing to Adanta's water pollution. Give each panelist member a Panelist Score Card. 4. While the Panel is developing their questions, have the Suspects prepare their defense. This can be done as a group or individually. Instruct them to think of reasons why their characters might choose the actions they took. The Suspects should use their props/costumes, hats etc. they have brought to class to bring their character to life. 5. Set up the classroom so that the Panel is facing the Suspects. Using the script, the Environmental Compliance Office (ECO) will begin by making a statement concerning the suspect to the judge and to the Pollution Panel. The Environmental Gompliance Officer will make a statement to set the tone and describe the alleged environmental offense. Then the Panel will ask their questions of the Suspect and each Panel member will decide individually whether the Suspect has done everything possible to protect the city's waterways. They will fill in a score on the Panel Score Card after each Suspect has been questioned. Score cards will be collected after the last Suspect has presented and votes are counted and the count is given to Judge Clearwater. 6. Using the script, Dr. Lenzpoint will give an expert opinion about the pollution and violation during each suspect questioning. Judge Clearwater decides when to call on Dr. Lenzpoint but it should be during the Suspect questioning. 7. Mter hearing the Suspect responses and Dr. Lenzpoint's testimonies, Judge Clearwater will determine guilt or innocence. One or two Panelists will collect and total the votes and give them to Judge Clearwater who will announce the verdicts. The Suspect is guilty if the majority of the Pollution Panel votes against him/her. Students found guilty will need to research Best Management Practices (BMP) and identifY actions they can take to reduce pollution in the water. These guilty Suspects can be teamed with community members to research Best Management Practices. As an activity follow-up, guilty Suspects present their Best Management Plan to Judge Clearwater. Judge Clearwater can assign a fine or community work based on the BMP presented. 8. Discuss the results as a group. Were they unanimous or did some of the panel votes differ? Why did panelists vote the way they did? What did the innocent Suspects do right? What could the guilty Suspects do differendy to help keep Adanta's water clean? Wrap-Up Guilty suspects will be given an opportunity to consider things they can do (Best Management Practices) to take more responsible action and present their plan to Judge Clearwater and the Pollution Panel. If the plan is approved, the guilty party will be able to implement the plan and avoid a fine. Storm drain after heavy rainfall 50 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page Water Pollution On Trial Script ~ Judge begins the proceedings ~ The Judge calls on the Pollution Panel to ask questions of the Suspect. Judge Clearwater- Welcome to the courtroom today. I am Judge Clearwater and I will expect your cooperation and attention as we determine guilt or innocence. We will be hearing the cases of 10 pollution suspects. Is our Environmental Compliance Officer ready to begin? Please come forward. Suspect#l Environmental Compliance Officer (ECO)- Your Honor, (make up a name for suspect) has been dumping used motor oil down the storm drain near his/her place of business. We were alerted because local Adopt-A-Stream volunteers noticed that their creek had an odd smell, a sizable oil slick over the water, and there were dead fish on the bank. Their chemical monitor- ing reflected a change in the stream downstream from the Auto Body Shop. We began checking in the area that the stream was impacted, and noted that one of the neighboring business owners had seen dumping oil down the drain regularly over the past six months. relieve themselves near the water and did not attempt to clean it up. Another park visitor reported it to us. Judge Clearwater- I call on the Suspect now to defend their actions. Qpestions From The Pollution Panel Suspect#2 Dr. Lenzpoint - Pet waste may not be the largest or most toxic pollutant in urban waterways, but it is one of the many sources of pollution that can add up to a big problem. When pet waste gets into lakes, rivers and streams, it can contribute to increased levels of fecal coliform in the water. But, most important is the fact that pet waste carries diseases. Bacteria, like cryptosporidium for example, is a parasite carried by dogs, cats, mice, calves, and other mammals and can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea and dehydration. It's so easy to pick up pet waste and put it in the garbage, down your toilet, or dig a hole away from water and bury it. Pet waste also adds nutrients like nitrogen and phosphate to the water often causing plant/algae growth turning the water into a green soup. This leads to decreased dissolved oxygen in the water that can increase fish kills. Judge Clearwater- At this time I call on the Suspect to defend their actions. Qpestions From The Pollution Panel Suspect#l Dr. Lenzpoint- Changing habits is difficult but it can be very beneficial for the environment because it will prevent water pollution. It is important to learn the proper disposal of certain products such as motor oil. Why, a single quart of used motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons ofwater and kill many different kinds of organisms. Recycling is the only proper means of disposing used motor oil. Suspect#3 ECO- Your Honor, I would like to present _ __ (make up a name). He/she runs a community garden. There is a concern in the community about a local stream that is not healthy. Neighbors feel that the pesticides used on this garden may in fact be contributing to decreased water quality standards and several neighborhood illnesses. _ _ has admitted to using some chemicals but states that they use Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM is the use of all means of pest control (chemical and non-chemical) but the use of pesticides is the last line of defense. Suspect#2 ECO- Your Honor (name for the suspect)__was reported to have walked their dogs recently in Piedmont Park on __(give a date) and allowed both dogs to The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 51 Georgia Project WET Supplement s Student Copy Page Judge Clearwater- What does this Suspect have to say? Questions From The Pollution Panel Suspect#3 Dr. Lenzpoint- Users of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals need to take precautions to reduce the risks of these chemicals getting into our creeks and rivers contaminating aquatic life and affecting our drinking water. When it rains, water carries the pesticides and any other chemicals to storm drains where it becomes part of our waterways. Pest control is an ongoing problem and pesticides are chemicals that have been linked to illness and disease. It is hard to know exacdy where a chemical will spread or drift when sprayed and it can get in the air we breathe and in the water we drink through the soil. It is also very important to apply chemicals carefully and not before expected rainfall. When people use pesticides on their gardens and lawns before a storm, it can cause large amounts of contaminants to enter waterways. Integrated Pest Management provides good management practices for using chemical and non-chemical pest control. Suspect#4 ECO- Your Honor, I present you with (make up name) . He/she has just recendy opened a new cleaning service for day care centers. Instead of using harmful abrasive cleaners, he/she has decided to use earth friendly products that are biodegradable. However, the staff at the Center feels these products may not be safe and are being improperly disposed. Judge Clearwater- What does the Suspect have to say in their defense? Qyestions From The Pollution Panel cleaners contain. Children's immune systems are continuously developing and so any contact with abrasive cleaners can cause harmful effects on their bodies. Some children may even be allergic to the chemicals in the cleaners. Biodegradable cleaners are better for the environment because they can be broken down by the earth's elements and processes, such as filtration and erosion, through rainfall, heat from the sun and other weathering events. Other cleaners can be harmful to fish and other aquatic organisms if they are flushed into water systems. Consumers have to be careful and read labels before the products are used so that they clearly understand how to use and dispose of the product. Making your own safer cleaning products with materials like baking soda and vinegar is advisable. Suspects #5 & 6 ECO- Your Honor, Mr. and Mrs. (make up name) have just moved from the West Coast into a new home in East Adanta. Their yard is over four acres and they have large trees, colorful flowers, and beautiful green grass. The couple has contracted with a local lawn care service that will come three times weekly to keep their yard looking green and beautiful. The Green-A-Yard Company uses many chemicals and fertilizers each visit. The creek running through the neighborhood has shown evidence of degradation below the~ home. A local school group does biological and chemical monitoring of the creek and they noticed a change after the __ have moved in. There are other neighbors using this company too but they only have service once a month. The stu- dents contend that the chemicals used on the lawns are unsafe for children and pets, and are also harmful to the stream environment. Judge Clearwater- What do you both have to say in your defense? Suspect#4 Dr. Lenzpoint- Earth friendly products can be as effective in killing germs as other brand name cleaners and can be better for the environment ifdisposed of correcdy. Gende cleaners should be used, especially around children, who can become sick while playing around harmful chemicals that some brand name Qyestions From The Pollution Panel Suspects#5 &6 Dr. Lenzpoint- Lawn care services spray certain chemicals to kill pests, rodents and other organisms that can cause disturbances in and around homes. They apply fertilizers to keep the yards green, but they can create 52 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page havoc when too much gets into streams, lakes and rivers. Fertilizers cause algae to grow in our waterways. When algae growth increases, it competes with natural plants and reduces the oxygen in the water that other organisms need to survive. Chemicals often tend to drift and do not always stay on the user's land. They can actually travel to other environs where they maintain their toxicity. Lawn care services used frequently could cause more fertilizers and pesticides to enter the nearby waterway causing problems in the aquatic habitat. Suspects #9 & 10 ECO- Your Honor, the following students, _ _ __ and (make up names) were seen throwing their trash into a stream after they had visited a local conve- nient store. One of the students threw his/her soda can and the six-pack ring holder into the stream thinking that the stream would take care of it. The other student threw their candy wrappers .on the streambank. The lo- cal Adopt-A-Stream organization is reporting heavy lit- ter pollution of the local stream. . Suspects #7 & 8 ECO- Your Honor, Mr. and Mrs. (make up names) are joint owners of a family painting business that was founded by their grandfather. Allegedly, the two current owners of the company have been resorting to time saving techniques, such as disposing their leftover paints and paint thinners down the storm drains where they were working. Though they have picked up new painting tools and techniques over the years, they continue to dispose their paint waste incorrectly impacting the local stream, creeks and river where it will harm other aquatic life. Storm drains lead to the nearest waterway and therefore the paint goes to the nearest stream, creek or river where it can harm the aquatic ecosystem. Judge Clearwate~ What would the Suspect like to say in their defense at this time? Judge Clearwater- What do these Suspects wish to say regarding their actions? QUESTIONS FROM POLLUTION PANEL Suspects#9 & 10 Dr. Lenzpoint- Trash and litter left in or near a stream can be dangerous for aquatic animals. Litter is a sign of disrespect to the environment and can cause harmful effects to waterways. Plastics, such as six-pack ring holders on soda pop cans, can trap and kill birds and fish that come into contact with them. Other forms of trash like paper products and metals can leach out chemicals that are harmful to the chemical make up of our waterways. Paper, plastic and aluminum can be recycled. Trash that can't be recycled should be held until it can be disposed of properly in a trash can. Qyestions From The Pollution Panel Suspects #7 & 8 Dr. Lenzpoint- Paints and paint thinners are some of the most harmful solvents that are frequently disposed of incorrectly. Due to their high toxicity level, these chemicals can cause great harm to various organisms that they come into contact with. Some painters dump their paint waste down home drains or dump it outside down storm drains. Disposing of paint down storm drains is illegal and can be incredibly harmful to the environment. Storm drains take the paint to the nearest waterway without being filtered or cleaned. The paint and paint thinner then disrupts the entire aquatic ecosystem by lowering levels of DO (Dissolved Oxygen), altering PH levels, and disturbing nutrient cycles. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 53 Georgia Project WET Supplement Water Pollution On Trial Panelist Score Card Suspect#! Suspect#2 Suspect#3 Suspect#4 Suspects#5 &6 Suspects #7 & 8 Suspects#9 & 10 GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY Water Pollution On Trial Panelist Score Card Suspect#! Suspect#2 Suspect#3 Suspect#4 Suspects #5 & 6 Suspects #7 & 8 Suspects#-9 & 10 GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY Count up the total number ofvotes for each suspect or suspect group, and if there are more guilty votes than not guilty votes, then the suspect is found guilty and must come up with a plan of action. 54 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page Pollution Profile Sheet Pollution Panel: The Pollution Panel is made up of a group of environmental experts and community leaders who help determine the guilt or innocence ofwater pollution violators. Suspect #1- Owns an auto body shop in the West End area ofAtlanta. He/she has been in business for six years. While his/her specialty is body repairs, suspect #1 offers a special on oil changes. The special has brought the shop many new and returning customers. At the end of a busy day, suspect #1 disposes ofhis/her old motor oil by pouring it down the nearby community storm drain. Suspect #2 -Is a bachelor who owns a condo near Piedmont Park. He also owns two dogs, Champ and Chester. While he takes good care ofhis canine companions, he does not take time to clean up their waste. For years, he has walked Champ and Chester around the park's lake and allowed them to relieve themselves along the way. Suspects# 7 & #8 -Are joint owners in a family house painting business that was originally started by their grandfather. While they have learned to use many new tools and techniques over the years, many of their work habits were passed down from their grandfather and then reinforced by their father. To save time, they often pour leftover paints and paint thinner down drains located near the home on which they are working. Suspect #9 & #10- Students on their way home from school stopped at the corner store and bought a bag of candy. The students walk by the neighborhood creek and drop the wrappers in the creek knowing the creek will take them away. One student had just finished her soda and tossed that in the creek as well because there were no trash cans nearby and the stream would take care of it. Suspect #3 -Is a retired social worker that started a community garden in his/her Little Five Points neighborhood. Thanks to help from many enthusiastic neighbors, the garden produces beautiful fruits and vegetables. To cut down on pests, suspect #3 utilizes techniques she/he learned in a Cooperative Extension Service course on alternative pesticide use. Suspect #4- Has just embarked on a new venture - a cleaning service for day care centers. Most of the products he/she uses are biodegradable. In addition, his/ her staff has been instructed to read all labels regarding product disposal carefully. Suspects #5 & #6- Are a married couple that have just relocated to Atlanta from the West Coast. They love their new home in East Atlanta, especially the large front and back yards full of beautiful trees and flowers. In order to keep these two areas looking their best, suspects #5 & #6 have signed a contract for lawn care servtces. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 55 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Water Pollution Fact Sheets Motor Oil Facts: ~ Used motor oil contains many harmful substances including contaminants such as chromium, copper, lead, zinc, and other metals. ~ A single quart of used motor oil C:l!l pollute 250,000 gallons ofwater. ~ Four quarts of oil can cause an eight-acre oil slick if spilled or dumped down a storm drain. ~ Used motor oil can kill organisms in the water that fish rely on as a food source and can contaminate drinking water supplies. ~ Used motor oil can cause harmful effects on the skin, body fluids, and ability to fight disease after both short and long-term exposure. Pet Waste Facts: ~ Pet waste can be a serious pollutant in our waterways. Even ifyou can't see any water near you, pet waste can wash into storm drains after a rain and travel to the nearest creek or stream untreated. ~ Pet waste contains nutrients that encourage weed and algae growth that can lead to reduced oxygen and the release of ammonia that can cause fish kills. Nutrients are substances that nourish and promote development. In this case nutrients create too much plant growth in the water. ~ Pet waste contains bacteria and viruses that can cause sickness to humans. Diseases or parasites that can be transmitted to humans include: ~ Campylobacteriosis - Bacterial infection carried by dogs and cats that frequendy causes diarrhea in humans. ~ Crypto.sporidium -A protozoan parasite carried by dogs, cats, mice, calves and other mammals that causes diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, and dehydration. ~ Toxocariasis- Roundworms are not usually transmitted from dogs to humans but could cause a cough, fever or rash. ~ Toxoplasmosis -A protozoan parasite carried by cats that can cause birth defects such as mental retardation and blindness and is especially dangerous to pregnant women. Pesticide Facts: ~ Pesticides can be harmful to aquatic systems and have been linked to illnesses. ~ When farmers and gardeners spray crops, the pesticides enter the soil and can enter waterways. ~ There are natural alternatives to pesticide use such as the use ofbeneficial insects like the ladybug and the praying mantis for example. ~ When pesticides are applied to a garden or field some of the chemical may drift downwind and outside the intended application site, which could inClude nearby surface water. ~ Pesticides can leach into groundwater therefore it is important to know what kind of soil you have. ~ Pesticides are rated for their risk of leaching or moving with surface runoff after being applied. This is done by checking their absorption, water solubility and persistence. Absorption is the chemical process that results in a pesticide being bound or absorbed to a soil particle. Solubility is measured in parts per million (ppm) and measures how easily a pesticide may be washed off the field or garden, and leach into the soil or move with the surface runoff. Pesticides with a solubility's greater than 30 ppm are more likely to move with water. Pesticide persistence is measured in terms of the half-life, or the time in days required for a pesticide to degrade in soil to one-half its original amount. For example, if a pesticide has a half-life of 15 days, 50 percent of the pesticide applied will still be present 15 days after application and half of that amount (25 percent of the original) will be present after 30 days. The longer the half-life, the greater the potential for pesticide movement. Household Cleaner Facts: ~ Many household cleaners contain volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs. VOCs come from chemicals that get in the air as gases. One of these compounds for example, is methylene chloride found in paint strippers and aerosols. ~ These compounds can escape into the atmosphere, where they can react with other compounds to form smog. VOCs come in a wide variety of products and include: paint strippers, cleaning supplies, 56 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids, glues and adhesives, permanent markers and photographic solutions. ~ Smog can have adverse health effects, such as irritation of the eyes and lungs and has been known to increase asthma attacks. Household cleaners contain fragrances and dyes that can cause irritation to exposed skin. Irritation can include redness and swelling of the skin and cause headaches and dizziness, but can also involve nausea and sickness if the chemicals are inhaled or ingested. ~ Many cleaners are packaged in non-recyclable materials. Check with your local recycling center to see what types of plastics they process. ~ When flushed down the toilet or sewer drains, household cleaners can find their way into local waterways. The chemicals contained in these cleaners can have detrimental effects on water ecosystems. Lawn Chemical And Fertilizer Facts: ~ Lawn chemicals are usually a mix of concentrated nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides. ~ Though lawn chemicals help lawns grow faster and greener, they also have unintended consequences. ~ Excessive application of nitrogen can deplete a lawn's self sufficiency. Grasses grow shorter roots because they become dependent on fertilizer for sustenance. ~ An increase in soil acidity from lawn chemicals forces worms and other decomposers who aerate the soil to vacate the soil. ~ Many common lawn chemicals used by lawn maintenance companies are possible carcinogens and may cause damage to the nervous system. ~ Lawn chemicals can "drift", meaning they end up in places where they are not intended; such as our rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. ~ Heavy exposure of nitrogen and other fertilizers found in lawn chemicals can cause extreme algae growth in our waterways. ~ Pesticides from lawn applications for example, can be washed into nearby streams and creeks and can kill stream organisms. ~ The most common forms offertilizer alternatives are manure, compost, and mulch. ~ Manure comes from livestock waste and helps to open up the soil to air and retain water. ~ Compost is rotted plant material that can add nutrient rich organic material to the soil. ~ Mulch is primarily made up of chips, straw, leaves, and grass. Mulch helps to retain moisture and warm soil temperatures. ~ The natural decomposition of organic matter forms a dark, soil like substance called humus. ~ Decomposition is performed by microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi that produce enzymes, which break down organic material. Paint Facts: ~ By volume, paint is the largest category ofwaste that is brought to household hazardous waste collection programs. ~ The two major types of paint are oil based and water based. ~ Oil based paints use a petrochemical product, such as mineral spirits, toluene and xylem as a solvent, while water based paints, such as latex and water colors, use water as a solvent. ~ On average, there are three gallons of paint stored in a home, most ofwhich is old and unusable. ~ The pigment, the solvent and other additives found in paints, can be hazardous. ~ Years ago, lead was used in paints to make it harder, last longer and weather better. But due to its' hazardous nature, lead has been banned in paints for many years. ~ Mercury, another hazardous substance, was banned in indoor paints in 1990. Outdoor paints may still use mercury, but now require a warning label. Trash Facts: ~ Americans throw away over 160 million tons of solid waste or trash, every year. ~ A plastic cup can take SG-80 years to decompose. ~ 5096 of the aluminum cans Americans use are recycled, making aluminum the most recycled product. ~ Paper and paperboard make up the largest percentage of trash with 38% overall. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 57 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page ~ Landfills are the most common depository of trash with over 57% of our trash ending up in one. ~ There are over 2,300 landfills across the U.S. ~ The easiest method to reduce our trash accumulation is to remember the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. apply with caution noting weather conditions. A rain or storm can wash the chemicals into a nearby waterway. ~ Choose a pesticide that has more absorption (sticks to the soil) and a quick breakdown or half-life in the soil. Best Management Practices: (BMPs) a practi~e, or a combination ofpractices that not only minimize water pollution, but also meets the needs ofthe total ecosystem, that is soil, water, air, plants, animals. This is the most effective means of preventing or reducing the amount ofpollution generated by nonpoint sources tQ a level compatible with water quality goals. Motor Oil: ~ Recycling is the only proper means of disposing used motor oil. Environmental companies can recycle used motor oil into new lubrication products and use it as an alternative fuel source in asphalt plants, boilers, cement kilns, and steel mills. It is important to locate a service station that does recycle used motor oil. Pet Waste: ~ Carry a plastic bag and pick up after your dog. ~ Dispose of the waste by flushing it down your home toilet, putting it in the garbage, (check ordinances first), or you can dig a hole 5 inches deep and make sure to keep the waste away from water, vegetable gardens, or ditches. ~ Being a good pet neighbor is good for you and your neighbors. Pesticides: ~ Incorporate alternative forms of insect killers such as the use ofbeneficial insects into your gardening. (Ladybugs, Praying Mantis, Assassin Bugs). These can be found at any garden center and are a better choice for the environment. ~ When a decision is made to use pesticides, choose the products that are the most suitable for use on the target species. ~ Using alternative pesticides shows that you care about the earth, which helps others do the same. ~ Ifyou do use a chemical read the label carefully and Household Cleaners: ~ Use "green" cleaners that do not contain the abrasive dyes, fragrances, and other chemicals found in standard cleaners. ~ After cleaning, throw any waste into the trash can instead of the toilet. Chemicals will leach out in a landfill instead ofyour local stream or river. ~ Recycle the cleaning containers. ~ Never mix household cleaners with other cleaners. ~ "Green" cleaners are more environmentally friendly and show that you care about your health and the health of others. If you use abrasive cleaners, read the warning labels, so that you can keep you, your family and your pets safe. ~ Provide plenty of fresh air while using cleaners. Lawn Chemicals: ~ Avoid using lawn chemicals excessively. ~ When scheduling a spraying, check the weather forecast. Make sure rain is not predicted in the following few days. ~ Make sure your children and the children of your neighbors understand not to play on afreshly sprayed yard for many hours after application. ~ Check for alternative fertilizers at local garden shops. ~ Avoid using treated railway ties for landscaping or gardening. Some ties are treated with creosote, which is a mixture of toxic chemicals, which can leach out over time. Paint: ~ Do not wash unused paint down your household drain or a storm drain. ~ Give unused paint to a friend, save it for touch ups, or use it for other household improvement jobs. Extra paint you do not intend to use can be added to kitty litter and thrown in a trash can. ~ Ifyou want to save your extra paint do not place it on a concrete floor, such as your basement. The 58 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page metal packaging will rust from exposure to moisture and let in oxygen that will ruin the paint. ~ Position unused paint cans on their tops. This will help keep the paint "fresh" by sealing the can from oxygen. Forestry and Wildlife Hawaii. "Watershed Protection and Management Program Best Management Prac- tices." State ofHawaii Department ofLand and Natural Resources. 10 October 2001. 27 March 2005 . Trash: ~ Remember the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. ~ Place all trash in a proper receptacle, such as a trash can, recycling bin, or dumpster. ~ Check to see where ~e closest recycling center is to your home. ~ Make sure all the trash you take to the center is actually recyclable. ~ Never throw trash out of your car, into waterways, or anywhere other than a trash can. ~ Set up a compost pile. Don't throw your banana peels and eggshells in the garbage. Put them in your compost pile with coffee grounds and other organic material. Composting is a great way to give your garden an incredible amount of nutrients and it is an easy way to recycle your waste!. ~ If composting, make sure you turn the compost over occasionally. This will help oxygenate your compost and add coffee grinds to help the soil to become more acidic. Sources AG GRAND. "How to Grow Healthy, Vigorous Plants and Remove All of the Hassle and Eliminate the Chemicals." AG Grand. 16 October 2000. 1 February 2005 . Johnson, Carolyn. GWQ006 Pet Waste and Water Quality Cooperative Extemion.Wisconsin: University ofWisconsin Department of Natural Resources UW Extension Publications, 2002. Keep America Beautiful. "Trash Facts." Keep America Beautiful. 2005. 1 February 2005 . Manitoba. "Manitoba Water Stewardship." Manitoba. 1 February 2005 . Pollution Prevention Assistance Division. Homepage. 1 February 2005 www.p2ad.org. Simple Green. Homepage. 2005. 1 February 2005 . Soap and Detergent Association. "Facts About Household Cleaning." SDA 15 June 1999.1 February 2005 h t t p : //www.sdahq.org/sdalatestlhtmllhouseclean5 .htm. State Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Agricultural Best Management Practicesfor Protecting Water Quality in Georgia. Georgia: Georgia Environmental Protection Division, 1994. Austin City Connection. "Watershed Protection Development Review." 1995.27 March 2005 . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Environmentally Preferable Purchasing." US EPA. 15 October 2004. 1 February 2005 . Clean Water Campaign. "Solutions to Stormwater Pollution." Homepage. 1 February 2005 . Earth 911. "Making Everyday Earth Day." Homepage. 1996-2005. 1 February 2005 . US Environmental Protection Agency. "Sources of Indoor Air Pollution- Organic Gases (Volatile Organic Compounds- VOCs)." 18 November 2004. 27 March 2005 . The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 59 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Visual Props for the Suspects Sulpcclfl Smpcctt2 Suspect#3 - Fc:malc Smpcct 14- Fcmalc 60 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement StupcctH- Male Student Copy Page Su&pc:ctf5 &,.1(; Suspcctfi &110 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 61 Georgia Project WET Supplement ISStudent Copy Page Suggested Role Play Props Suspect #1 - oil change sign, motor oil can, wrench and working car parts, bandana to wipe face, etc. Suspect #2 - Dog leashes, stuffed dog toys Suspect# 3 - Garden gloves, hat, spade, flower pots with flowers in them, garden apron with tools, etc. Suspect# 4 - broom, cleaning items, detergents, all labeled biodegradable, dust pan Suspects # 5 and #6 - cell phone to call lawn care to come daily, lawn care sign for front yard Suspects# 7 and# 8 - paint brushes, painter hat, buckets, small step ladder Suspects# 9 and# 10 - candy wrappers, soda cans, other litter Badge for Environmental Compliance Officer Glasses, dress jacket for Expert Witness Gavel and robe for Judge Clearwater 62 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------------------------------\~ ~~ - Water Pollution on Trial Rubric for Assessment Assessment 2: Give students the visual props pictures and have them list the pollution potentially associated with each picture, labeling whether it comes from a point or nonpoint source. Category 4 3 2 1 Comprehension Students identify more than 4 reasonable, insightful barriers/ problems that need to change. Students identify at least 4 reasonable, insightful barriers/problems that need to change. Students identify at least Students identify 3 reasonable, insightful fewer than 3 reason- barriers/problems that able, insightful bar- need to change. riers/problems that need to change. Comprehension Student completely understands the ways people contribute to pollution. Student understands the ways people contribute to pollution for the most part. Student somewhat understands the ways people contribute to pollution. Student does not understand the ways people contribute to pollution. Comprehension Student fully understands the differences between and sources of point and nonpoint source pollution. Student mostly understands the differences between point and nonpoint source pollution and mostly understands their sources. Student does not understand the differences between point and nonpoint source pollution OR cannot identify their sources. Student does not understand point and nonpoint source pollution AND cannot identify the sources of point and nonpoint sources pollution. Assessment 3: Ask students to write a paragraph describing how any nonpoint source pollution associated with the pictures can be prevented. Category Organization 4 The paragraph is well organized, with a clear introduction, explanation of ideas, and conclusion. Comprehension Students identify more than 4 reasonable, insightful possible prevention strategies to encourage change. 3 The paragraph is mostly organized, and an introduction, explanation, and conclusion are present. Students identify at least 4 reasonable, insightful possible prevention strategies to encourage change. 2 The paragraph has one main idea, but the sentences are not organized into an introduction, explanation, and conclusion. Students identify at least 3 reasonable, insightful possible prevention strategies to encourage change. 1 The paragraph is disorganized or is constructed of several unrelated ideas. Students identify fewer than 3 reasonable, insightful possible prevention strategies to encourage change. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 63 Georgia Project WET Supplement Sewer System Soup Summary In an action packed activity, students will become wastewater and stormwater as they flow to and from various places such as storm drains, through combined and separated sewers to the wastewater treatment facility, or they may end up in a combined sewer overflow treatment facility or go directory to the river. Grade Level: Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Science, Music, Math, Physical Education Duration: Set up and Prep time: 20 minutes Activity: 90 minutes Setting: Outdoors or in a classroom Skills: Organizing, interpreting, synthesis, analyzing Charting the Course: Do the Project WET activity "A-maze-ing Water" prior to doing the "Sewer System Soup" Activity Vocabulary: combined sewer overflow (CSO), combined sewer system, regulator, separated sewer system, wastewater, stormwater Objectives Students will: ~ Understand that in some cases wastewater and stormwater travel in the same pipe called a combined sewer to a wastewater treatment plant. ~ Understand that storms and heavy rain may cause water in the combined pipes to bypass wastewater treatment and move through the CSO (combined sewer overflow) treatment facility, enter the tunnel, and then go to the enhanced CSO treatment facility before entering the river. ~ Understand that the underground storage conveyance tunnels will hold wastewater that bypasses treatment in combined pipe systems until it can be sent to the enhanced CSO treatment facility. ~ Investigate the possible routes that stormwater and wastewater take once it enters either a combined or a separated sewer system. ~ Understand that stormwater in a separated sewer system goes to the stream/ river without treatment. Assessments ~ Give students questions from the post-test -15 and 18. ~ Ask students to draw and label the separated sewer system and the combined sewer system to show how wastewater and stormwater travel in each system. (See "Go with the Flow") Materials ~ Cones, rope, yam, or chalk to mark off the maze where the water will travel to the wastewater treatment facility, to the CSO control facility, tunnel, . enhanced CSO treatment, and river (See Sewer System Soup field map designs provided). ~ 5 Hula Hoops total - 1 Hula Hoop for Wastewater Treatment, 2 Hula Hoops for the CSO Treatment Facility and 1 Hula Hoop for the Enhanced CSO Treatment (You can substitute hoops with chalk, tape, rope, or yam) ~ Operator ID tags for 1 Wastewater Treatment Facility Operators, 1 CSO operator, 1 Enhanced CSO Treatment Operator, 1 Regulator, 1 Gate, and 1 Pump ~ 1 Rain and Storm card person ~ Stormwater and Wastewater ID tags for students 64 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement '. ~ ~~... ------------------------------------~~ ~ Signs for Wastewater Treatment Facility, Combined Sewer Treatment (CSO) Facility, Enhanced CSO Treatment Facility, Tunnel, and Storm Drains (Tape to cones to mark these areas) ~ Clipboards, student data sheets ~ String, yarn, or ribbon to make student ID cards ~ Note: The number of tags a~d signs is dependent on the total number of students. Making Connections When students flush their toilets they know that wastewater goes to a wastewater treatment plant but probably are not aware that wastewater and stormwater can travel in separated or combined sewers to the treatment plant. Rain and storms affect the wastewater collection system. Background Wastewater is water that has been used and leaves our homes, schools and businesses through combined or separated pipes and travels to the wastewater treatment plant in the wastewater collection system and eventually to the river. Stormwater is water that accumulates after a storm and carries many kinds of contaminants such as animal waste, oil, grease, fertilizers, trash and litter, and sediment for example. Many of these contaminants come across the land with stormwater runoff from sources that are difficult to identifY and they are called nonpoint source pollution. The stormwater rushes over streets and hard paved areas in runoff and enters the sewer system through storm drains in our communities. Nonpoint source pollution is the largest source of pollution to urban waterways. Stormwater in a combined sewer system goes to the wastewater treatment plant with the wastewater and in a separated sewer system it travels to the river without treatment. Combined sewer systems are sewers that are designed to collect domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, and stormwater in the same pipe. Under normal circumstances this wastewater mixture is sent to a wastewater treatment plant where it is treated and then discharged to a body ofwater. During heavy rainfalls, when the wastewater treatment plant is full, combined sewer overflows receive the excess wastewater and stormwater. This mixture contains nonpoint source pollution, untreated human and industrial waste, and associated debris. The combined sewer overflow (CSO) facility gives the wastewater and stormwater a minimal screening and disinfection prior to release to the river. These types of sewers were built from the late 1800's until the mid 1900's in many American cities. This practice has been largely discontinued today. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated a Combined Sewer Overflow Policy in 1994. In accordance to the policy, Atlanta developed a CSO Improvement plan that has been approved by EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). This multi-billion dollar plan includes the separation of about 85 miles of the city's over 300 miles of combined sewers and the construction of two separate conveyance tunnels to collect sewage and stormwater until it can be conveyed to the enhanced CSO treatment plant. While the CSO Improvement Plan will not totally eliminate CSOs, it will decrease the frequency of overflows and consequently, increase the quality of Georgia's waterways. Today due to improvements, when wastewater and stormwater leaves the CSO, it flows into an underground storage tunnel and is then pumped to the enhanced CSO treatment facility before being returned to the river. Most wastewater and stormwater in Atlanta travels in a separated sewer system. In this system, the wastewater goes to the wastewater treatment plant and the stormwater goes directly to the river without treatment. The wastewater and stormwater travel in separate pipes and they do not mix together. There are over 1,500 miles of separated sewer lines in the City ofAtlanta collection system. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 65 Georgia Project WET Supplement Procedure WarmUp Have all students learn the "Combined System Shufjle" and the "Separated System Shufjle" songs and sing the songs as the activity warm up. It is difficult to sing while you are a participant in the activity. Singing will help students sequence the flow of the combined and separated pipe systems and become familiar with the vocabulary. After singing the songs ask students to explain the difference between a combined and a separated sewer system. The Activity 1. Discuss with students where water goes after we use it to flush toilets, or wash the dishes. Students will know that it goes down the drain, but ask them what happens to the wastewater after that. Discuss that it goes into a sewer pipe that is underground and the pipe is either a combined sewer (that carries both wastewater and stormwater) or a separated sewer that carries wastewater in one separated pipe to the treatment plant and stormwater in another separated pipe directly to the river. Make sure students understand the difference between wastewater and stormwater. Ase there any advantages in having the sewer pipes combined or separated? Tell the students they are going to become wastewater and stormwater and experience the journey through the sewer pipes to the wastewater treatment plant and decide whether they think a combined or a separated pipe is better for wastewater treatment and water protection. Did they have any overflows during serious rain episodes? Is the tunnel helping? Which system seems to work best? 2. Select students to represent facility operators, weather sign holder, wastewater and stormwater, regulator, gate, pump, and data recorders. Place signs for the various locations that water can travel in these sewer pipe systems on the cones in the field using the field diagram to locate the proper placement. Student Assignments: ~ 1 wastewater treatment plant operator - ID tag ~ 1 combined sewer facility (CSO) operator- ID tag ~ 1 enhanced combined sewer facility operator (CSO) - ID tag ~ 1 rain and 1 storm sign holder- 2 signs/1 weather person ~ 3 data recorders - 1 records data for the wastewater treatment facility, 1 records data for the CSO and the tunnel and 1 records data for the enhanced CSO treatment facility, and for the overflows - 3 clipboards, 3 different colored pencils and student data sheets ~ 1 regulator - ID tag ~ 1 gate - ID tag ~ 1 pump - ID tag ~ Students left are equally divided into stormwater and wastewater students - ID tags Place Signs: ~ wastewater from homes/schools/businesses- 1 sign ~ storm drains - 2 signs ~ wastewater treatment facility - 1 sign ~ combined sewer control facility - 1 sign ~ tunnel - 1 sign ~ enhanced CSO treatment facility - 1 sign ~ river- 1 sign Field Set-Up and Sign Placements 3. Set up the wastewater and stormwater collection pipe systems in a large indoor room or preferably in a field area outdoors using the field diagrams provided. The first two rounds are the combined pipe systems and will use the Combined Pipe System field diagrams. The third round is a Separated Pipe System and the field/room is set up using the Separated Pipe System field diagram. Round I uses the Past Combined Pipe System Diagram. Round II uses the Present/Future Combined Pipe System Diagram and Round III uses the Present Separated Pipe System Diagram. Use your field cones, tape, chalk, yarn, ropes etc. to mark the path for the pipe that goes to the wastewater treatment plant, CSO facility, tunnel, and enhanced CSO facility. The CSO facility will be in line with and to the side of the regulator along with the tunnel and enhanced CSO treatment facility (See field diagram for placement of facilities). The regulator will control flow away from the wastewater treatment facility when it is at capacity and send excess wastewater and stormwater to the CSO facility, tunnel, and enhanced CSO treatment during heavy rainfall. Place storm drain signs along the 66 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------------------------------------~ ~ combined pipe above the regulator near the wastewater entrance. Storm drain signs can be attached to field cones. Place signs on the wastewater treatment facility, the CSO facility, the tunnel, and the enhanced CSO facility. Make the pipe large enough across for several students to move through the pipe at the same time. Place 1 hula hoop or yarn circle for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and no more than 2 persons can enter a hoop at one time. Place 2 hoops at the CSO and make one large circle for the tunnel using yarn, rope, or cones. The tunnel can hold up to 10 students in the activity. Atlanta is only allowed on average, 4 overflows per year and .the tunnel is an improvement to hold excess water until it can be treated during normal operation. There is 1 hoop at the enhanced CSO facility. Weather Person, Data Recorders and Facility Operators 4. Give the weather person the Rain and Storm signs. The weather person should shout rain and then later storm from time to time during the activity and hold the sign up so that everyone can see when it is raining and when it is storming. The weather person sign holder should keep the sign up long enough (thirty seconds) to see the effects of a hard rain on the urban watershed and the wastewater treatment facility. Give stormwater or wastewater ID tags to all students who are not designated as operators, data recorders or weather sign holders. Give the wastewater treatment facility operator, CSO operator, enhanced CSO facility treatment operator, regulator, gate, and pump persons ID tags. The data recorders will need a clipboard, a data sheet for each round, and three different colored pencils or pens to record the data. Activity Flow 5. Call the wastewater students to the top of the maze or pipe and explain that they are leaving homes, schools and businesses as wastewater and are going to be traveling through the wastewater collection system in a combined sewer pipe outlined by the cones. Each wastewater student enters the pipe after the count of3. The wastewater students should walk and swirl around other students as they travel through the pipe. If the rain or storm sign is held up, the wastewater students continue to move into the pipe at a 3 count. Wastewater is coming from homes, schools, and businesses and is not affected by the weather. However, stormwater students are affected by the weather. They enter the pipe at the storm drain signs/cones on each side of the combined pipe making sure that they enter the pipe well above the position of the regulator. Stormwater students need to watch the weather sign and move into the storm drain and into the combined pipe ONLY when they see the rain sign or the storm sign. They enter at a 3 count during the rain sign and move immediately into the pipe during the storm sign. Students move through the pipe to the river and then return to their starting positions again. They have returned to the water cycle, have evaporated, become precipitation, entered the man-made water cycle and have become wastewater from homes, schools, or businesses or stormwater lined up behind the storm drains. Students always enter the pipe or storm drain one at a time. Round I Past- Combined Pipe Movement- Use the Round I Diagram 1. Line up the home and industry wastewater at the top of the maze/pipe and have the stormwater students line up at storm drains in a line behind one another along the maze/pipe where there are storm drain signs. (See field diagrams) Students mix with each other as they move through the combined pipe by turning in circles around the other water students while traveling the pipe system. They do not walk in a straight line. Wastewater students begin moving when the activity begins and students enter the pipe one at a time slowly to every count of three. Their pace does not change due to weather conditions. Stormwater students enter when it begins to rain and only move into the pipe when it is raining or storming. Stormwater students can move quickly during a storm but no running. The activity begins and ends when the teacher says "GO" and "STOP". Wastewater students begin moving when the teacher says "GO". In the combined sewer pipe students move toward the wastewater treatment plant or will be directed by the regulator to the combined sewer treatment facility (CSO) if the plant is full. Students move through screening and disinfection at the CSO and enter the river and return to their starting position. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 67 Georgia Project WET Supplement 2. Wastewater treatment facility operators -The student who represents the wastewater treatment facility operator supervises each wastewater or stormwater student who enters the wastewater treatment hoop and spins 3 times representing treatment before being released to the river. The operator shouts "clean" as the wastewater spins by turning in a circle. There can only be .2 persons at a time in the hoop and 2 persons can be waiting before the treatment plant is declared full in which the wastewater operator will shout "full". After they spin three times in the hoop the wastewater or stormwater students exit, go to the river, evaporate and return to the man-made water cycle and back in line to begin again. 3. The regulator sends students to the combined sewer overflow facility (CSO) if the wastewater treatment plant is full. In the combined wastewater system, there is a device called a regulator that is capable of routing water to the CSO facility if the wastewater treatment plant is full. The student who is selected to be the regulator reroutes the wastewater and stormwater to the CSO during the activity. They will have to watch and see how full the wastewater treatment plant is at all times. If there are more than 2 persons in the hoop and more than 2 waiting, the treatment facility is full. The regulator will stand to the side with arms straight out and will direct flow to the CSO by changing arm positions and directing flow to the CSO treatment facility. The regulator will feel pressure during rain episodes. 4. The combined sewer overflow facility operator will observe the wastewater or stormwater student spinning one time in each hoop and will say "screening" and then "disinfecting" and will release them to the river. All students that are sent to the CSO go through this treatment (acility by spinning once in each hoop and going to the river. The CSO can handle more water than the wastewater treatment facility and if there are more than 2 persons in each hoop, the facility is full and any other stormwater or wastewater person arriving at the CSO will become an overflow. These students will bypass the CSO and go to the river untreated. The data recorder should record all overflows. In the past, without tunnels and further treatment, these overflows represented serious threats to water quality. 5. Data recorders will position themselves next to the wastewater treatment plant, the CSO treatment facility, and the river. They will record using slash marks, the numbers of students treated at these locations and use different colored pencils during the rain and storm events. They will use a black pen during normal conditions, a blue pen during rain, and a red pen during storm conditions. One data recorder records wastewater, another recorder tracks the CSO treatment facility, and another recorder tracks any overflows. At the end of the round the data recorders can total their results. Make sure they use the correct data recording sheet for each round. Round II Present/Future Combined Pipe Movement- Use the Round II Diagram 6. The tunnel and enhanced CSO treatment facility are part of the improvements Adanta is implementing to avoid further overflows in the river and to meet Clean Water Act standards. In this round when wastewater and stormwater students travel to the CSO treatment facility during heavy rains they will also go to the tunnel for storage and then to the enhanced CSO treatment facility before going to the river. They will receive screening, some primary treatment (setding) and disinfection at the enhanced CSO treatment facility. A stormwater or wastewater student that has been directed by the regulator to the CSO treatment facility, goes to the tunnel which is a large circle on the field outlined with chalk, rope, cones, or yarn. The circle/ tunnel can hold up to 10 wastewaterlstormwater students. The only way the students can leave the tunnel is for the Pump person to pump them out. The Pump student points at a student, makes a pumping motion three times, and sends that student to the enhanced CSO treatment facility. One student will be the pump at the tunnel and carefully watches the enhanced CSO treatment facility. The Pump can send someone to this facility when there are less than two persons at the enhanced CSO treatment facility. The wastewater and stormwater students leave the tunnel one at a time after the Pump person pumps three times. The pump sends one person at a time from the circle to the enhanced CSO treatment facility for treatment and must work hard to keep the tunnel from becoming too full. A tunnel holds more than 400 mil- 68 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------------------------------------~ - - lion gallons ofwater daily (mgd) so it would take a large rain episode to cause the tunnel to be full. CSO facilities actually handle more water than the water treatment plant because they are taking in both wastewater and stormwater. The gate person at the tunnel determines when the storage tunnel is full If there are more than 10 persons in the tunnel, the gate peFSon stretches their arms out to the side signifying that the tunnel gate is closed. Any wastewater or stormwater person moving from CSO treatment now calls out OVERFLOW and moves to the river with no further treatment. At the same time the pump will be working hard to move water to the enhanced CSO facility to make room in the tunnel for more water to avoid any further overflows. The data recorder records any overflows. Atlanta Wastewater Treatment is only allowed an average of4 overflows per year. 7. The enhanced CSO treatment facility is the final phase of treatment prior to release ofwastewater and stormwater to the river. No more than two students can enter the Enhanced CSO Treatment Facility at a time. Rapid treatment takes place at this facility prior to water being released to the river. The enhanced CSO treatment operator will observe the wastewater and stormwater students spinning two times in each hoop saying "clean" before they are released to the river. 8. Data recorders- The three data recorders will position next to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Combined Sewer Overflow Facility, Tunnel, and Enhanced CSO Facility, and count the number of students moving through these places by using the student data sheet to record numbers using slash marks. One recorder records numbers moving through wastewater treatment, one recorder records CSO treatment and overflows and the other recorder can watch the tunnel and the enhanced CSO treatment facility. If you have a large number of students you can assign one recorder per area. You may want to change the color of pen or pencil to reflect the numbers during rain and storm conditions. Round III Separated Pipe Movement- Use Round III Diagram 9. Change the pipe pattern to reflect the Separated Pipe field diagram so that wastewater and stormwater move in separated pipes. Stormwater will go directly to the river with no treatment and wastewater will go directly to the wastewater treatment plant. You will need a second pipe moving to the river from the storm drains and the wastewater and stormwater will be separated and will not move together through the pipes. There is no CSO, tunnel, or stormwater treatment in this round. 10. Students will follow the same directions except that there are now two separate pipes on the field. The stormwater goes straight to the river and wastewater goes to the 'wastewater treatment plant. Remind students about all the contaminants and nonpoint sources of pollution (see A-maze-ing Water Activity) in stormwater that enter the river with no treatment in a separated pipe system. Nonpoint source pollution is the largest pollution in the urban waterways. Look again at the "You're the Solution to Water Pollution" poster that explains the different kinds of nonpoint source pollution. 11. Student data recorders will count how many students were treated in the wastewater treatment plant, and how many went to the river as stormwater with no treatment. WrapUp Now that the students have experienced a combined pipe system of the past, a combined pipe system that has been improved, and a separated pipe system conduct a discussion about the difference in the piping systems. Which system had the greatest number of overflow-S? Remind them that most ofAtlanta is using a separated pipe system. Do students feel that this system is a better system than the present combined pipe system using tunnels and an enhanced CSO treatment facility? Which system does the best job protecting water quality? Does the data support the decision? Which system deals most effectively with nonpoint source pollution and why? What types of actions can students take to help reduce nonpoint source pollution? Resource For an excellent graphic on combined and separated sewer systems, go to: http://www.cleanwateratlanta.org/ EnvironmentalEducation/SewerSystem.htrnl The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 69 Georgia Project WET Supplement s Student Copy Page Combined System Shuffie CSO Shuffle - Song for the Combined Pipe System (to the tune of the Hokie Pokie) You do the CSO Shuffle And you're mixing all around Going down in the pipe And under the ground. You do the splishy splashy tumble . And the dippity dash rumble On the way to the Treatment Plant. Wastewater from the house Stormwater from the drain Mix together in the pipe With help from the rain. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On the way to the Treatment Plant. You're doing the CSO Shuffie And it rains all night, Wastewater, stormwater, Rushing through the pipe. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On the way to the Treatment Plant. Wastewate~ stormwater At the Treatment Plant door, But you can't get in 'Cause there's no room for more. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On the way to the CSO you go. At the CSO facility You're moving through a screen. Chemicals are added To make the water clean. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On the way to the tunnel you go: Then you move into the tunnel And you swim all around Then on to more treatment Now you're riverbound. You do the splishy, splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On the way to the river you go. On the way to the river you go. Then evaporate And start all over again You're in a big dark cloud And it's about to rain, You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble Down to the mountain you go. Down to the mountain you go. 70 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Separated System ShufHe For the Separated Pipe System In a separated pipe There's no mixing around You go down in the pipe And under the ground. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On the way to (the river orthe Treatment Plant) you go. Wastewater from the house Stormwater from the drain Never mix together 'Cause their pipes are not the same. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble Off to the river you go Then evaporate And start all over again You're in a big dark cloud And it's about to rain. You do the splishy, splashy, tumble And the dippity, dash rumble Down to the mountain you go. Down to the mountain you go. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On to the river/ or the Treatment Plant you go. Wastewater arrives At the Treatment Plant door And goes right in And gets cleaned some more. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On to the river you go. Wastewater gets cleaned Now off you go Back to the river You're back in natures' flow. The regulator routes wastewater to the CSO at A.D. Williams Elementary in Adanta. You do the splishy splashy tumble And the dippity dash rumble On to the river! or the Treatment Plant you go. Stormwater keeps moving To the river it goes No Treatment Plant stops It continues its flow. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 71 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Student Data Sheet- Sewer System Soup Record numbers with slash marks ROUNDl Wastewater treatment------------------------------------------------------------------- CSO Treatment -------------------------------------------------------------------Ove~ows __________________________________________________________________________ Totals:____ ROUND2 Wastewater treatment------------------------------------------------------------------ CSO Treatment --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tunnel Treatment-------------------------------------------------------------------- Enhanced CSO Treatment _____________________________________________________________ Ove~ows -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals::_ __ ROUND3 Wastewater treatment ________________________________________________________________ Stormwater to River ------------------------------------------------------------------Totals::_ __ A.D. Williams Elementary-CSO Facility Treatment during the activity Sewer System Soup. Atlanta, Georgia 72 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------~-----------------------------------------' ~~~ Combined Pipe Field Diagram Precipitation Homes, Schools, and Businesses z;1?7 0 ~ f 0 Start Wastewater 6. 6. ~ f Start f Storm Drain 6. 6. 0 f ~ 0 ~ f ~. 0 A L...::. I A T L...::. 0 J*l Regulator 0 " Evaporation ~ KEY . ~ =Student fl =Cone *=Plant Operator 0 = Sign Holder Start Storm Drain CSO Plant~ Operator N CSO Treatment Facilty Overflow Treatment Plant* Plant Operator &&&&&River Round 1: Past Combined Pipe System The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 73 Georgia Project WET Supplement Combined Pipe Field Diagram Precipitation Homes, Schools, and Businesses KEY tJ?7 0~ D ~ 0 Start Storm Drain Start Wastewater f L, L, ff L, L, ~ =Student *6,. =Cone = Plant Operator 0 =Sign Holder Start Storm Drain 0 0 L,~ f ll L ~ L,ffL,II 0 Evaporation 0 j CSO Plant~6, lfl1' Operator N Tuf"el 6,Re.guilator ~' 6 CSO Facilty ~ ~ 6 G ~ ateN ~o:;ow * Treatment Plant Plant Operator f. ff 6 ~ Pump* Enhanced CSO N Treatment Facilty ' R"IV~&&&' & River Round 2: Present/Future Combined Pipe System 74 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement _ _ _ _ _ _ _,'. g Separated Pipe Field Diagram Precipitation ~ ~ ~ ~ .;-7 Homes, Schools, 51 (/""' (/" ~ and Businesses Start Wastewater D,. ~ D,. Start Storm Drain D,. ~ D,. ~ ~ ~ 6. 6. 6. ~ 6. KEY Jl = Student *V b.. = Cone Plant Operator 0 = Sign Holder ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6. 6. 6. ~~6. Evaporation ~ ~ ~ 6. * Treatment Plant Plant Operator ~ 6. 6. ~ 0 Riv~&&&&River Round 3: Present Separated Pipe System The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 75 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page EXISTING COMBINED SEWER SYSTEM Dry VVeather 11\tJen It Bains In a combined sewer system, domestic sewage combine wtth storm water In the same pipe. In the event of heavy rains, the storm water can cause an overflow Into a receiving stream. AFTER SEPARATION Dry ~ther \MJen It Bains r- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - ln a separate sewer system, domestic sewage and storm"Nater flow Into separate pipes. The sewage Is diverted to a wastewater 1reatment plant and storm water Is released untreated to a recelvl ng stream. 76 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 0 0 Enhanced CSO Treatment Operator o o Wastewater The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 77 Georgia Project WET Supplement ~-) -------------------- 0 0 Storm water 0 0 Regulator 78 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement - -------------------'~ ~~ ~ 0 0 Wastewater Treatment Operator Wastewater Treatment Facility The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 79 Georgia Project WET Supplement Storm Drain 0 0 CSO Operator 80 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 'i A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------~ ?4--~ 0 0 Gate 0 0 Pump The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 81 Georgia Project WET Supplement Enhanced CSO Treatment Facility Tunnel 82 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------~, ~ Combined Sewer Overflow Facility The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 83 Georgia Project WET Supplement 84 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page Go WithThe Flow- StudentAssessment DIRECTIONS: Below you will see all the places that wastewater and stormwater can go in either a combined or separated sewer pipe system. Please fill in the boxes with the names of the places that water will travel according to the weather conditions. You may not have to fill in all boxes. See example provided for illustration. Possible Travel Locations For StonnwaterAnd Wastewater: ~ CSO Treatment Facility ~ Wastewater Treatment Facility ~ Wastewater from Homes, Schools, and Businesses ~ Stormwater enters Storm Drain ~ Enhanced CSO Treatment Facility ~ Tunnel ~ River Example: Separated Sewer Pipe System (This is not necessarily a correct order) ~l..__ ...___c_s_o _.... ru_v_e_r_ __. Fill In The Blanks: A) Present/future Combined Sewer Pipe System With Heavy Rain And Wastewater Treatment Facility Is Full Wastewater and stormwater from: B) Present Separated Sewer Pipe System (Stormwater Pipe) Stormwater From: C) Present Separated Sewer Pipe System (Wastewater) Wastewater From: The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 85 Georgia Project WET Supplement Go With The Flow-TeacherAnswer Sheet DIRECTIONS: Below you will see all the places that wastewater and stormwater can go in either a combined or separated sewer pipe system. Please fill in the boxes with the names of the places that water will travel according to the weather conditions. You may not have to fill in all boxes. See example provided for illustration. Possible Travel Locations For StormwaterAnd Wastewater: ~ CSO Treatment Facility ~ Wastewater Treatment Facility ~ Wastewater from Homes, Schools, and Businesses ~ Stormwater enters Storm Drain ~ Enhanced CSO Treatment Facility ~ Tunnel ~ River Example: Separated Sewer Pipe System (This is not necessarily a correct order) River ~---c-so----~~~~---Riv---u--~ Fill In The Blanks: A) Present/future Combined Sewer Pipe System With Heavy Rain And WastewaterTreatment Facility Is Full Wastewater and stormwater from: IH~~:!soo~~ I StormDmn ~ .l....._c_s_o_ __.~ .l._.'~~__n_n_el_ _,~ ._i_:C.._h:m_"_=_t~-~-..0... River B) Present Separated Sewer Pipe System (Stormwater Pipe) Stormwater From: I StormDrUn ~ ...__R_iIver______.~ ...___I___,~ ...___I___,~...___I________.~ I..._________. C) Present Separated Sewer Pipe System (Wastewater) Wastewater From: I"B~:!soo~~ ~T~~aciL~ ._I__ _er_ Riv;_ _.~ 1..._____.~ .~.. -----'~ I.______, 86 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Greening the Asphalt Summary Students will experience the dilemma ofbeing a city planner and making decisions about development in a card game format. The student/team who demonstrates the best balance ofgreen space and impervious surface will be hired by the City of Atlanta to develop the new eco-friendly corridor in the City. Grade level: Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies Duration: Preparation time: 30 minutes Activity time: 60 Minutes Setting: Indoor or Outdoor Classroom Skills: Organizing, analyzing, interpreting, presenting Charting the Course: This lesson is better understood after students experience the lesson A-maze-ing Water and Sewer System Soup that will demonstrate how water moves through a storm drain and how stormwater is linked to water quality. Vocabulary: impervious surface, green space, porous pavement, urban heat island effect, rooftop garden Objectives Students will: ~ Analyze their development choices for the city and the impact on water quality. ~ Learn the effects of impervious surfaces and green space development on water quality. Assessments ~ Give the students a question from the post-test - 2. ~ Ask the students to write a paragraph on how they planned their city. Did they put in impervious surfaces? Did they include green space? How do impervious surfaces and green space development impact water quality? (Rubric) ~ Have students take a walk on their school campus and make a design of the school, parking areas, nature trail, gardens and walkways. After they have created the school campus design, ask them to color the areas that are impervious surfaces and the areas that are green space. What percent of the school campus do they think is impervious and what percent is green space? (Rubric) Materials ~ Playing cards (1 set for a small group, or 2 or 3 sets for a large number of students playing- every player needs five cards at all times) ~ 1 score card per student ~ 11 x 17 property board piece, one per team of 4-6 students ~ Crayons to color in score card (1 color and 1 gray crayon per student) ~ 2 Trays filled with soil or mulch ~ Spray bottle with water ~ Black plastic ~ 2 Thermometers ~ Grass and sod ~ Rocks and sand ~ Tape Making Connections Students will see how difficult it is to be a city planner and balance the needs of people, animals, and our natural resources when developing in an urban area. They will realize that the actions of everyone, even in their own backyard, will make a The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 87 Georgia Project WET Supplement difference in the quality of the water and environment. It is important for them to realize the consequences of impervious surface and green space development in an urban area, and the impact such development has on streams. Background What does impervious mean? In order to understand why we have a problem with stormwater in Atlanta, we need to look closely at the impervious surface in the city and throughout the watershed. Impervious means a surface that is hard and will not allow water to percolate or soak into the soil. What are the impacts ofimpervious surfaces on an urban watershed? In an Urban Watershed, impervious surfaces increase as the city develops. The Metropolitan Atlanta population growth from 3-4.1 million and the parallel spread of paved and other impervious surfaces in the last decade, has inflicted a heavy toll on the region's watersheds. When impervious surfaces cover areas where water naturally seeps into underground water sources or aquifers, they reduce the amount ofwater available for wells and springs. For the most part they are constructed surfaces like sidewalks, parking lots, and rooftops and they are covered with materials like brick, stone, asphalt, or concrete. The runoff from these impervious surfaces erodes soil, pollutes streams, degrades habitat, and disrupts normal water seepage. This growth is predicted to continue, which will lead to degraded streams. Development growth in Georgia is forecast to increase from 20 million acres in 1992 to 72-81 million acres by 2040. This is primarily due to an increase in land value as more people want to live in Georgia. Compared to preserved land, the doUar value of single family residential homes is 253 times, 552 times for land in commercial/retail use, and up to 2535 times for industrial use (Harrison 2002). "This tremendous increase in land valuation places intense economic pressure promoting development ofland to urban use whenever the demand exists" (Harrison 2002). A study of all Georgia's 1865 watersheds with an average acreage of 31.5 square miles each, found that 51 of them, mostly in the 16 county metro area, have significantly increased impervious surface development (Harrison 2002). These surfaces are "desert-like" in terms of hydrology and climate. Impervious surfaces impact water quality and quantity and have higher thermal temperatures than do vegetated areas. Many nonpoint sources of pollution collect on these surfaces and are then transported by stormwater to the nearest stream or river. Impervious surface development is a serious issue with serious water pollution consequences (Harrison 2002). What is green space and why is it important in an urban watershed? Green space is land that is left undeveloped, or developed in a way that allows water to filter through the soil before it reaches the aquifers. Green space can be in the form of a park, garden, rooftop garden, forest conservation site, or any place in which an impervious surface does not restrict the percolation ofwater, or the natural ability of soil and vegetation to absorb moisture. It is difficult for a city to preserve green space as a result of the high value placed on land within an urban watershed. City developers must be careful to maintain a balance between impervious surface and green space development. A city covered with impervious surfaces and no green space will result in much water pollution, while it is unrealistic to plan a city to have all green space and no impervious areas. Metro Atlanta city planners must start planning for green space in the metro area in order to avoid unnecessary stormwater degradation in streams and help improve water quality throughout the city. Early urban development A hundred years ago, trains and streetcars supported downtown business districts by bringing shoppers and workers from all over the region. Development in the suburbs was kept within walking distance of streetcar lines. Land use combinations evolved within the constraints of daily walking distances. City streets were paved with cobblestones, which were permeable to small amounts of rainfall and runoff. Minor residential streets had no curbs; instead they were usually flanked by swales or ditches that kept streets passable during moderate rainfalls. 88 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ---------------------------' ~~- Auto-oriented development Since the development of the automobile in the early years of this century, its use has been subsidized with public investment and land use regulation. Local governments spent millions of dollars to widen the cobbled streets and repave them with asphalt. The Federal government began subsidizing auto use in 1916 and 1921 with Federal Road Acts to construct and improve auto roads, support the formation and operation of state highway departments, and link state highways into national networks. To enable Georgia to participate in the new program, the General Assembly created a State Highway Board in August 1916. In 1925, federal highway spending topped $1 billion per year. In 1956, the federal government began the Interstate system, which added 41 ,000 miles of connecting and beltway expressways and subsidized the widening of local roads to accommodate auto traffic. By the early 1970s paving was referred to as "the nation's biggest endowed business" (Sorvig, 1993). Each year, in the United States, we are paving or repaving half a million acres (Ferguson, 1996). The new highways opened up rural areas to suburban development. Georgia's citizens moved from farms to urban areas, and from the central sections of cities to the fringes. Sewer and water lines were extended into low-density suburbs. City development was refitted to accommodate the car. Zoning codes, originally devised to protect residential neighborhoods from incompatible industries, grew to segregate every detailed category ofland use from every other. They imposed exclusive reliance on cars for daily transportation by requiring homogeneous, lowdensity residential development across large areas. Street pavement widths increased by more than 50 percent to favor rapid, unobstructed automobile traffic. Parking lots became essential adjuncts to suburban stores and offices that had once fronted on city sidewalks. As land uses spread farther apart with only auto roads as connectors, more cars were needed to link them back together, and more asphalt and concrete were needed to maintain the connectors. Procedure An activity that presents the concept of non-point source pollution runoff Warm-up 1) Prepare tray A ~ Fill the tray with a layer of sand, rock or small gravel, and clay or soil.. ~ Cover the top of the tray with a piece ofblack plastic (cut a piece of a black garbage bag to fit the top of the tray). Tape the plastic around the sides. This represents an impervious surface such as asphalt on a graded parking lot. ~ Cut a very small hole in the plastic that is just large enough for the probe of a thermometer. The thermometer's probe should read the temperature of the surface (not the inside of the tray or the air outside of the plastic). 2) Prepare tray B ~ Begin with a layer of sand on the bottom, filling about a third of the tray. ~ Fill next third of the tray with a layer of rock. ~ Fill the top third with a layer of soil and mulch. ~ You may place a layer of sod or grass on the top of the soil if available, but this is not necessary for the demonstration. ~ Place a second thermometer in tray B so that the probe is just under the surface layer of soil. The thermometer should read the temperature of the surface. 3) Incubate the trays ~ Place the two trays in a window receiving direct sunlight, outside in a sunny area, or under a heat lamp. ~ Leave the trays to heat for about an hour. 4) Compare the trays ~ Mter an hour of incubation, have the students read and record the temperatures of tray A and tray B. ~ The surface of tray A should have a substantially higher temperature than tray B. Ask the students why this might occur. Ask the students what impact the increased temperature will have on the stream. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 89 Georgia Project WET Supplement 5) Demonstration of runoff ~ Ask the students what they think will happen when it rains on the two surfaces. ~ Tilt the trays slighdy to give them a gradient for runoff. ~ Using a spray botde full ofwater, simulate rain falling on tray A. Note that the rain rapidly runs off the impervious surface into the nearest stream, carrying with it any pollutants in its path. ~ Simulate rain falling on tray B. Note that the rain soaks into the soil and does not run off, even though the tray is tilted. Green is the color that represents pervious surfaces, while each player needs a different color crayon for each player's impervious surface development. The multiple colors will identifY which player developed which impervious surface (this identification is important for final calculations). 3) One player on each team will be the dealer and passes out six cards to each player, including him/herself Lay cards face up in front of each player. The remaining deck of cards is put face-down. Turn over the first card and place it face up next to the pile. Warm-Up Demonstration The Activity 1) Tell your students that they are planning the development of a section in the City ofAdanta and that they will have to make choices about development. They will receive money for development and they must decide whether to develop both large and small projects, and they must decide where to develop. They have to think about the needs of the people, wildlife, and the environment. What kind of developer will they be? They need to remember the demonstration and what they have learned about impervious surfaces. Make sure that your students understand what an impervious surface is and how it affects water quality. 4) The object of this activity is to get a matching pair of cards. Starting from the dealers' left, each player takes a turn and either draws a card from the deck or the discard pile. If a player gets a matching pair of cards, the player can develop the pair; can save it for later; or can discard the pair and pick up two more cards to make a total of six cards in that player's hand. If a pair is made, then no discard is required for that turn. If a player chooses to develop the project on the matching pair, then he/she colors in on the board the number of acres indicated on the card. Ifit is an impervious surface, they use their identifYing color crayon to color in the acres on the board. If it is a green space surface, they color the acres with a green crayon. Ideas can be shared to strategically develop green space and impervious surfaces, but each player is ultimately responsible for their own individual development. The paired cards are not used again in this round of play. After the deck is finished, the cards can be shuffled and reused. The players continue to pick up, discard, and fill in their developed acres on the board until the board is completely filled in. There are many different possible drawing and discarding scenarios that are organized in Figure 1: 2) Divide students into City Planning Teams with 4-6 students per team. Give each team a property board that represents the City ofAdanta. Give each student a scorecard, a green crayon, and a different color crayon to mark their developed areas on the property board. 90 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ----------------------------------------'~~- Figure 1 Scenario 1 Drawl Do not have a pair Discard 1 Scenario2 Drawl Get a pair, so fill in acre boxes on the board that match the number of acres on the card on the board Check off on score sheet Draw2 Scenario3 Drawl Get a pair, so fill in acre boxes on the board that match the number of acres on the card on the board Check off on score sheet Draw2 Get another pair, so fill in acre boxes on the board that match the number of acres on the card Check off on score sheet Draw2 Repeat process until player no longer has a pair Scenario4 Drawl Get a pair, and decide not to develop Discard pair into discard pile Draw2 The Property-Board ~ Use a photo copier to increase the property board by 115% of original size ~ You may fill in the acre blocks vertically, horizontally, or diagonally; as long as the spaces are touching. Outline with a black marker each player's developments. Playing Cards Instructions: ~ Copy the impervious surface cards two times (so you have 3 cards each) ~ Copy the green space cards three times (so you have four cards each) ~ Copy the rooftop bonus and porous pavement cards five times (so you have six cards each) ~ Have students color all the cards (optional) ~ Laminate each card (optional) ~ Keep for future use! Scoresheet ~ Each time a player "develops" or fills in acres on the board, that player must check it off on the scoresheet next to the corresponding image. ~ Rooftop Garden and Porous Pavement are bonus cards and can replace half of any impervious surface developed on the board with green space surface. The player that originally developed the impervious surface on the board must go back to his/her scoresheet and reduce the impervious acres by half of the original amount. The player that applied the bonus must go to his/her scoresheet and write in the space provided located in the bonus section, the number of acres that replaced the impervious surface with green acres. A player must still get a pair of the bonus cards to apply the bonus to an impervious surface. WrapUp A The game is over when the board is completely filled up with development. Each player needs to complete the final calculations section of the score sheet for both the individual and the group. Each player will determine The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 91 Georgia Project WET Supplement the type of developer they are based on impervious and green space calculations. Have students guess based on their scores if they are a conventional, new urbanist, or conservation developer. B. Students will complete the final calculations section of the scoresheet to find out what percentage ofboth group and individual development is impervious and green space. . C. Once the players know what kind of developer the group and the player (individual) is, ask if they agree or disagree with the environmental implications. Ask the students which team they would hire to be city planners for the City ofAdanta? Which individual developer would lead the project? Types ofDeveloper: ~ Conventional: ()0;0- 15% of city is green space ~ New urbanist: 16%-67% of city is green space ~ Conservation: 68%- 71% of city is green space ~ Too Much Green space: 72%-100% of city is green space A Conventional developer is the traditional city planner, who does not necessarily plan for a balance between impervious and green space development. This developer needs to pay attention to the discussion concerning the importance of this balance, and find ways that he or she can plan for more green space during future planning. A New Urbanist developer has a better grasp on balancing impervious and green space development. He or she recognizes the impacts certain surfaces can have on nearby water bodies. If this developer continues to lead planning in the city, there might well be an improvement in the health of our streams and rivers. A Conservation developer has a very progressive take on development. Green space development is over half of all development in the city. Not many cities are like this, but more are on the rise. This developer has a great sense of the importance ofgreen space, and the city residents are privileged to live in such a green, healthy, and beautiful city. If the developer has developed over 71% green space, then there is too much green space and not enough impervious surface for an urban area. Realistically, there should not be that much green space in any city, so try to develop more of a balance in future city planning. Effects ofimpervious surfaces ~ All development requirements that increase the dimensions of streets, driveways, and parking lots cause an increase in impervious pavement which generates runoff. Curbs make structural channels that accelerate it. ~ Almost any contemporary land use produces impervious coverage over 10 percent. Even residences dispersed on 2-acre lots produce impervious cover of 12 percent. ~ Industrial and office uses and shopping centers can produce nearly 100 percent impervious coverage. ~ Of all the impervious areas, the pavements of the roads and parking lots, where cars are, make up the major portion. ~ Impervious surfaces seal over the soil pores, depriving the root zone ofwater and air. They deflect rainwater into surface channels, where it concentrates into downstream floods. ~ Storm water runoff carries with it oils from cars, parking lots, lawn yards, storage areas, metals from construction materials, herbicides, pesticides, and nutrients from over-maintained landscapes. ~ Streets and parking lots are the impervious surfaces with the greatest area and highest pollutant loads in most land use categories. Automobiles drop hydrocarbons from oil and metals from the wearing of brake pads and tires; all are washed off of pavements and into streams by runoff. ~ In the days or weeks between rainstorms, oils and sediments accumulate on pavement. When the first rain falls on the pavement, it flushes the accumulated pollutants into streams. ~ As the rain continues, growing volumes of runoff erode stream banks, destroying habitats and producing further sediment pollution. ~ Stream and wedand health decline with overall impervious coverage. Significant impacts begin at 10 percent coverage. At impervious coverage over 30 92 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------------------~~- percent, impacts on streams and wedands become severe and degradation is almost unavoidable (Arnold and Gibbons, 1996). Impervious coverage Stream health <10% "Protected" 10 to< 30% "Impacted" if not mitigated >30% ."Degraded" if not mitigated The Importance of Striking a Balance: impervious and green space development Impervious surfaces do not allow water to soak into the ground. As a result pollutants enter the nearby streams, lakes, and rivers. These pollutants come from the air, cars, and people; they all run straight into natural water sources during rain and/or storms. As impervious surfaces increase, so does stormwater runoff volume, pollutant levels in runoff, and the velocity of stormwater flows (Schueler 1994). Research has shown that watershed health begins to decline when impervious surfaces coverage exceeds 10 percent and become severely impaired if this number climbs beyond 30 percent of the total watershed area (Arnold and Gibbons 1996). The urban heat island effect is another consequence of impervious development. Impervious surfaces absorb heat during the day and release it at night when the outside temperature falls. This causes the average temperature to be higher in areas where there are many impervious surfaces. This means higher energy bills as well. Replacing impervious surfaces with green space reduces this urban heat island effect and increases energy savings (Heat Island Group.1999). City planners and developers can prevent this degradation ofwater sources by choosing to plan for and build green space areas in the city to strike a balance between the two types of development. They can educate people about nonpoint source pollution and its serious consequences that affect everyone. All the chemicals that are spewed from a city by people and machines end up in the water. Impervious surfaces near a water source are even more dangerous. Many pollution prevention controls, such as vegetation buffers beside streams and rivers, should be in place to assure the city that chemicals are not entering direcdy into the water. It is better to have green space near a water source because it helps filter out chemicals before the runoff enters the water body. Other examples of natural filtration methods include vegetated buffers along streams, grassed areas along roadways, wedands, and rain gardens. Plants have a natural capacity to slow and filter runoff, thereby reducing pollutant loads. Rooftop gardens and porous pavement are other innovative alternatives to impervious surfaces. Rooftop gardens prevent runoff from the rooftops of buildings and slow water as it is continuing along the path toward the nearest water source. The vegetation and soil layers in a rooftop garden soak in the water, while filtering out the chemicals. The result is a much cleaner water runoff from the building, if any runoff at all. Porous pavement helps to reduce not only environmental degradation, but safety and health concerns as well. Porous pavement has been engineered to allow water to fall on the pavement, and then reenter the environment in a very different way than traditional pavement. Stormwater and chemicals released from cars are absorbed into the pavement, thereby reducing the amount of chemicals flowing from roads and neighborhood storm drains to the nearest water body. Both the rooftop garden and porous pavement innovations reduce the impact of imperviousness in the urban watershed signifi.candy. Effects ofdevelopment on peak discharges and runoff volumes A storm hydrograph is a tool used to show how storm water discharge changes with time. The portion of the hydrograph that lies to the left of the peak is called the rising limb, which shows how long it takes the stream to peak following a rain event. The portion of the curve to the right of the peak is called the recession limb. Storm runoff moves more rapidly over smooth, hard pavement than over natural vegetation (figure 1). As a result, the rising limbs hydrographs become steeper and higher in urbanized areas. Recession limbs also decline more steeply in urban streams. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 93 Georgia Project WET Supplement t '......, Higher and More Rapid Peak Discharge I / Higher Runoff Volume ----Pre-Development I \ - Post Development I \ en I LL (.) I 3: I .-.0.. E .C....l..) en - - .J \ Lower Baseflow \ \ \ ---- Time II Figure 1: Effects of development on stream flow ("Getting to Know Your Watershed". Summer 2002. Georgia Adopt-A-Stream. Department of Natural Resources. Environmental Protection Division) Works Cited Harrison, Jim. 2002. "Rapid Development Putting Atlanta's Watersheds at Risk". Atlanta journal Constitution. Charles Seabrook . 2002. Heat Island Group. 1999. Environmental Energy Technologies Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California. "Learning About Heat Islands." Schueler, Thomas R. 1994. "The Importance oflmperviousness." Watershed Protection Techniques. Volume 1, Number 3. Pages 100-111. Georgia Urban Development Trends *From Land Development Provisions To Protect Georgia Water Qyality *From Land Development Provisions To Protect Georgia Water Quality. 94 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------------------------------'~ - Greening the Asphalt Rubric for Assessment Assessment 2: Ask the students to write a paragraph on how they planned their city. Did they put in impervious surfaces? Did they include green space? How do impervious surfaces and green space development affect water quality? Category 4 3 2 1 Organization Information is very organized in a wellconstructed paragraph. There is a clear introduction, explanation, and conclusion, and all ideas presented are logical. Information is organized in a well-constructed paragraph. The student included an introduction, explanation, and conclusion. Information is organized, but the paragraph is not well-constructed. The student presents related ideas but does not properly construct an introduction, explanation, and conclusion. The information appears to be disorganized. The ideas presented are unrelated and there is no paragraph structure. Comprehension Student included more than 4 ways that impervious surfaces and green space development affect water quality. Student included 3-4 ways that impervious surfaces and green space development affect water quality. Student included 2 ways that impervious surfaces and green space development affect water quality. Student included 1 or no ways that impervious surfaces and green space development affect water quality. Comprehension Student exceeded expectations in his or her understanding of the concepts of impervious surfaces and green space. Student understands the concepts of impervious surfaces and green space for the most part. Student somewhat understands the concepts of impervious surfaces and green space. Student does not understand the concepts of impervious surfaces and green space. Analysis Student exceeded expectations in his or her understanding of the impact of development choices for the citjr and the impact on water quality. Student understands the impact of their development choices for the city and the impact on water quality for the most part. Student somewhat understands the impact of their development choices for the city and the impact on water quality. Student does not understand the impact of their development choices for the city and the impact on water quality. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 95 Georgia Project WET Supplement Greening the Asphalt Rubric for Assessment Assessment 3: Have students take a walk on their school campus and make a design of the school, parking areas, nature trail, gardens, and walkways using graph paper. Mter they have created the school campus design, ask them to color the areas that are impervious surfaces gray and the areas that are green space green or another color. Calculate the percentage ofimpervious and green space surfaces on the school campus. Category Neatness Comprehension Comprehension Accuracy 4 3 2 1 The design was completed extremely nearly and carefully and all significant areas were included in the design. The design was completed nearly and most significant areas were included in the design. The design was messy OR significant areas were not included in the design. The design was very messy AND significant areas were not included in the design. Student correcrly identified all impervious surfaces and green spaces. Student correcrly identified most impervious surfaces and green spaces. Student correcrly identified some impervious surfaces and green spaces. Student did not correcrly identify any impervious surfaces or green spaces. Student completely understands the concepts of impervious surfaces and green space. Student understands the concepts ofimpervious surfaces and green space for the most part. Student somewhat understands the concepts of impervious surfaces and green space. Student does not understand the concepts ofimpervious surfaces and green space. Student calculated percentages correcrly. Student's calculations were close to the actual percentages. Student's calculations were not close to the actual percentages. Student did not calculate percentages OR the calculations based on the drawing were extremely different from actual percentages. 96 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Greening the Asphalt Score Sheet _ ~rune _____________________ Date____________ *Put a checkmark in the space provided EACH TIME you develop the corresponding surface. IMPERVIOUS SURFACES ~ Amphitheater__ 6 boxes= 1.5 acres 1111 Apartmeno__ 11 boxes= 2.75 acres l:t 1\1 BosketbaD Court__ 1 box= 0.25 acre Cement Playground__ 1 box =0.25 acre -Citys;dewalk__ 2 boxes= 0.5 acre 1,1Courtbou~-- 5boxes= 1.25acres ~ Gos Station_ _ 1 box= 0.25 acre ~ Grocecy Store__ 2 boxes= 0.5 acre - lnremau__ 18 boxes= 4.5 acres Large Industry__ 9 boxes =2.25 acres lmrt~ Shop___ 2 boxes= 0.5 acre ~ Man Parl<__ 5 boxes= 1.25 acres 1!::::==:=::::!1 Preserved Forest_ _ 8 boxes = 2 acres [Jf] Recreation Parl<__ 3 boxes= 0.75 acre 1m! T...W Park__ 4 boxes= 1 acre The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 99 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Rooftop Garden Bonus Deduct half the acres from any developed impervious surface on the board and enter number of new green acres below. Green acres = acres Green acres = acres Green acres = acres Porous Pavement Bonus Deduct half the acres from any developed impervious surface on the board and enter number of new green acres below. Green acres = acres Green acres = acres Green acres = acres ~ Rooftop Garden and Porous Pavement are bonus cards and can replace half of any impervious surface developed on the board with green space surface. The player that originally developed the impervious surface on the board must go back to his/her scoresheet and reduce the impervious acres by half of the original amount. The player that applied the bonus must go to his/her scoresheet and write in the space provided located in the bonus section, the number of acres that replaced the impervious surface with green acres. A player must still get a pair of the bonus cards to apply the bonus to an impervious surface. Example: ~ 2~s Playerl Amusement Park K 8boxes = I acre Player 2 (with bonus pair) Porous Pavement Bonus! Green acres = 1 acre 100 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Final Calculations Total Acres on the Board = 33.5 acres Impervious Surface Total= IST Green space Total= GT Green space+ Impervious Surface Total= GIT Individual Group IST= IST= GT= IST_/33.5= _ _%Impervious surface IST_ + GT_ = GIT GT= IST__/GIT__=__ I 100 = __ %Impervious GT_/33.5= _ _%Green space GT__/GIT__= __/100 = __ % Green space Type of Individual Developer according to % Green space _ _ _ __ Type of Group Developer according to % Green space _ _ _ __ Individual Calculation Directions: 1. Use a calculator to add up all Impervious Surfa~e acres from your individual scoresheet, and that will equal IST. 2. Use a calculator to add up all Green space Surface acres from your individual scoresheet, and that will equal GT. 3. Add together IST and GT to get total of impervious and green space total combined, and this will equal GIT. 4. Complete calculations for the individual by filling in calculations in the blank next to corresponding total. 5. Your teacher will tell you what type of developer you are as an individual based on percentage ofgreen space development. Group Calculation Directions: 1. Use a calculator to add up all Impervious Surface acres from each person in the group and that will equal the group IST. 2. Use a calculator to add up all Green space Surface acres from each person in the group scoresheet and that will equal the group GT. 3. Complete calculations for the group by filling in calculations in the blank next to corresponding total. 4. Your teacher will tell you wh~t type of developer your group is based on percentage of green space development. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 101 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Property Board with 33.5 Acre Sites , . 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres River 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 0.25 acres 102 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Greening the Asphalt Playing Cards s Student Copy Page 4.5 acres Place of Worship 2 acres 1.5 acres 0.25 acre The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 103 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page 104 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement [ 8 Student Copy Page 2.5 acres The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 105 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page 1.25 acres 106 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page 1.25 acres 1.25 acres Large Airport 3 acres The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 107 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Green Playground 0.25 acre Government Building 0.75 acre 108 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page 0.75 acre p The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 109 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page 0.5 acre Used Car Dealership 0. 75 ac1e 110 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page 1.5 acres The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 111 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page 0.25 acre 112 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page Neighborhood Park 0.5 acre 1.25 acres 1.25 acres The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 113 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Porous Pavement BONUS Replace half of any imocrvious surface Green Roof BONUS Replace half of any imoervious surface Green Roof BONUS Replace half of any imoervious surface 114 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Wet-Work Shuffle Grade Level: Upper Elementary, Middle School, High School Subject Areas: Government, Environmental Science, Health Duration: Preparation time: 30 minutes Activity time: 50 minutes Setting: Classroom Skills: Gathering information (interviewing); Organizing (sequencing); Analyzing Vocabulary Water resource careers Hydrologist, municipalplanner, microbiologist: What do these titles mean to you? _Summary Students learn about different water resource occupations and place them in a sequence-from water's source, to its delivery into homes, and its return to the source. Objectives Students will: ~ Sequence water-related occupations involved in transporting water to and from the home. ~ Describe various water resource careers. Materials ~ A set ofWater Career Cards for each group of students (Cards may be pasted to index cards for durability.) ~ Marking pens and drawing material ~ Butcher paper In addition we have provided a set ofAdanta Urban Watershed Career Cards of actual people in actual careers. These cards can be copied and laminated and made into name tags with string or yarn. ~ Enlarged Urban Watershed Career Category Descriptions without the number ~ Enlarged cards for River, Water Treatment, Homes, Schools, Businesses, Wastewater Treatment and River to be copied and cut out and given to 5 students to represent these areas in the watershed Making Connections Most students know that clean, safe water enters their homes with the tum of a faucet, and that a flush of the toilet expels household wastes. But they may not realize the number of people who make these services possible. Introducing students to the professions providing clean water supplies helps them appreciate their water source and makes them aware of a variety of careers related to water. Background Have you heard the phrase "Too many cooks spoil the broth"? This is not the case in the world ofwater management. By the time water has been pumped from an aquifer or diverted from a meandering river, used, and then returned to the system, it has been analyzed, gauged, protected, stored, managed, measured, and treated by a multitude of people. International Project WET 115 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide First, the water supply might be predicted or measured by climatologists, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and limnologists. When plans for its withdrawal for various uses are made, other professionals become involved: watershed planners consider regional water resource issues; engineers develop plans for the storage and transportation ofwater; water pollution technologists study the suitability ofwater for drinking; and municipal planners help determine a community's present and future needs. At every level of government and in countless businesses, people manage water. Interest groups and those involved in the integrity of the water help ensure that fisheries and wetland habitats remain intact. Computer technicians store vital data every step of the way. Sanitarians, wastewater engineers, and wastewater treatment plant operators work to guarantee water's suitability for use and its acceptable quality when returned to the natural system. Procedure WarmUp Present students with the following situation. One morning they wake up, they turn on the faucet to get a drink ofwater, and nothing comes out. To whom would they or their parents go to find out what happened to the water supply? What if the whole community had the same problem? Ask students to list the different professions of the people involved in getting water to and from homes. Inform them that a fictional town called "Heretothere" has identified a list of people it needs to hire to get water to and from its houses. The cards containing these job titles were arranged in correct order, but someone has dropped them! Now they need to be put back in order. Tell students their challenge will be to put the cards m proper sequence. WAfER SOURCE 116 TREATMENT PLANT ADAPTED FROM " A WATER SYSTEM " (POSTER ), BY PERMISSION . 1988, AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION . International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide -----------------------------------------------------------' ~_~;. The Activity 1. Divide the class into small groups and give each group a set ofshuffled Water Career Cards. Ask each group to arrange the cards in what they think is the best order. Students should read the career descriptions to help them determine the correct order. If they need more help, provide them with the category headings that describe the various stages ofwater transport. 2. Ask each group to explain the water career pathways and relationships they have devised. Have groups compare their arrangements, discussing whether or not the town of Heretothere will get its water. 2) What kind of education or training did you need? 3) What skills cio you need? 4) What do you like the most/ least about your job? 5) Is the pay scale satisfactory? And 6) Describe a typical day on the job. Based on the interview, have students pretend they are going to apply for the job and write a resume that fits the job criteria. Assessment Have students: ~ Sequence the water-related professions involved in transporting water to and from the home (steps 1, 2, 3, and Wrap Up). ~ Create resume ofwater professional (Wrap Up) . 3. Present students with the order given on the original Water Career Cards sheet. Ask students to evaluate their own sequencing and make adjustments. The placement of the profession in the correct category heading is more important than the order of careers within the category. Make sure students understand that these tasks are not necessarily sequential. Activities of some workers occur simultaneously or may overlap. 4. Remind students ofthe variety ofcareers related to water other than water supply. These include fisheries specialist, meteorologist, marine biologist, navigator, educator, etc. Some students may be interested in adding cards to the Water Career Cards deck to see how all these professions are related. (For example, a water treatment plant manager needs a chemist to test water quality, or a watershed manager may confer with a wetlands specialist to help regulate surface runoff.) Extensions Invite water-related professionals to explain their roles in water management and discuss the nature and significance of their jobs. K-20ption Ask students to think of a water-related career that sounds interesting to them or provide them with a list (plumber, tugboat operator, fisheries specialist, wetlands educator, etc.) from which to select their favorite. Distribute newsprint and crayons or markers to students and show them how to fold the paper into a hat. WrapUp Ask students to draw a diagram or create a wall-sized mural ofwater on its pathways. Include drawings of people of different professions working in appropriate settings and with appropriate equipment (i.e., a chemist located near the water treatment plant). Instruct students to select one or more water-related careers they would like to know more about. They should contact a water professional and ask to interview him or her about a typical day at work. Some questions to ask are: 1) How did you get interested in this work? Water career hats. International Project WET 117 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Tell students to decorate their hats with pictures of people doing their jobs or of the environments these professionals study as part of their work. When all students have completed their hats, have them take turns role-playing in front of the class. Have them explain the pictures or materials on their hats. For example, a student whose chosen water career is a wetland research scientist may say, "I am a wetland researcher. I study the plants and animals that live in wedands. Here is a picture of some of mywedand friends (frogs, foxes, and ducks). In this picture I am counting the number of frogs I see." Mter all the students have had a chance to role-play, allow them to walk around for a few minutes to look at each other's hats. Video: Careers in Water Quality. 16 min.; lh" VHS. Order from: New Dimension Media, 85803 Lorane Highway, Eugene, OR 97405. (800) 288-4456. To order student and teacher guides or for more information, call: Water Pollution Control Federation, (800) 666-0206. For further information about careers related to water supply and the education/training involved, contact: American Water Works Association, 6666 West Quincy Ave., Denver, CO 80235. (303) 347-6206. Resources Asimov, Isaac, and Elizabeth Kaplan. 1993. What Happens When I Flush the Toilet? Milwaukee, Wis.: Bareth Stevens. Bolles, Richard Nelson. 1993. What Color Is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career Changers. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press. Cole, Joanna. 1986. The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, Inc. Test the Waters! Careers in Water Qyality. 1991. Brochure. Contact: Water Pollution Control Federation, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. (703) 684-2400. 14" ( (24" FOLD ~------- TAPE 118 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Student Copy Page Water Career Cards NOTE: This is a limited list of careers involved in transporting water from a source to homes and back to the source. Many more people are actually involved in this process. The arrangement of the careers is based on seven main categories. The sequence of careers within each category may vary somewhat, because the responsibilities of some careers coincide or overlap. CATEGORY!: Careers involved in removing water form the source (river, lake, or groundwater supply) and transferring it to a water treatment plant. HYDROLOGIST A scientist who measures the properties and move- ment ofwater, often assessing its availability. HYDRAULIC ENGINEER An engineer with knowledge of the mechanical properties ofwater who would be involved in designing or maintaining a dam or water retraction devices. MICROBIOLOGIST A scientist who determines the quality of the water and the health of the water source by studying mi- croorgarusms. FISHERIES BIOLOGIST A scientist who studies the population and behavior of fish species in relation to available habitats and quality of the water resource. CATEGORY II: Careers involved in removing impurities from water at a water treatment plant. CHEMIST A scientist who tests the water to ensure its suitabil- ity for public consumption. TREATMENT PLANT TECHNICIAN A person who operates and maintains the water treatment plant. CATEGORY III: Career responsible for transporting the treated water to a storage tank. WATER WORKS ENGINEER A person who designs systems for transport of water, often in municipal settings; can also be the person who controls the discharge of water from places of storage. HYDROGEOLOGIST A scientist who studies the properties and move- ment of groundwater and aquifers. WATER MASTER A person who monitors withdrawal of water by water users in watersheds where supplies may be limited. International Project WET 119 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page CATEGORY IV: Careers involved in planning, constructing, and maintaining distribution systems that carry water underground to homes. CATEGORYVI: Careers responsible for transporting wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant and monitoring sanitary conditions. WATER POLICY PLANNER A person who studies water related problems and issues and prepares plans for consideration by agency decision makers and the public. MUNICIPAL PLANNER A person who works with engineers and local officials to determine the municipal needs, including the optimal water supply system for a city. This per- son is knowledgeable about the relevant laws. SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Groups that have special interests in the protection or use of water. They are involved as lobbyists when laws are made and have a voice at public meetings involving water. CATEGORYV: Careers involved in monitoring quantities ofwater used in homes and maintaining service lines to homes. METER READER A person who reads the water meter at your house to determine how much water is used monthly. PLUMBER A person who designs a system and fits pipes for the transportation of water (both sewage and drinking) in facilities and buildings. WATER LINE TECHNICIAN A person who plans and installs main lines and ser- vice lines throughout the town. SANITARIAN A person who enforces public health, especially in relation to garbage and sewage disposal. CATEGORYVII: Careers involved in operating wastewater treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to its return to the source. WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR A person who controls and maintains equipment at a sewage treatment plant. CHEMIST A scientist who tests the water after it has been treated, to ensure its suitability for reintroduction into a stream. MICROBIOLOGIST A scientist who determines the quality of the water and the health of the water eftluent or discharge by studying microorganisms. 120 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide --------------------------------------------------'_ ~~ Wet-Work Shuflle Activity Adaptation using the Atlanta Urban Watershed Career Cards Procedure WarmUp Follow the Warm Up as written The Activity. 1. Cut out each Atlanta Urban Watershed Career Card, laminate, and make name tags for students to wear. 2. Hand out an Atlanta Urban Watershed Career Card to each student. 3. Use the larger Urban Watershed Career Category Descriptions that follow the Atlanta Urban Watershed Career Cards and cut out and place the descriptions on cones or chairs around the watershed in their appropriate location. For example, the Career Category I has careers that remove water from the source and transfer it to a treatment plant. This description would be placed next to the person who has the river sign and is between the river and the treatment plant. 7. Then have the students read the different category descriptions on the chairs in the room or on the cones in the field outside from the River and back to the River again and decide which category best fits their career. 8. Give students time to look around the urban watershed and talk with other students about what category best fits their career. They can work together to make category decisions. 9. Mter students have made their category selection they need to group around the chair/cone they have selected and meet others who have made the same category choice. Each student shares their career with the other students and asks the group to help decide if they are in the right category place. 10. If everyone has made final decisions give students the actual category placement for their career and instruct students to go to their category placement Students share their careers with others at the category. Share the correct categories with students so they can join the group with others doing similar kinds of careers. 4. Place chairs around the room or cones in the field and tape the Urban Watershed Career Category Descriptions on the chairs or cones. Place the chair/cone category descriptions in an ordered way from the water source and back to the source. 5. Select five students to represent the Water Source (River), the Water Treatment Plant, Homes, Schools, Businesses, Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the River. Chairs/cones with career descriptions can be appropriately placed around the students representing places in the Urban Watershed. 6. To begin the activity have students read their career descriptions and look at the picture and determine what the person is doing on the job International Project WET 121 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Atlanta Career Cards Category I - Careers involved in removing water from the source and transferring it to the water treatment plant. (drinking water) ~ Water System Control Operator Category II - Careers involved in operating drinking water treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to delivery to homes, schools, and businesses. ~ Operations Manager, Water Treatment Plant Technician, Water System Control Operator Category VIII- Careers that provide service and support for the wastewater treatment plant operations. ~ Wastewater Process Control Technician, Wastewater Treatment Administrator, Wastewater Treatment Plant Mechanic, Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator, Equipment Operator, Custodian, Landscapers, Truck Drivers International Project WET Category III - Careers that provide service and support for the drinking water treatment plant operations. ~ Water Treatment Administrator Category IV - Careers involved in planning, constructing, and maintaining distribution systems that carry water underground to homes. ~ Water Line Technician Category V- Careers involved in monitoring quantities ofwater used in homes and maintaining service lines to homes. ~ Plumber Category VI - Careers responsible for transporting wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant and monitoring sanitary conditions. ~ Closed Circuit TV Operator, Closed Circuit Camera Operator Category VII - Careers involved in operating wastewater treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to its return to the source. ~ Wastewater Treatment Plant Chemist, Wastewater Treatment Plant Microbiologist, Wastewater Treatment Plant Manager, Wastewater Treatment Operations Manager, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent 122 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide ------------------------------------------'~,~ Adanta Water Careers There are many different kinds of careers involved in water and wastewater treatment. There are even careers that make sure all the pipes are working that deliver water to your home, school, or business. Here are the REAL people in real careers who take care ofyour drinking water and wastewater treatment in the Adanta urban watershed. Each of these people were glad to know you were learning about your urban watershed, so you can take an important part in protecting your water resources. CATEGORY I: Career involved in removing water from the source (river, lake or groundwater supply), and transferring it to a water treatment plant. 0 0 WATER SYSTEM CONTROL OPERATOR A person who monitors withdrawal of water by water users and controls the flow through the system. International Project WET 123 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 8 Student Copy Page CATEGORY II: Careers involved in operating drinking water treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to delivery to homes, schools, and businesses. 0 0 OPERATIONS MANAGER A person who insures delivery of clean, safe, potable drinking water. 124 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page 0 0 WATERTREATMENT PLANT TECHNICIAN A person who samples the water to ensure water quality standards for drinking water. International Project WET 125 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page 0 0 WATER SYSTEM CONTROL OPERATOR A person who monitors gates, pumps, and overall process of treating the drinking water. CATEGORY III: Careers that provide service and support for the drinking water treatment plant operations. 0 0 ... 0 WATERTREATMENT ADMINISTRATOR A person who handles documentation for the water treatment plant supervisor, along with managing phone calls and scheduling. 126 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Student Copy Page CATEGORY IV: Careers involved in planning, constructing, and maintaining distribution systems that carry water underground to homes. 0 0 WATER UNETECHNICIAN A person who handles water quality by collecting samples from the main and service lines throughout the service area. CATEGORYV: Careers involved in monitoring quantities ofwater used in homes and maintaining service lines to homes. 0 0 PLUMBER A person that repairs plumbing and broken pipes in homes, schools, and businesses. International Project WET 127 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide CATEGORYVI: Careers responsible for transporting wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant and monitoring sanitary conditions. 0 0 CLOSED CIRCUITTV OPERATOR A person responsible for wastewater service line maintenance and TV/computer operation. 0 0 CLOSED CIRCUIT CAMERA OPERATOR A person responsible for wastewater service line maintenance and camera operation. 128 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page CATEGORYVII: Careers involved in operating wastewater treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to its return to the source. 0 0 WASTEWATERTREATMENT PLANT CHEMIST A person who tests the wastewater and the sludge throughout the process to tell the operators how to adjust the water to have optimum treatment. 0 0 WASTEWATERTREATMENTPLANTCHEMIST A scientist who tests the water after it has been treated, to ensure its suitability for reintroduction into a stream. International Project WET 129 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 8 Student Copy Page 0 0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT MICROBIOLOGIST A scientist who determines the quality of the water and the health of the water effluent or discharge by studying microorganisms. 130 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 8 Student Copy Page 0 0 WASTEWATERTREATMENT PLANT MANAGER A person who is responsible for every aspect of the plant: operations, personnel, and maintenance. 0 0 WASTEWATERTREATMENT PLANT MANAGER A person who is responsible for every aspect of the plant: operations, personnel, and maintenance. International Project WET 131 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 0 0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR A person who is responsible for monitoring systems within the wastewater process. Here he is sampling in the aeration basin. 0 0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR A person who makes adjustments to equipment as the wastewater flow changes, as well as monitoring operations of the wastewater treatment plant. 132 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Student Copy Page 0 0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT OPERATIONS MANAGER A person who oversees general operations of the wastewater treatment plant. 0 0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT SUPERINTENDENT A person who controls the wastewater treatment process, which is called "intelligent automation". The computer monitors the gates, pumps, and overall process of treating the wastewater. International Project WET 133 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide CATEGORYVIII: Careers that provide service and support for the wastewater treatment plant operations. 0 0 VVASTEVVATERPROCESSCONTROLTEC~C~ A person responsible for maintaining electronics and the process that monitors electronics, which ties into a computer/control screen. 0 0 VVASTEVVATER TREATMENT ADMINISTRATOR A person who handles documentation for the wastewater treatment plant superintendent, along with managing phone calls and scheduling. 134 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Student Copy Page 0 0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PlANT MECHANIC A person who keeps the pumps running in a wastewater treatment plan. 0 0 WASTEWATERTREATMENTPIANTOPERATOR A person who is responsible for monitoring the gate settings in a wastewater treatment plan. International Project WET 135 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 0 0 EQUIPMENT OPERATOR A person who is responsible for managing equipment in treatment operations; in this scene he is connecting the bar screen dumpster to a truck to haul to the landfill. 0 0 CUSTODIAN A person that keeps the wastewater treatment plant clean. 136 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page 0 0 LANDSCAPERS A person who maintains the wastewater treatment plant grounds. 0 0 TRUCK DRIVERS People who haul the wastewater treatment sludge to the landfill. International Project WET 137 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide ISStudent Copy Page 1 ver 1 ver Wastewater Treatment 138 International Project WET The U rban Watershed Educators Guide IS Student Copy Page Water Treatment Homes, Schools, Businesses International Project WET 139 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Place category cards on cones or chairs in River to River man-made or constructed water cycle. CATEGORY I: Careers involved in removing water from the source (river, lake or groundwater supply), and transferring it to a water treatment plant. CATEGORY II: Careers involved in operating drinking water treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to delivery to homes, schools, and businesses. CATEGORY III: Careers that provide service and support for the drinking water treatment plant operations. CATEGORYN: Careers involved in planning, constructing, and maintaining distribution systems that carrywater underground to homes. CATEGORYV: Careers involved in monitoring quantities ofwater used in homes and maintaining service lines to homes. CATEGORYVI: Careers responsible for transporting wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant and monitoring sanitary conditions. CATEGORYVII: Careers involved in operating wastewater treatment plants and ensuring water quality prior to its return to the source. CATEGORYVIII: Careers that provide service and support for the wastewater treatment plant operations. 140 International Project WET The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Piped on Water Summary Students learn about Atlanta's water and wastewater delivery system by building a model of their school community. Grade Level: Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Science, Language Arts, Art, Social Studies Duration: UO minutes Setting: Classroom Skills: Discussion, Analyzing, Interpreting, Applying, Evaluating, Presenting Charting the Course: Review information and diagrams on combined and separate sewers and do the activity Sewer System Soup prior to doing this activity. Study the maps indicating facilities and water source locations. Vocabulary: Chattahoochee River, city engineer, water reclamation, man-made water cycle Objectives Students will: ~ build a model of the delivery system for Atlanta's drinking water and wastewater systems as it relates to their community, including separated and combined sewers, combined sewer overflows, a tunnel for storage, and a water and wastewater treatment facility. ~ trace the water and wastewater system from the source to the users and back to the source. Assessments ~ Give the students a question from the post-test - 1 ~ Invite a class to listen to each team's presentation ofits model. Use the rubric attached to listen for an understanding of the man-made water cycle. Do they understand the sequence from the river, water treatment, homes, schools, businesses, wastewater treatment and back to the river? Do they know the differences between a combined and separated pipe delivery system? Did everyone contribute to the delivery system and did everyone present? Were they careful to supply everyone with water and was the pipe delivery system stable? (Rubric) Materials ~ maps of water treatment and wastewater treatment facilities ~ glue, stapler, construction paper, cardboard, markers, film canisters (tunnels) straws, scotch tape, toothpicks, markers, crayons, large square piece of paper or cardboard, and paper towel holders to cut for storage tanks ~ Get different colored straws, so students can show the difference between drinking water pipes and wastewater pipes Making Connections Students most likely know that water moves through pipes to get to their homes and schools but they may not realize the planning, effort, and engineering it takes to get water from the river to the drinking water treatment facility, to their schools, homes, and to the wastewater treatment facility before it goes back to the river. By developing an awareness of the man-made water cycle in the urban watershed, students will learn about the city planners and engineers who are responsible for planning and overseeing the delivery ofwater to homes, schools, and businesses and who make sure that the delivery system works and provides the public with clean, potable water. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 141 Georgia Project WET Supplement Background Adanta has a population greater than 400,000 and an urban metropolis of more than 4 million people. The Chattahoochee River is a relatively small watershed, but provides drinking water for one of the most densely populated areas in the country. (Upper Chattahoochee River Keeper - http://www.chattahooc~ee.org/Our river5.htm). The Chattahoochee River is under much pressure as a resource for Aclanta's water supply. Water is removed from the Chattahoochee River and is processed in one of three drinking water treatment plants- Hemphill, Chattahoochee, or the AdantaFulton County Drinking Water Treatment Facility (The former two plants supply about 75% ofAdanta's drinking water). Originating at the Chattahoochee River, the city's water travels over various surfaces before it reaches our homes, schools and businesses. It picks up many contaminants along the way, including bacteria and viruses, pesticides and herbicides, salts and metals, chemicals, oils, and litter. These pollutants must be removed from the water before it is safe to drink. Once the water is treated, it is transported through a system of storage tanks, pumps, and pipes to homes, schools, and businesses. In an effort to meet higher regulatory standards, Aclanta's four wastewater treatment facilities and the sixteen pump stations are undergoing major improvements at this time. There are four Water Reclamation (treatment) Centers in the Aclanta area. The Wastewater Reclamation (WRC) Centers are: RM Clayton WRC, (owned by Fulton County), Utoy Creek WRC, South River WRC and Intrenchment Creek WRC. The city's wastewater system however, is almost 100 years old. In addition, approximately 19 square miles ofAclanta, including downtown, is still served by a combined sewer pipe system. When the weather is dry, wastewater from homes, schools, and businesses travels through these sewers to wastewater treatment centers for treatment. Eventually, this treated wastewater is discharged into a waterway. When it rains, however, stormwater flows into the combined sewers too and travels to the wastewater reclamation (treatment) centers along with the wastewater from homes, schools, and businesses. In the past, to prevent the centers from flooding, the combined flow was redirected to a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) treatment facility. This facility treated the combined flows and then released the water into a river or stream. During heavy rains, the water flow sometimes exceeded the capacity of the CSO facility. When this happened, wastewater and stormwater could overflow into the river. Today the wastewater system will have large underground tunnels that will capture the water from the combined sewer overflows and hold it until it can be treated later at an enhanced CSO treatment facility. Mter completing a comprehensive assessment of the CSO discharge and its treatment facilities, Adanta initiated a major program to modernize its wastewater infrastructure system. Under a federal court order resulting from a lawsuit, the city now has until mid-2007 to bring all discharges from CSOs into compliance with federal and state water quality laws. As the result of a second court order, Adanta must also eliminate sewage overflow from the city's separated sewers (85% of the total system) by 2014. In Adanta there are more than 2,000 miles of sewers and 85% are separated. 15% are combined and that equals 330 miles. These combined pipes are concentrated in the central business district. In order to prevent additional violations and achieve these goals, Adanta has developed a plan that has been approved by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). The multi-billion dollar plan includes the separation of about 85 miles of the city's 330 miles of combined sewers. The plan entails constructing new sanitary or storm sewers so that wastewater and storm water can be conveyed in separate pipes. The wastewater will be piped to a wastewater treatment plant and then discharged into a nearby waterway. Each day Metro Aclanta's sewage plants release approximately 500 million gallons of treated wastewater into the Chattahoochee River. Stormwater will also be released into local streams or returned to the river. 142 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement -----------------------------------------'-~ - In addition to the combined sewer separation project, Atlanta's new plan includes the construction of two tunnels that will be used to capture and store the combined sewer overflows caused by heavy rainfall. Excavated from rock similar to that of Stone Mountain, the tunnels will hold the overflow until the rainfall ends. The water will be conveyed to an enhanced CSO treatment plant before being released to a local waterway. Once the results of the CSO Improvement Plan have been realized, all Georgians, and even those beyond the state's boundaries, will benefit. Atlanta and its downstream neighbors will have cleaner, safer water and an improved quality of life. Procedure WarmUp Take a large piece of paper or poster board and divide it in four sections and draw a picture of the school in the center of the board. Ask students to think about all the homes and businesses around the school that need water. Ask the students to name two or three homes or businesses in each quadrant of the map and draw them in and label them. Do this with each quadrant. Ask where the community will get its water. Then tell the students that they need to locate the river or waterway in relation to the school. Using the Atlanta Drinking Water Service Area map and the Wastewater Treatment Service Area map provided, locate the nearest intake for drinking water treatment and the nearest wastewater treatment facility. You can draw or stretch a piece of yarn beside the poster board to indicate where the river is. Water leaves the river and is piped to the drinking water treatment facility, then to the homes, schools, and businesses and finally goes to the wastewater treatment facility (reclamation center) and back to the river. Give students background on separate and combined sewers, and on the storage tunnels. Read the background and see the diagram of separate and combined sewers following the activity Sewer System Soup. Tell the students they are about to become city engineers and they have to figure out a piping or delivery system to get water from the river to the homes, schools and businesses and back to the river again. What kinds of things will they have to think about? (pumping stations, gravity, cost, pipe material etc.) Where is the river intake and outfall? Use the maps included in this activity to locate the river and treatment facilities. In general water moves under pressure to the water treatment plant (students will need to build pumps) and by gravity to the wastewater treatment plant. The Activity 1. Divide the students into four teams and assign each team a community section of the quadrant. Explain to the students that together all the teams will build one large model of the community surrounding the school. Each team will be responsible for building a representative model of their area. Two teams will build a combined pipe system and two teams will build a separated pipe system (See Sewer System Soup). Teams may need to go on a hike of the school campus to get their community area in mind before beginning the construction. 2. Give each team a piece of construction paper or cardboard the size of flip chart paper and give each team a section that represents a quadrant of the community. Students will need to put the school in the area it should be depending on what quadrant they have. If the team has the lower right quadrant, the school will be in the upper left corner. (Remember that the school is in the center of their community) The team will need to generally locate where the river is and where the nearest drinking water and wastewater treatment facility is in relation to their community. Students will construct the piping ofwater from the river to their section of the quadrant and back to the river. Encourage students to use constrUction paper to build a three dimensional diagram of their quadrant. Straws and toothpicks can be used to construct their pipe systems and film canisters make good storage tunnels or could be combined sewer overflow facilities. The school, river, and treatment facilities should be clearly labeled so that students can see where they are located during construction. 3. Ask the students to think about the community in the quadrant area around their school and draw a rough draft of the buildings. Have each team construct the buildings that were mentioned in the opening discussion. Each team should have some places to construct from the warm up discussion. There could be someone The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 143 Georgia Project WET Supplement working on streets that can be divided into residential vs. commercial, etc. The area does not need to be accurate, just representative of the community. For example, if a street has 20 houses on it, the group might build 5. It may be helpful to use corrugated or stiff board ifyou want to keep items glued and permanent. 4. Using the materials provided, have each team build and label the buildings in their area. Students can use construction paper to create houses and businesses, etc. Ask 1-2 representatives from each team to glue or tape the buildings to the designated areas on the cardboard. 5. There are large pipes that get water from the river to the drinking water treatment facility and sometimes a pump is necessary to get water from the river to the drinking water treatment facility. Water is stored prior to sending it on to homes, schools, and businesses and it will need to be pumped so students will need to build storage tanks and pumping stations. Then depending on whether the team is a separated or combined wastewater pipe system, they will need to build their wastewater pipe system with one pipe (combined) or two pipes (separated). Send students to the www. cleanwateradanta.org web site and go to environmental education and sanitary sewers. The site has a combined and separated sewer system simulated diagram and students can actually see these sewer systems in action. A combined pipe carries wastewater and stormwater and separated pipes carry wastewater in one pipe and stormwater in another pipe. Make sure students put storm drains in their community to capture all the stormwater after a rain. In a combined pipe the wastewater and stormwater travel in the same pipe to the wastewater treatment facility. When the wastewater treatment facility is at capacity, the excess water goes to the combined sewer overflow (CSO) treatment facility, then to the storage tunnel and finally to the enhanced CSO treatment facility. They will need a pumping station at the tunnel to get the water to the enhanced CSO treatment facility. Combined pipe teams will need to build a Combined Sewer Overflow facility (CSO) to take any overflow for treatment during heavy rain episodes. In the past stormwater and wastewater went to the CSO and sometimes in heavy rain, straight to the river. Today there are large underground storage tunnels in the system that are designed to take any water that can't be treated at the CSO. This water remains in the tunnel until a time in the future when that water can be treated. It is pumped on to the enhanced sewer overflow facility after the weather improves. Have students study the map that shows the location of the wastewater treatment plant nearest their community. If they are building combined pipes they will need to add CSOs, an underground storage tunnel, and another enhanced combined sewer overflow treatment plant. Separated pipe teams will need to build two separate pipe lines. They do not need the CSO, tunnel, or the enhanced CSO treatment facility. The wastewater pipes will leave homes, schools and businesses and go straight to the wastewater treatment facility. Storm drains in the community will deliver stormwater to underground pipes that take the stormwater to the river. 6. Mter all teams have completed their "piped" community, bring the 4 quadrant pieces back together. Are the pipes for each community beginning at the river? Are the pipes going to the drinking water treatment facility, then to the homes, schools and businesses? Do the wastewater pipes leave the homes, schools, and businesses and go to the wastewater treatment facility and back to the river? Can you tell the difference between the drinking water pipes and the wastewater pipes? Does the wastewater treatment plant have an outfall or place where the water is discharged back to the river? Do the combined pipe systems have just one pipe containing wastewater and stormwater going to wastewater treatment and do the separated pipe systems have two pipes going to the wastewater facility and the other going to the river from the homes, schools, and businesses? 7. Appoint several volunteers to "inspect" the model community. Are all the pipes laid correcdy? Are they all connected? Do they bring water from the water treatment facility to the homes, school, and businesses and eventually connect to the wastewater treatment facility and finally to the river? Should any of the pipes be connected to pipes from the other sections? Give the teams some time to work with the other teams 144 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement -----------------------------------------------'-~ - and see if they want to connect any piping to make the community system more efficient. If pipe repairs are needed how can they get to these pipes to fix them? Do students think there are people who have to check and repair pipes on the job everyday? Have them look at the people on the Career Cards in the Wet Work Shujjle activity who are checking pipes by video camera to find a leak in a pipe. The camera is being lifted down into the pipe and there is a person watching the video camera in the truck to find the leak or crack in the pipe. 8. When the model has been completed, ask the teams to brainstorm what occupations are needed to enable the scenario they have designed to take place. How does the water get from the waterway to the facility or to homes, schools and businesses? What jobs are necessary to make this happen? What kinds of things would a city engineer have to think about in order to move the water from the river and back to the river again in an urban man-made water cycle? (topography, type of soil and rock, gravity, development in place, expenses, materials needed, contractors to do the job). 9. Have your class invite other classes in to see your model community "Piped On"water. As the assessment have each team present their model to the visiting class and have them each explain the reasoning for their piping system. It would be great to invite an engineer to speak about pipes and the delivery system. Contact the Department ofWatershed Management at 404-330-6980. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 145 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Adanta Drinking Water Service Area Map -----,I f l -. -- 146 _..-...., -Taq"-' ,___ _ t... 'v\t'ater Oi! .Ars L(E!)GEWNaDtl!!: r Treatment Plants + - Wrter S&rvioe ~3 .,dire a Vlfater Sen.ice A"ea C J Oty Muntcpallt}l f - I County Boundary 0- 2 ' S UIIes The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Atlanta Wastewater Service Area Map ...... -- - - - - ...t r< IS Student Copy Page Cobb K a It> amy Creek (OWnedby F u Ito -------- -- r /"' L..t- 1 ~ } ... I c:-Jc------ 1!1 ceo,_ . [:}:-,~~z~ Hill The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 147 Georgia Project WET Supplement Piped on Water Rubric for Assessment Assessment 2: Invite the class to listen to each team's presentation of its model. Category 4 3 2 1 Participation Each student in the group actively contributed to the production of the model, and each had a role in the presentation. Students cooperated and the entire project was a group effort. One or more students had a minor role in the presentation or the production of the model, while others did the majority of the work. A few students worked on the model and a few presented the model, but none did both. One or more students did not participate in either the production of the model or the presentation of the model, or students did not cooperate on the task. Neatness The model was The model was slightly constructed neatly and messy 0 R inaccurate. accurately. The model was slightly messy AND inaccurate. The model was very messy and/or extremely inaccurate. Presentation Skills The group presented their model very effectively. All information was clear and accurate. The group presented their model well. Most information was clear and accurate. The group could have presented more information on the model OR the presenters were unclear about the information they were presenting. The presentation included very little information or the presenters did a poor job at communicating the information. Comprehension The students completely understand the sequence of the manmade water cycle. The students understand the sequence of the man-made water cycle for the most part. The students partially understand the sequence of the manmade water cycle. The students do not understand the sequence of the man-made water cycle. Comprehension The students fully comprehend the differences between separated and combined sewer systems. The students understand the differences between separated and combined sewer systems for the most part. The students partially understand the differences between separated and combined sewer systems. The students do not understand the differences between separated and combined sewer systems. 148 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Just Pipe Up! Summary Students will build a pipeline in a puzzle activity using tubes for pipes to make a delivery and collection system in an activity that mimics the journey water takes from river to river in the man-made water cycle. Grade Leftl: Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Science, Language Arts Duration: 40 minutes Setting: Indoors or Outdoors Skills: Sequencing, Organizing, Presenting, Interpreting Charting the Course: This activity is a good icebreaker for any discussion on water or wastewater treatment and is a good visual for the activity Wet Work ShufBe and Piped on Water. Vocabulary: clear well, infrastructure, primary treatment, pumping station, raw water, secondary treatment, sewer pipe, storage tank, water pipe, man-made water cycle, advanced treatment Objectives Students will: ~ Sequence the water supply and wastewater collection through infrastructure placement in an urban watershed through puzzle matches. Assessments ~ Give a complete set of infrastructure cards to students working in teams of three and four. Ask them to sequence the infrastructure for the man-made water cycle by ordering the cards from river to river. Remind them that they should begin and end with the river. Each team's list should be ordered like the table in #1 of the activity procedure. Use the Piping Up Chart as your answer key. Use the just Pipe Up song to help students prepare for the assessment. Materials .- Paper towel tubes of varied lengths correctly labeled ~ Markers - 2 colors ~ just Pipe Up Piping Chart for each team ~ Marbles or ball that is small enough to roll through the tubes ~ Pipes/tubes (1 pipe set= 13 tubes) ~ Stopwatch or watch with a second hand ~ 1 set of infrastructure placement cards per team ~ Infrastructure definitions for each student that matches the infrastructure stops on their tube Making Connections Students may be aware their water source is the river but they may not know that water must be pumped and stored at various locations as it flows through pipes to drinking water and wastewater treatment. They will get a sense of the infrastructure and processes in water delivery and wastewater collection. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 149 Georgia Project WET Supplement Background In Atlanta the Chattahoochee River is the source of 80% ofAtlanta's drinking water and is the lifeblood of the metropolitan area. There are three raw water intakes for drinking water at the Chattahoochee, Hemphill and the Atlanta-Fulton Drinking Water Treatment Plants. Mter drinking water treatment, water is pumped to homes, schools, and businesses and the wastewater flows mostly by gravity through sewer pipes to the wastewater treatment plant and back to the river. The Wastewater Treatment plants are R.M. Clayton, Utoy Creek, South River, and Intrenchment Creek Water Reclamation Facilities. In Atlanta there are over 2,000 miles of sewer lines. 85% are separated and the remaining 15% are combined sewer lines (after separation there will be 90% separated and 100Al combined). There are more than 300 miles of combined sewer lines and over 1,500 miles of separated lines in Atlanta that are concentrated in the central business district. A separate sewer line collects wastewater in one pipe and stormwater in another pipe. A combined sewer pipe carries both wastewater and stormwater in the same pipe. The Atlanta metropolitan area has grown dramatically over the past decade adding pressure to a very small watershed and river basin. The city has permits to withdraw 80 million gallons ofwater daily from the river. Water movement through the man-made (pipe) water cycle system depends on the land's topography. Sometimes water requires pumping and sometimes water in the sewer system can move by gravity. The term raw water in this activity refers to water from the river before drinking water treatment. Water is pumped from the river and goes to a rawwaterpumpingstation before arriving at the drinking water treatment plant. A raw water reservoir is a place where water is held or collected prior to treatment. Drinkingwatertreatment involves coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. (see the lesson "What is Your Standard" and "River to River" for more detail on these processes). Treated water for drinking is held in clear wells, and then goes to a pumping station prior to being transported to storage tanks, before it flows to homes, schools, and businesses. Wastewater is used water from homes, schools, and businesses, and travels in a wastewater collection system that includes wastewater sewer lines (pipes). Along the way it might encounter a pumping station before it flows to the wastewater treatment facility. The first stage of treatment at the wastewater treatment facility is primary treatment where most of the solids are screened out through the physical processes of screening, skimming, and settling. Sand, grit and gravel are small enough to move through the screens but are picked up at the next stage in the grit chamber. In the grit chamber the water slows down and the grit drops to the bottom. Grit is made up of small pieces of sand, gravel, and other hard material small enough to get through the first screening process. Next the water goes through the sedimentation process where suspended solids drift to the bottom of the tank. Grease and oil rise to the surface and are skimmed off. Sedimentation is the end of the primary process ofwastewater treatment. During secondary treatment, biological processes are used to clean the water. During the activated sludge process, wastewater and microorganisms are mixed in a tank where air is added. (aeration and agitation) The microorganisms in turn eat the organic pollutants in the water. A second round of sedimentation occurs followed by disinfection through the use of chlorine or ultra violet lights. Advanced treatment occurs when there is a higher degree of treatment through filtration. The water is filtered through sand and crushed stone to remove any small particles. When the filters become clogged with solids they are backwashed and then the collected solids are reprocessed in the plant. Procedure: WarmUp Divide students into teams and give each team a set of Infrastructure Placement Cards (See copy pages and cut out the infrastructure placement cards) to trace the flow ofwater (create a man-made water cycle) from the river to their homes and back to the river. Give each team 10 minutes to create the actual flow using the infrastructure 150 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ----------------------------------~ - placement cards. Ask each team to explain their design to the class. Ask them to describe what the water moves in and what is needed to keep it moving. Each team will present their design to the class. Discuss the topography ofland and the need at some point for pumping water and at other points for gravity to do the work. Generally, water is under pressure when it Il?Oves to drinking water treatment and is moving mosdy by gravity to wastewater treatment. Drinking water pipes are under different regulations than wastewater pipes and are completely different pipe systems. Allow a few minutes for each team to give their explanations of the pipe order they have created. Mter team explanations hand out the Piping Chart to each team and ask them to place their infrastructure cards on the correct answers on the Piping Chart. Students are now ready to build the actual pipe systems using the knowledge they now have about the drinking water and wastewater pipe systems. They will sequence the pipes in order by doing the just Pipe Up activity and connecting the pipes end to end. The Activity 1. Prior to the activity make sure that the tubes are color coded with drinking water tubes/pipes in blue marker for example and wastewater tubes/pipes in brown or black marker. Drinking water pipes/tubes are 1-8 and wastewater sewer pipes are tubes 9-14. Label the tubes/ pipes in the correct order (table below) repeating the last station so that each tube can make a match with the next infrastructure stop. If the first tube has river at one end and rawpumping station at the other end, then the next tube should be labeled raw pumping station and raw water reservoir. The next tube begins raw water reservoir and has water treatmentplant at the other end. Continue labeling tubes using the infrastructure names from Table 1 below. The names to be written on the tubes are as follows: River, Raw Pumping Station, Raw Water Reservoir, WaterTreatment Plant, Clear Wells, Pumping Station, Storage Tanks, Homes and Schools and Businesses, Wastewater Pump Station, WastewaterTreatment Plant, PrimaryWastewater Treatment, SecondaryWastewaterTreatment,Advanced WastewaterTreatment, River. Students from A.D. Williams Elementary pilot the activityjust Pipe Up. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 151 Georgia Project WET Supplement Table 1: Below is a table of how each tube should be labeled and ordered Tube 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Be.;nninK Half ofTube Last Half ofTube n . - Water Pipes Color them BLUE River Raw Pumping Station Raw Pumping Station Raw Water Reservoir Raw Water Reservoir Water Treatment Plant Water Treatment Plant Clear Wells Clear Wells Pumping Station Pumping Station Storage Tanks Storage Tanks Homes, Schools, and Businesses Homes, Schools, and Businesses Wastewater Pump Station Wastewater Collection Pipes Color them BROWN Wastewater Pump Station Wastewater Treatment Plant Wastewater Treatment Plant Primary Wastewater Treatment Primary Wastewater Treatment Secondary Wastewater Treatment Secondary Wastewater Treatment Advanced Wastewater Treatment Advanced Wastewater Treatment River 2. Ask students and parents to recycle their paper towel and tissue holders and collect enough to make two pipelines, or 26 tubes. Use different colored markers to indicate drinking water delivery pipes (1-8) and wastewater collection pipes (8-13). 3. Hand out the tubes randomly (one tube per student) and ifyou have more than 13 students you will need 2 sets of pipes or tubes. If you have a class of 26 students for example, you will need 2 sets of pipeline puzzles. 4. Ask students to find their match and make a pipeline. Keep a stopwatch nearby and time the number of minutes it takes for them to construct the pipeline man made water cycle. Tell them there are many community members who need to get their water and are quite anxious for this project to be completed. 5. When everyone has made a match, note the number of minutes it took. Then ask students to read their infrastructure definition (see infrastructure definition copy page) to the class beginning at the River and discuss what happens at their section of man-made water cycle. If they have the tube that says Clear Wells and Pumping Station discuss what a Clear Well is and why a Pumping Station might be needed at that point in the man-made water cycle. 6. Tell the students that you are going to see what kind of condition the water delivery and collection system is in and that you will be putting water through the system (a marble or two) and everyone will have a chance to see if the water can pass from pipe to pipe. At this point the teacher puts a marble or two in the man-made water cycle to see if the marble can pass all the way to the end of the pipeline system. If the marble falls through it opens discussion about pipes that crack or break and the need for people in careers that will keep pipes, stations, and the delivery and collection system in good repair. If there is a break, discuss where it is and how that break could affect the health of people and animals. Students may have to use gravity to get the marble through the pipe. They may need to push it through the tube. (pumping station) 7. Collect the pipe puzzles and do the activity a second time. See ifstudents can build their man-made water system quicker now that they are more knowledgeable about the man-made water cycle and the infrastructure placement. 8. Time students with the stopwatch. They should be able to build their pipeline with more efficiency and knowledge this time because they are experienced. 152 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement -----------------------------------------<-'~ - WrapUp Leave one pipeline connected and in view for all the teams to see. Now have each team compare their original plan or design to the actual pipeline and its infrastructure placements. Ask each team to correct their infrastructure placement cards and share what they had correct and what was incorrect. Then remove the pipeline and have the team try and order the cards using the Infrastructure Placement Cards. Sing the just Pipe Up song and let the students use the song to prepare for the assessment. Works Cited Information from the City ofAtlanta Department ofWatershed Management, www.cleanwateratlanta.org Water Education Federation, Preserving and Enhancing the Global Water Environment, www.weforg A.D. Williams Elementary students build a wastewater collection system in the activity just Pipe Up. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 153 Georgia Project WET Supplement Infrastructure Definitions Provide these definitions to students to read when they have completed the pipe puzzle. River - the Chattahoochee river is the source of most of Adanta's drinking water Raw Water Reservoir - a place where raw water is held before drinking water treatment WaterTreatment Plant- drinking water treatment is primarily a chemical treatment. Water goes through coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection Advanced Wastewater Treatment- a higher degree of treatment through filtration. Water is moved through layers of sand and crushed stone to remove any remaining small material or pollutants Pumping Station - a place where water is put under pressure and pumped to a storage tank before delivery to homes, schools, and businesses River - the treated wastewater is returned to the Chattahoochee River clean so that the water is safe for aquatic animals and downstream water users Storage Tanks - a storage area for treated water prior to delivery to homes, schools, and businesses Raw Water Pumping Station - a place where raw water (river water before treatment) is pumped to the raw water reservoir Clear Wells - a place where water is held after drinking water treatment Homes, Schools, Businesses - water users who create wastewater Wastewater Pump Station - a place where wastewater is pumped to the wastewater treatment facility Wastewater Treatment Plant- a wastewater treatment facility that cleans the water through physical and biological processes prior to return of the water to the river Primary Wastewater Treatment- physical process of screening where most of the solids are removed through skimming and settling Secondary Wastewater Treatment- biological processes in secondary treatment include the use of microorganisms that eat the pollutants after air is added to the treatment process 154 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Piping Up Chart Student Infrastructure Placement Cards and Teacher Answer Key 8 Student Copy Page RIVER RAW WATER PUMPING STATION RAW WATER RESERVOIR WATER TREATMENT PLANT CLEAR WELLS PUMPING STATION STORAGE TANKS HOMES, SCHOOLS, BUSINESSES WASTEWATER PUMP STATION WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT PRIMARY WASTEWATER TREATMENT SECONDARY WASTEWATER TREATMENT ADVANCED WASTEWATER TREATMENT RIVER The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 155 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Just Pipe It Up (Tune ofJingle Bells) Just pipe it up, pipe it up! (grab hands of person next to you) That's all you have to do, If you want a drink of water (drink a glass of water) And to wash your dishes too. (washing dishes) Just go to the river (walk in place) And put your pipe right in. (place a pipe in the water) Pump up that RAW WATER; (pumping motion) To the PUMPING STATION. (pumping motion) On to the RAW WATER RESERVOIR (hold arms out in round position) To water treatment it goes, On to the Clear Wells and Pump (pumping motion) Then STORE it before it flows. (hold arms out in round position) To our HOMES and our SCHOOLS (house sign and book sign) And all our BUSINESSES too. Everyone gets clean water. Yippee Yip Yahoo! We brush our teeth, and the water we use (brush teeth) To the sewer system it goes, To the Wastewater Pump Station, (pumping motion) To Wastewater Treatment it flows. 156 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 18 Student Copy Page There's PRIMARY TREATMENT, SECONDARY TREATMENT (hold up finger, then 2 fingers) ADVANCED TREATMENT too. (hold up three fingers) Everyone likes clean water Including fish and beavers too! (make fish motion with hand and beaver tail slap) Now back to the RIVER (make waves) The water's all spanky clean, But it took a lot of work.so (wipe your brow) Help keep your river pristine! The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 157 Georgia Project WET Supplement Rrms ~plash Row, Row, Row Your Boat Students are honored each year at a State Award program at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The exhibit and teaching materials associated with the program are available from Georgia Project WET at no cost to the educators. In 2005 a student was selected to receive the Urban Watershed Award. It was given to a student who most creatively expressed concern for the urban watershed through their art or poetry. If you are interested in involving your students in this program please contact: Georgia Project WET!River of Words. Urban Watershed Award winner Maia Wells, 11th grade-Druid Hills High School, Teacher, Betsy Eppes The River of Words program is coordinated in Georgia by the Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) program and the Georgia Center for the Book, with support from the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia. It is sponsored by the Starbucks Coffee Company and The Starbucks Foundation. The program provides an opportunity for students to study their watershed and express what they have learned through their original art and poetry. River of Words is an international program that was created by writer Pamela Michael and former US Poet Laureate, Robert Hass. Students' art and poetry is judged at the national level and then returned to Georgia for the selection of State winners. The poetry and art travels in two separate exhibits statewide for a year following the program. Environmental Protection Division 4220 International Pk:y. STE 101 Atlanta, GA. 30354 404-675-1638 or 404-675-1762 Visit the International Program web site www.riverofVvords.org 158 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement What Is Your Standard? Summary Students simulate Adanta's drinking water treatment processes in order to better understand the effort and cost involved in meeting water quality standards. Grade: Upper Elementary, Middle School Subject Areas: Science, Physical Education, Language Arts, Math Duration: 90 minutes warm up and field activity. 30 minutes classroom activity Setting: Outdoors (preferred) or large open space indoors Skills: Organizing, Analyzing, Interpreting, Comprehending, Synthesizing, Application Charting the Course: The Warm-Up Activity from the Project WET lesson Reaching Your Limits done prior to this lesson helps students understand parts per million. Review the drinking water quality report, Vocabulary: bacteria, chemical, Clean Water Act, coagulation, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb), additive, Safe Drinking Water Act, sedimentation, virus, water quality standard, ffitration,disinf~tion Objectives Students will: ~ demonstrate the process used to meet Atlanta's drinking water standards through a physical activity. ~ understand the relationship between water treatment and water quality standards. ~ understand that there is a relationship between clean water and what it costs to keep the water clean and safe for drinking. Assessments ~ Give the students questions from the post-test - 8, 9, 10, and 11. ~ Ask the students to write a story about what happened to them as "raw" water. What contaminants did they pick up? What additives did they pick up? Did the class meet the standard? How much did it cost the City to clean the water and where did the City get the money to do it? (Rubric) Materials ~ Copy of the Georgia Water Quality Report ~ Ziplock bags labeled C for contaminant or A for additive ~ 1 C bag labeled and 1 A bag labeled per student ~ Contaminant and Additive cards. It's best to laminate and color them. ~ Small containers (buckets, bowls, bags, recycled containers) to hold the contaminants and additives. Provide one container for each contaminant and additive ~ 1 student standards score card per person ~ 1 contaminant total class and 1 additive total class score card per player ~ 1 pencil or crayon for each student ~ Hula hoops/yarn or chalk to designate a circle around each contaminate and additive bucket or bag and make the contaminate circles different from the additive circles ~ !large process card for each process labeled coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. ~ 1 whisde for the Treatment Plant Operator ~ Clips to affix contaminant and additive labels to each bucket, bowl, bag etc. ~ 1 cup of"Chattahoochee River" water to begin the lesson (water should contain sediment, rocks, sand, leaves, and twigs) The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 159 Georgia Project WET Supplement Making Connections Students may be aware that clean water comes from the faucet but they may have no idea how that happens and who sets the standards for safety and quality. They may not have thought about the connection between clean water, health, and cost to the consumer that comes with drinking water treatment. Background Each day the Adanta Water System provides approximately 120 million gallons of treated drinking water to nearly 1 million residents in the Adanta metropolitan area. All the water processed is surface water that is pumped from the Chattahoochee River. The raw water intake for the Chattahoochee and Hemphill Water Treatment Plants is located on the Chattahoochee River, north ofPeachtree Creek. The Chattahoochee Plant receives the water directly from the river. The Hemphill Plant processes raw water that has been pumped from the river to a reservoir. These two plants supply about 75% of Adanta's drinking water. The remaining water is supplied by the Adanta-Fulton County Water Treatment Plant, which also processes water from the Chattahoochee River. This plant supplies treated (finished) water to the northeast area of the Adanta distribution system. Drinking water must meet or exceed all safety and quality standards set by the State of Georgia and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since 1970 the U .S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has had the major Federal responsibility for protecting the quality of the American environment and controlling the effects of pollution on public health. There are also laws that help protect citizens concerning water quality. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was amended and became a law that came to be known as the Clean Water Act in 1977. The Clean Water Act established the structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. It gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. The Clean Water Act also mandated requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under construction grants programs and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by nonpoint source pollution (pollution carried by runoff during heavy rains that ends up in storm drains and eventually our waterways where the source is not easily identifiable). Another law that protects our water quality in Georgia is the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which requires water systems to monitor for unregulated parameters in order to assist the EPA in determining where certain contaminants occur and whether additional regulations may be necessary. Annually, over 12,000 samples of untreated (raw) and treated (finished) water are collected and over 50,000 tests are conducted that screen for more than 150 potential contaminants. Water quality standards are set and contaminants are carefully monitored. Each contaminant has a standard or level at which in can be in the water without causing harm to human and aquatic health. The City ofAdanta Water System and the Adanta Regional Commission (ARC) have done a source water assessment itemizing potential sources of surface water pollution to the drinking water supply. The results can be found at: www.adantaregional.com/swap/ As Atlanta's stormwater travels over various surfaces it picks up contaminants along the way. These contaminants include: bacteria and viruses, pesticides and herbicides from agriculture and lawn care, stormwater runoff that carries many types of nonpoint source pollution, salts and metals from industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, sediment from erosion and development, organic chemicals from urban runoff, septic tank pollutants, and radioactive waste from oil/gas production and mining. To remove contaminants from the water, the raw river water enters the water treatment plant pipe. Control room operators add lime for pH control, potassium permanganate for disinfection, and powdered carbon 160 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ----------------------~'~- for taste and odor control. Then the alum and other chemicals are added to the water causing coagulation to occur. Tiny sticky particles form that are called "floc" and the "floc" attracts other particles. The "floc" finally gets heavy and settles to the bottom during sedimentation. The clear water moves to the filtration process where water passes through filters that help to remove even smaller particles. The next step is disinfection where a small amount ofchlorine is added to kill any remaining bacteria or microorganisms, phosphate to prevent any corrosion contamination, and fluoride to prevent tooth decay. Water is then placed in a closed tank or reservoir and sent on through the water delivery system that takes water to homes, schools, and businesses in the community. Procedure: WarmUp Begin by asking students if they have standards they set for themselves. Write their answers on a board. Then explain that there are also standards for water quality that are set by laws and by the State of Georgia. Consider using the warm up activity in the lesson &aching Your Limits from the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide. The warm up activity gives students a visual ofwhat parts per million might look like. Since removing all the pollutants is economically impractical, explain that the government sets standards to define how much of each pollutant is allowable in the water while remaining at safe levels for human health. Most of these standards are set in parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb). Hold up the glass of Chattahoochee River water and ask students if they would like to drink it. Ask them why they wouldn't like to drink it. Tell the students that it is easy to say no when you see the sediment, rocks, wood, litter, debris etc. but you also want to be cautious of possible contaminants and bacteria that cannot be seen. Therefore water treatment is needed. You can ask students what has to be done to the Chattahoochee River water prior to becoming the drinking water that comes from their faucets. The Activity (Field) 1. Tell students they are going to do an activity that simulates the effort required to clean Adanta's water for drinking and meeting water quality standards. Ask students to brainstorm possible contaminants they might find in raw water prior to water treatment. Tell them they are going to be raw water from the river and they are going to go through water treatment. They will be trying to get rid of their contaminants and they are going to be picking up the additives. 2. Use the contaminant/additive copy pages and copy enough contaminants so that each student will have at least 14 contaminants in their zip lock contaminant bags and at least one additive each to be picked up in the additive areas. Students will need to make 21 stops if they are to get contaminants cleaned and get the additives needed. Give each water student a zip lock bag that has the contaminants (14) in it. Ask students to find a contaminant in their bag and read it to the class. Ask the class where the contaminant might come from. You can have students do research on the contaminants by going to http://www.epa.gov/safewater/hfacts.html Do this until you have covered the contaminants. The water students will also have a zip lock bag that has nothing in it. This is the additive bag and will be used to gather all the additives, one card for each additive. Use a hula-hoop to start the action. Have water students begin play by moving through the hula-hoop that has been placed vertically at the beginning of the field area to represent a pipe coming into the water treatment plant carrying raw water from the river. Students will enter the field area one at a time while the plant manager holds the hula-hoop in a vertical position. 3. Designate a field area for the water treatment facility and place cones around the perimeter of the water treatment/field area. Make the field area large enough to accommodate the 14 contaminant containers and the 7 additive containers and enough space for students to move around freely, the larger the space, the more difficult the challenge to clean the water. Place 14 buckets/bags in the center of the field randomly that have a different contaminant label on each container. (See field diagram). Place the hula-hoops or yarn around the designated contaminant or additive buckets in the field. Make the additive area look different from the contaminant area. Use different colored hoops or yarn to help students distinguish between contaminants and additives. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 161 Georgia Project WET Supplement 4. Set up 4 additives near the beginning of the water treatment facility/field area placed randomly and labeled, carbon, lime, potassium, and alum and 3 near the end of the treatment process to represent the additives in the disinfection area. Label each of these three additives, fluoride, chlorine, and phosphate. Each hoop area container has its own label. Place a container or bag in each hula-hoop to hold the additives that each student must get in their travels or just put the additive cards on the ground ifit is not windy. There should be at least one additive card for each student in the container/hoop area. Students will pick up one additive from each area and add it to their additive bag during treatment. 5. Select a Water Treatment Manager. The remaining students in the class will represent raw water in the field activity and the water treatment budget in the class portion of the activity. The Water Treatment Manager is in charge ofthe process moves. The Water Treatment Manager begins by having everyone enter the field through a hula hoop to represent water moving through a pipe from the river. Water students will also leave the field through a hula hoop at the end of the treatment process for distribution to homes, schools and businesses. The Treatment Manager will collect all the contaminant score cards after the water students have filled them out. Managers are held accountable for standards and for any fines. 6. Select a time keeper (this can be done by the teacher or the plant manager) and you can give the water students 3-5 minutes to move through the treatment plant. However ifit is too easy, you can reduce the time factor or make the field area larger. To provide more safety you can have the students walk through the water treatment facility. 7. Students are given these instruction~: "You are now "raw" water moving through water treatment and you will need to get rid of the contaminants in your bag ifyou can in the next few minutes. You will walk/run to the buckets and drop in the contaminant that is labeled for that bucket. Fecal Coliform goes in the Fecal Coliform bucket and Oil goes in the Oil bucket for example. You will also notice that you have to get some things in your journey. These are additives that the treatment plant puts in the water to disinfect, or to protect your teeth or to make the water clump together for example. The additives are in the containers in the hula-hoops. There are 7 additives, 4 up near the front of the treatment process (Pre-Treatment) that include: lime, alum, potassium, and carbon, and three before water leaves the treatment plant (Post Treatment) as "finished" water. Water students will need to get one of each of these additives and put it in their additive bag: alum, lime, potassium, carbon, chlorine, phosphate, fluoride (7 additive areas in the field). At the same time you are moving, you will go through the treatment process. The Water Treatment Manager will blow a whisde and say "coagulation". That means that something is added to the water to create a clumping ofparticles that is called "floc". Students will need to find 2 partners and walk in hand to the next stations. Then the water treatment manager will blow a whisde and will say"sedimentation." Students will sit down and count to 10, which represents the settling of particles on the bottom. (Students are no longer holding hands in groups when they sit down) Then at some point in the process the water treatment manager will blow the whisde and say "filtration." Students will need to circle at least 3 other students to represent filtration of the water. Finally the water treatment manager will blow the whisde and say "disinfection." All raw water students must go to the 3 hula hoops at the end of the field and gather phosphate, chlorine, and fluoride before going to storage tanks and then to homes, schools, and businesses. If students have released contaminants and have all their additives they can pass through the pipe (hula hoop) at the end of the treatment plant (field) area. The timekeeper calls time. 8. At the end of the time period each finished water student will count the contaminants in their bag and record (check them) them on the contaminant score card. They will also record the additives they do not have. If any additives are missing, put an X on those that are missing. Iftime permits, students can do a second round of treatment. All water students will need to put the additives back in the hula-hoop areas and get their 14 contaminants back in their contaminant bucket/ bag. After the second round, Water Treatment Plant Managers will collect all the score cards to compile the data and see if they have met standards. 162 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------------------------------~ - The Activity (Classroom) 8. The teacher will tell the class that they are now all part of the water treatment facility and have a budget for the year. The water treatment facility budget is $10,000 for the year. Each person in the class will work with the teacher to add up the fine for any standards not met. Ask the students to look at their contaminant and additive score cards. The teacher will remind students that water treatment must meet water quality standards set by the State and by EPA. The teacher will ask the class to look at their score cards and raise their hand if they had oil left as a contaminant not cleaned and record the total number on the board and continue to put the class totals down for each contaminant. Note on the contaminant score card that each contaminant has a standard and it will say 20 ppm or 10 ppm for example. That means in this activity that the treatment plant cannot exceed more than 20 ppm of that contaminant or it will not be an acceptable standard and be considered unsafe and unhealthy for consumption and out of compliance with the law. Therefore the plant will be fined according to the amount listed for every number over 20. If Oil is listed at 12 ppm and the class had 10 Oils total, the treatment for oil met standards. However if the standard for oil is 10 ppm and the class totaled 15 ppm, the Oil is ( to-5 = 5) or 5 over the limit. The fine is $10.00 for each number over the standard. The treatment plant is fined 5 X $10.00 = $50.00 just for oil. Ask the students to get out their Treatment Plant Worksheet. Work through the rest of the totals for each contaminant with the students. 10. If the class played 2 rounds, the second round of play will also have to be added to the first total. When the total fine is assessed then the treatment plant will determine if they can pay the fine within their budget. ($10,000 for the year) WrapUp Each standard has a number of parts per million that is acceptable. If they go over that number during treatment they will be fined by the State EPD (Environmental Protection Division-EPD) They will add up the money that must be paid if they are out of compliance and not able to clean the water. The Water Treatment Plant has no money in the budget to pay a fine so EPD will send the fine to the Mayor. The Mayor will go to the City, the Department ofWatershed Management, and ask for the funds . If the City cannot pay the fine, the Mayor and City Council will have to find another way to pay it, which could include a rate increase for citizens. Students can role-play using actors for the City and the Mayor, City Council, and residents. The students in their roles can decide how they will pay for the water treatment upgrades. The Mayor and City Council will have to make the final decision if no one else has a plan. 9. The worksheet will have the contaminant category total and the allowable standard. Does the contaminant total exceed the standard? Ifso, subtract the number over standard from the total. Then multiply that number times the amount ofmoney owed for each number over standard and you will have the total owed for that contaminant. The teacher can help students with the grand total owed by listing the amount of money owed for each contaminant and then totaling this amount. For every additive missed add another $10.00. Ifone person missed 4 additives then that person adds $40.00 to the total. Centennial Elementary 4th grade srudents pilot What is Your Standard? Activity (coagulation) The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 163 Georgia Project WET Supplement What is Your Standard Rubric for Assessment Assessment 2: Ask the students to write a story about what happened to them as "raw" water. What contaminants did they pick up? What additives did they pick up? Did the class meet the standard? How much did it cost the city to clean the water and where did the city get the money to do it? Category 4 3 2 1 Organization Information is very organized in a well constructed story; each paragraph has a clear introduction, explanation, and conclusion. Information is organized in a fairly well constructed story. Most paragraphs have an adequate introduction, explanation, and conclusion. The paragraphs contain related information, but the story is not well constructed. Introduction, explanation, and!or conclusion sentences are frequently missing. The information is disorganized. Paragraph structure is not clearand sentences are not typically related within the paragraphs. Comprehension Student is able to clearly demonstrate the process used to meet drinking water standards, including the roles of contaminants and additives. Student is able to demonstrate the process used to meet drinking water standards and the roles of contaminants and additives for the most part. Student is only partially successful in demonstrating the process used to meet drinking water standards 0 R only partially understands the roles of contaminants and additives. Student is unable to successfully demonstrate the process used to meet drinking water standards AND does not understand the roles of contaminants and additives. Comprehension Student completely understands the relationship between water treatment and water quality standards. Student mostly understands the relationship between water treatment and water quality standards. Student partially understands the relationship between water treatment and water quality standards. Student does not understand the relationship between water treatment and water quality standards. Comprehension Student clearly understands the economic costs of clean water. Student mostly understands the economic costs of clean water. Student partially understands the economic costs of clean water. Student does not understand the economic costs of clean water. 164 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ----------------------------------------------~-~ - - Field Diagram For What's Your Standard? Raw water students enter the field through a hula hoop/pipe. The pipe is the hula hoop in a vertical position where students enter the water treatment plant/field. Additive and Contaminant containers are put inside the hula hoop area or yarn in a circle or chalk circle. 0 Raw water students enter the field/water treatment facility. 4 Additives in area where students first enter treatment: (forward field placement) A Lime A Potassium Permanganate A Alum A Powdered Carbon Students pick up additives in this area Contaminants c c c c c c c c c c c c c c Place 14 contaminant containers in a random pattern throughout the field area and add a yarn or hula hoop to designate the area. Label the containers by clipping on the contaminant or additive card label on the bucket 3 Additives for disinfection area: A Phosphate A Chlorine A Fluoride 0 Students exit field through pipe (hula hoop) to leave water treatment area and go to clear wells, a pumping station, and a storage tank before delivery to homes, schools, and businesses: The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 165 Georgia Project WET Supplement ~ ~------------------------------------------- Additives For Water Treatment: Lime (pH control) Potassium Permanganate (disinfection) Powdered Carbon (taste and odor control) Alum____ (coagulation ofwater/clumping) Phosphate____(corrosion control) Chlorine_ _ _ _(disinfection) Flouride_____(tooth decay prevention) Atlanta Water Treatment FacilityToday 166 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Contaminant Field Cards Oil IS Student Copy Page Gas Virus Fluoride (contaminant) Barium Chlorine (contaminant) The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 167 Georgia Project WET Supplement Fertilizer Turbidity Pesticide Fecal Coliform Lead Copper 168 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Arsenic Additive Field Cards Potassium P. Cryptosporidium Lime Alum Phosphate The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 169 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Chlorine (additive) Fluoride (additive) Powdered Carbon . 170 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Student Standards Scorecard Contaminants: Put a check by the contaminants that are STILL IN your bag at the end of the activity. Oil Gas Fertilizer Pesticide Lead Copper Arsenic Fecal Coliform Cryptosporidium Viruses Turbidity Fluoride Chlorine Barium Additives: Put a check by the additives that are NOT IN your bag at the end of the activity. Lime Potassium Permanganate Powdered Carbon Alum Phosphate Chlorine Fluoride The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 171 Georgia Project WET Supplement ~ tj ContaminantTotal Class Scored VI Contaminant Class total for this contaminant Standard Is your class total more than the standard for this contaminant? (If your answer is "No", then Ifyou answered "Yes", then calculate: (class total)- (standard)= Multiply your calculated answer by $10 to get the amount you owe. Ifthe contaminant is marked Very toxic, multiply by $1000! a.c.-+. 11> :::J ..-+ (j 0 go to next contaminant) "0 '< Oil (chemical found in ""0 lOppm QJ water: Xylene) U:::l 11> Gas (chemical found in Oppm water: Dioxin) Fertilizer (chemical found ....... in water: Nitrate) ::I ~ ('1) :'":I' I>' o~ Pesticide (chemical found in water: Alachlor) :e:I. Lead ~ Copper ..9 . ('1) n Arsenic ~ ~...., Fecal Coliform Cryptosporidium lOppm 2ppb 15 ppb 1ppm 10 ppb 0 0 Very Toxic Contaminant! Very Toxic Contaminant! Very Toxic Contaminant! Viruses 0 Turbidity lNTU Fluoride 4ppm Chlorine 4ppm Barium 2ppm TOTAL amount OWED $ Remember that Chlorine and Fluoride can be BOTH contaminants AND additives! Standards are based on the EPA's National Drinking Water Regulations, which can be found at www.epa.gov/safewater/mcl.html IS Student Copy Page Additive Total Class Scorecard Additive Lime Number ofstudents that did NOT Multiply this number by $10 to get the use this additive amount you owe Potassium Permanganate Powdered Carbon Alum Phosphate Chlorine Fluoride TOTAL amount OWED $ Remember that Chlorine and Fluoride can be BOTH contaminants AND additives! Combined total of Contaminant and Additive costs=_ _ _ _ __ This is the fine owed by the Water Treatment Plant! Is there enough money in the Water Treatment Facility Budget to pay the fine? The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 173 Georgia Project WET Supplement River To River Grade Level: Upper Elementary and Middle School Subject Areas: Science, Health, Social Studies, Language Arts Duration: Preparation: 30 minutes Activity: 90 minutes Setting: Indoors or Outdoors Skills: Interpreting, Presenting, Applying, Organizing, Sequencing Charting the Course: l*t- Work Shuffle and Piped on Water done prior to this lesson provide background for students on the water delivery process. Vocabulary: aeration, effiuent, finished water, inorganic, microbial contaminant, organic, potable water, ultra-violet, suspended solids, biosolids, pH Summary Students will learn about water and wastewater processes through an 8 station interactive lab. Objective Students will: ~ Understand the processes of drinking water and wastewater treatment Assessments ~ Give the students questions from the post-test- 3, 12, 16, and 17. ~ Give students the diagram of the Man-Made Water Cycle without labels and ask them to label each station using numbers that correspond to process stations on the matching sheet. ~ Give the students the worksheet with all of the stations listed in order and ask them to write one word or sentence that summarizes what happens at that stage of the process. Then ask the students to write a paragraph or fiveparagraph essay that uses those words or sentences to explain the drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Materials ~ Clear plastic cups (at least 2 per station) ~ Small jars for holding chemicals. Larger containers for storage and wastewater ~ Two different types of screens (large and small that will cover the diameter of the cup), 2 sets for each process ~ Station identification cards ~ Sand, gravel, coffee filters , sticks, leaves, cereal, or another item that, when added, will imitate wastewater and river water ~ Large jar to hold wastewater from homes, businesses ~ Bug (microorganism) hats or glasses (You can make bug hats with a strip of construction paper cut to the circumference of the head. Wrap the construction paper around the head, and staple it adding two antennae made with two . other strips of construction paper and fasten the antennae to the head band). Dispensers for chemicals (film canisters labeled), measuring spoons ~ Flashlight for ultraviolet (UV) disinfection area or bottle labeled chlorine ~ Plastic spoons ~ Turkey baster for aeration 174 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ----------------------------------------~ ~ - Making Connections Students may realize that water is treated in some way prior to drinking it but they may not make a distinction between the two processes of drinking water treatment and wastewater treatment. They also may not realize that both of these processes do similar things and that they mimic the natural process in many ways. Background Water treatment, also referred to as drinking water treatment, and wastewater treatment are often thought to be one process. They do have similar components but they are actually different processes occurring at different stages in the man-made water cycle. Also see the lesson in Project WET (Sparkling Water) for additional information on water treatment. Water Treatment The sources of drinking water, both tap and bottled water, come from rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface ofland or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or human activity. Organic contaminants are composed ofhydrogen and carbon bonds and their derivatives are of plant or animal origin. They are made up of carbon molecules and are from naturally occurring living substances. Inorganic contaminants are composed of matter other than plant or animal such as salts and metals and can be naturally occurring or produced synthetically. Organic contaminants that can be present in source water before treatment include: microbial contaminants, such as viruses or bacteria, which might come from leaking sewer pipes, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife. Inorganic contaminants such as salts and metals, can be naturally occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, and mining. The use of pesticides and herbicides that come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, stormwater runoff, and residential uses can also be contaminants in the water. There are also organic chemical contaminants that result from petroleum production and industrial processes or can come from stormwater, gas stations, and septic systems. In the Atlanta urban watershed, water is pumped from the Chattahoochee River to the water treatment plant. Each day the City of Atlanta water system provides approximately 120 million gallons of treated drinking water to nearly 1 million residents in the metropolitan Atlanta area. All the water processed is surface water that is pumped from the Chattahoochee River. The raw water (water prior to treatment) intake (place where raw water is pumped from the river into the treatment plant) for the Chattahoochee and Hemphill Water Treatment Plants is located on the Chattahoochee River, north of Peachtree Creek. The Chattahoochee Plant receives water directly from the river. The Hemphill Plant processes raw water that has been pumped from the river to a reservoir. These two plants supply about 75% ofAtlanta's drinking water. The remaining water is supplied by the Atlanta-Fulton County Water Treatment Plant, which also processes water from the Chattahoochee River. Combined, these plants supply 245 million gallons of finished water daily. Systems the size ofAtlanta's must provide data to the State of Georgia from over 1,700 samples collected and analyzed. To ensure proper water quality, Atlanta's Bureau of Drinking Water, part of the Department ofWatershed Management, annually collects over 12,000 samples of untreated (raw) and treated water (finished) and conducts over 50,000 tests, screening for more than 150 potential contaminants. Every year Atlanta's water customers receive a report that lets them know ifAtlanta's water treatment plants have met all of the State water quality standards. This report is called the Consumer Confidential Report. Wastewater Treatment Wastewater is previously used water from a community. Most of the flow ofwastewater is 99.9 percent water by weight. The rest is dissolved material that is suspended by water. This suspended material is called suspended solids. On average, each person in the United States contributes approximately 150 gallons ofwater a day (that is two bathtubs full ofwater) to the wastewater stream. Used water from homes, schools, and businesses, The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 175 Georgia Project WET Supplement collects in a series of underground sewers. The wastewater moves through the sewers downhill by gravity to the treatment facility. Separated sewers carry only domestic and industrial sewage, while combined sewers carry wastewater and stormwater runoff. In some cases, special pumps are needed to force the wastewater uphill into the facility. Often the wastewater contains materials such as rocks, paper and sand, so these pumps have to handle many different conditions. There are four wastewater treatment plants that serve the Adanta area. They are: ~ R.M Clayton Water Reclamation Center ~ Utoy Creek Water Reclamation Center ~ South River Water Reclamation Center ~ Intrenchment Creek Water Reclamation Center Because they are so important to a city's operation, treatment plants have no holidays and operate 24 hours a day. To make sure wastewater is cleaned and meets requirements, a treatment facility has to be operated and managed skillfully. Wastewater treatment facility managers have to be skilled in many areas of operation. They are in charge of budgeting, personnel, communications, and need to have supervisory skills, know government procedures, mechanics, chemistry, hydraulics, biology and computer operation. Water is a finite resource and because we have all that we will ever get on our planet, it must be protected. The wastewater treatment facility is critical in keeping our water clean while it replicates the natural water cycle in the way wastewater is processed, cleaning it like rain that percolates through the ground filtering out contaminants before returning it to the river or underground aquifers. The function ofwastewater treatment is to speed up the natural process ofwater purification by creating more controlled conditions where bacteria and other organisms consume the waste just like they do in a natural process. Wastewater treatment is also much more complicated than water treatment. In Adanta, plants treat anywhere from 50 -100 million gallons ofwater daily (mgd). There are three kinds of treatment in wastewater treatment: physical, chemical, and biological. Treatment is also referred to as primary, secondary, and tertiary or advanced treatment. During primary treatment suspended solids are removed by screening, floating or setding and these are physical processes. In secondary treatment, contaminants are biologically removed that are dissolved in the wastewater and chemicals are added. Advanced treatment involves filtering the water through sand and gravel to remove smaller particles that still remain in the water and this is a physical treatment. Procedure WarmUp Introduce your students to the water and wastewater treatment cycles by visiting Drip and Drop on the Adanta Department ofWatershed Management's web site. (www.cleanwateradanta.org/corner) Click on the Man-Made Water Cycle featuring Drip and Drop. This is a cartoon visual of the process steps in water and wastewater treatment. Note the Man-Made Water Cycle student copy page in the lesson. The Activity- Sequencing the Process Steps 1. Divide students into four or five teams. Make a set of station identification process cards and display them to the team in a random order. Each team will have 15 minutes to decide the order of processes and to write down the order as a team on the student copy page. Each team will select a recorder and spokesperson and will present their process station sequence rationale to the class during a team presentation. You may want to do this in two sessions using the Water Treatment Station Identification Cards first and later doing the Wastewater Treatment Station Identification Cards. 2. Using the River to River station identification process cards, have student teams determine the sequence of process operations. Each card represents a different operation in the constructed or man-made water cycle. The card has a diagram, an actual photo ofthe process at an Adanta treatment facility, and a briefdescription of the process. Teams will position the process cards in any order making a line from River to River. The station cards are to be folded in the center and placed in a tent position. 176 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement i 4 -------------------------------------~ 3. After students have completed team sequencing presentations, hand out copies of the Man-Made Water Cycle diagram and let each team discover how close they came to sequencing the treatment processes correcdy. 4. Set up the River to River simulation lab activity by following the procedure steps in the lesson for the process cards' order. Station order can also be matched by looking at the graphics from the Man-Made Water Cycle diagram. It may be a good idea to do the sequence one day and the simulation the next class day. The Activity- Simulating ofthe Process Steps Activity Set Up: Set up the classroom as a lab with 18 stations in a sequenced order, beginning with the drinking water intake. Depending on the number of students in your class assign one or two students to each station. Give students time to become familiar with their station process by reading the description and looking at the graphic and actual photograph of the process equipment. Have students prepare their station by making sure they have all necessary materials and by reading the step by step procedures given on the station identification cards. Mter students have prepared their presentation, the River to River lab will begin. It is important to have lab stations in close proximity to one another so that everyone can see what is being done at each station during presentations. Students need to present the process and demonstrate the process at their treatment station to the class and pass the processed water to the next station until the water is returned to the river. One station presents at a time and sends their treated water to the next sequential station. Assign an area in the room for the landfill and place an empty cup/ container there. 1. River Intake and Pumping Station -Three raw water intake conduits receive water from the river where it flows by gravity into underground wells before entering the pumping station. Electric pumps pump water to the water treatment plant raw water storage areas and then to the chemical house where the water treatment begins. Set up a jar of river water. Mix sediment, sand, sticks, leaves, seeds, bark and other debris in the water jar representative of river water. Students at this station will pour water from the river jar into a clear cup in a lower position to simulate water flowing by gravity to the raw water pumping station. Students will do a pumping motion for ten counts to represent the raw water pumping station that pumps water to the treatment facility. Students will screen the water by placing a strainer/screen over an empty cup and pouring the river water through the screen into the empty cup to represent the screening out oflarger debris at this stage. Pour the water through larger to smaller screens. Take any remaining debris on the screen to the landfill. Screening should be done with at least two screen sizes. As water moves through treatment, the processes are physical, chemical or biological. Most of the processes in water treatment are physical and chemical. This is a physical treatment. The screened cup is delivered to the coagulation station. (Materials: river water cup, 3 clear cups, sand, sticks, bark, pebbles, leaves, sediment, large and small screening tools (large and small screens that cover the cups) 2. Coagulation Station - Label 4 small jars with one additive each: phosphate, alum, lime, potassium permanganate, and carbon and put water in all jars except the alum jar. Students at this station will take the plastic cup with the river water that has been screened and do a chemical application. Students will pretend to add the chemicals by adding 1 teaspoon water from each additive jar to the river cup. Control room operators will add lime for stabilizing the pH and buffering the water. Add 1 teaspoon from the lime jar to the river water cup. Add 1 teaspoon from the potassium permanganate jar to the river water cup to kill the bacteria and virus in the water. Add 1 teaspoon from the powdered carbon jar to help the water taste and smell good. Then actually add lh teaspoon alum powder, which helps particles stick together and form larger particles called "floc." Stir it through the water. Wait several minutes for particles to "floc" together. You may only see the first signs of it but it will make the point. The cup is passed to the sedimentation station (Materials: 4 labeled chemical dispensers and alum that you can get at most grocery stores in the baking section, plastic spoon, measuring spoons). The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 177 Georgia Project WET Supplement 3. Sedimentation Station- The water and "floc" particles flow into a sedimentation basin. The "floc" settles to the bottom and is then removed from the water. Students will take the water in the cup where the "floc" is attracting dirt particles and after a couple minutes, slowly pour off the water in the top of the cup into an empty cup. The heavy particles that have settled to the bottom are taken to the landfill. The clear water on the top is now moved to filtration (Materials: 1 clear plastic cup). 4. (Sand) Filtration Station- Students at this station will need to punch a hole in the bottom of a cup so that water will percolate through the cup of sand and gravel into another clear plastic cup. Place a coffee filter cut to fit on the bottom of the cup to keep the sand from filtering through into the empty cup. Make alternating layers of gravel and sand in a cup with the smallest gravel on the bottom. Hold an empty cup underneath the sand and gravel cup. Pour the water from the sedimentation cup into the gravel and sand filter cup. The cleaner water will exit into the empty cup below. If time allows, pour this water through the second filter if you have made a second sand and gravel cup. As the water passes through these filters smaller particles will be removed and trapped, imitating what happens in the natural cycle. The cup then goes to the . disinfection station (Materials: 2 clear cups, one filled with alternating layers of sand and gravel). 5. Disinfection Station- Labe13 cups or jars with fluoride, chlorine, and phosphate for demonstration purposes. At this station, students will add more chemicals. Substitute water for the chemicals with the exception of chlorine. Chlorine is added for disinfection and you may add several drops of Clorox (if it is teacher approved and supervised). This should be done with gloves and protective glasses if possible. Fluoride is added to protect teeth from decay, and phosphate is added for corrosion control. This helps keep pipes from leaving metals and things that might be dangerous to human health in the water. Students will take the cup ofwater after chemicals are added to the storage station and pour their cup into a larger container that will hold all the water prior to sending it to homes, schools, and businesses. (Materials: 3 chemical dispensers labeled chlorine, fluoride, and phosphate, pipette to add drops of Clorox, measuring spoon or plastic spoon, water for substituted chemicals, actual drops of Clorox can be used for chlorine using the safety precautions) 6. Clear Water Storage Station- This station represents a closed tank reservoir that holds the water and sends it through pipes to homes, schools, and businesses. Potable or finished water (water that has been treated) is stored in underground clearwells that are safe, contained places for clean water. A larger container will need to be filled halfway with water and it will represent water that has been previously stored. Students will pour the passed station cup water into the larger storage container. Students will pour 1/3 cup water from the storage container into an empty cup and take the cup to the home station and leave it. Students will then pour about 1/3 cup water from the storage container into an empty cup and take the cup to the school and leave it. Students will pour 1/3 cup water from the storage container into an empty cup and take the cup to the businesses and leave it. They will do a pumping motion 10 times to represent the pumping ofwater through the system at this point. This represents the flow ofwater through the pipes from the storage station to the homes, schools, and businesses. There are over 2,000 miles of pipe in the Atlanta system. These storage facilities help maintain adequate pressures throughout the entire system and meet the need for fire protection. Make sure students notice how clean the water is as it leaves drinking water treatment. (Materials: 3 clear cups will be needed at this station along with a larger storage container filled to the half mark with water.) 7. Homes, Schools, Businesses/Distribution and Use- Three students will represent homes, schools and businesses and will receive the three cups ofwater from the Clear Water Storage Station. At this station, students will pour cereal, toothpaste water, rice, beans, tissue pieces, vegetable oil, and anything else gathered to represent household, school, and business waste, into the passed cups ofwater. People use water to wash dishes, to shower, to flush toilets, to wash clothes and on average 178 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement --------------------------------------------~-~~ - - use about SG-150 gallons ofwater daily. They will take their cups to Wastewater Collection to represent wastewater traveling by pipe to water reclamation plants or wastewater treatment (Materials: cereal, toothpaste, rice, beans, small pieces of tissue, salad oil, plastic spoon to stir the mixture). 8. Homes, Schools, Businesses/ Wastewater Collection- Miles of sewers collect the wastewater and with the help of pumping stations, deliver it to the wastewater treatment plant. The R.M. Clayton Plant, for example, has three levels of purification - primary, secondary and advanced. The plant can handle 240 million gallons ofwater daily but normally handles about 100 million gallons a day. The cups of water from homes, schools, and businesses are poured into a larger container with a lid, which represents wastewater arriving at the wastewater treatment plant. At this station simply shake the wastewater in the large container and pour wastewater into an empty cup to represent the water moving toward the bar screen building. The student at this station will pour the water from the large container into the empty cup labeled Headworks (place where wastewater treatment begins) and deliver it to the Bar Screen Station. (Materials: Large container with lid for wastewater and a clear plastic cup) 9. Bar Screen Station and Bar Screen DumpsterLabell cup the Bar Screen Dumpster. Labell cup the Landfill. At this station large screens separate out large debris such as rags, bottles, soccer balls, and sticks from the water. This is a physical process. Students at this station will place the large screen over an empty cup and pour the wastewater from the passed cup labeled Headworks through the screen to separate out the large debris. Take the debris left on the screen to the bar screen dumpster. From there the cup or debris is taken to the landfill. Take the cup, cleared oflarge debris, to the Grit Chamber Station. (Materials: 2 clear plastic cups, llabeled the bar screen dumpster, large screen). 10. Grit Chamber Station- At this station, smaller debris and particles are removed through a process that slows the water. In the actual process the heavier inorganic particles settle to the bottom while the lighter organic solids remain suspended. Place a funnel in the empty cup and very slowly pour the screened water into the funnel. Pour water from the top of the cup off into another cup leaving any debris in the bottom. Take any debris and particles from the bottom of the poured cup to the landfill. Take the cup with debris that has been removed to the Drum Screen Station (Materials: funnel and 2 clear cups). 11. Drum Screen Station- This station contains a wheel that holds debris and drops it into a trough as it turns. This finer screening eliminates smaller debris. Gravity holds the solids and the wheel turns while particles fall into troughs. These particles are then taken to the landfill. Students can imitate this by placing a fine screen across the top of the cup and pouring the water through it into another cup. This removes smaller debris, plastics, and smaller particles. The debris in the screen is put in a cup and sent to the landfill. The water that has been poured through the screen into another cup is taken to the primary sedimentation tank (Materials: small screen like a tea strainer, 1 clear plastic cup for debris, and 1 clear plastic cup for screened water). 12. Primary Sedimentation Tank (Clarifier)- During the primary sedimentation process, the heavier particles settle to the bottom of the tank. Water is held here for several hours to allow settling out of heavier particles. 70% of all the solids are removed at this point. Settled particles, or primary sludge go to a centrifuge to be thickened and then to a digester (special tank where it is disinfected and dewatered). The sludge, or biosolids, is landfilled, recycled by burning for fuel, used as fertilizer, or soil conditioner. Lighter materials such as oil and grease, float to the top and are skimmed from the surface. Students will let the particles settle further and use a spoon to skim any oil and grease from the top and pour in another cup. They will pour offwater in the top of the cup into an empty cup allowing any particles that have settled to remain in the bottom. Take the settled particles to the digester (designate a place for the digester) and the water to the aeration basin. (Materials: 2 clear cups, spoon, construction paper, scissors, stapler or tape). The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 179 Georgia Project WET Supplement 13. Aeration Basin- Note: Microorganisms gather at the Digester. (3 persons needed at this station: 2 microorganisms and 1 to do the process) The Aeration Basin is a tank that mixes air with water to help microorganisms consume (eat) harmful materials. An aeration station student goes to the digester and brings the microorganisms to the Aeration Basin. Students can make bug hats with construction paper by cutting a band from construction paper to fit their head, and making two antennae. They become the microorganisms who are hungry and they pretend to be eating frantically. Microorganisms sing the song (See song on process card). Squeeze air into the Aeration Basin using the turkey baster. This tank also contains chemicals that cause settling to occur. During this chemical process the primary sludge is settled and the phosphorus is removed. Pretend to add chemicals to the water. This is a biological and chemical process and is secondary treatment. The microorganisms move to the final clarifier with the cup. Pass the cup to the Final Clarifier (Materials: turkey baster, bug hat/s, chemical dispenser, construction paper, scissors, tape or stapler). 14. Final Clarifier- In this secondary process the microorganisms bond to the pollutants; flocculation occurs followed by settling. Clumps form with solids settling to the bottom. These clarifier tanks have large arms that rotate slowly so that the sludge and scum settle to the bottom. The arms are 150 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep. Students stir slowly and then let the sedimentation occur. They will wait a couple minutes and pour the water off the top into another cup and take that cup to the filtration station. Someone at this station will take a younger microorganism back to the Aeration Basin to continue eating contaminants and take the other older bugs back to the digester (Materials: 1 cup, 1 spoon, and the microorganisms from the last station). 15. Effluent Filters- This process removes any final particles and sedimentation left after secondary sedimentation treatment. This step imitates the natural process by moving water through filters of rock and sand that scrub the water as it seeps through crushed stones covered with microorganisms that facilitate degradation of the sludge. Pumps pull water through stone filters that contain progressively smaller rocks finally going through sand filters. The stones scour and the backwash pump blows water around until it goes back to the system. Students at this station will construct 2 cups as filters by alternating layers of rock and sand making the rock layer at the bottom smaller. They will need to put a hole in the cups and line the bottom with a piece of coffee filter to keep the sand in the cup. Students will filter the cup ofwater from the clarifier and pour through both cups into another cup. If time is short use only one filter cup (Materials: 4 clear cups, 2 sand and gravel cups, coffee filter). 16. Ultra-violet (UV) Disinfection- During this process ultraviolet light becomes a disinfection system. The ultra-violet light kills the microorganisms that remain in the water that can cause disease. In some treatment plants chlorine is used at this stage for disinfection. Students will take a flashlight and shine light on the water for 30 seconds to imitate the UV disinfection process (Materials: flashlight). 17. Post Aeration- Post Aeration ensures an adequate amount of dissolved oxygen in the effiuent or treated water prior to release to the river. Students at this station will take a second cup and pour the treated water into a lower cup from a foot above the other cup to mimic the process of aeration. In nature water passes over rocks called riffies in the stream providing oxygen to the water. As the water is poured from one cup higher than another cup it causes agitation of the water just like a riffie does in a stream where there is water moving over rocks. Students at this station will take their water and show it to the class prior to its return to the river. (1 cup) 180 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement \~17( --------------------------------------~~ 18. River Outfall- The student at this station will return the water to the container that represents the Chattahoochee River. After treatment, the cleaned water will continue its journey from the river to the ocean. Others can use the cleaned water downstream for drinking water, for irrigation, for industry, or it might evaporate and become rain in some other part of the world. Water is used over and over again throughout the water cycle. WrapUp Knowing now what it takes to have clean water for drinking and what it takes to clean wastewater so that others can use it downstream should stimulate discussion with students concerning the actions they can take at home and at school to protect water. They can conserve water, and avoid dumping harmful chemicals, and paints down a drain for example. They could w~rk on erosion areas in their yard at home or at school so that sediment doesn't end up in the river for example. Have students make a commitment for water and write it down. At the end of the week have students write about the actions they have taken to protect and conserve water. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 181 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page River to River Warm Up Exercise Please write the correct order of the drinking and wastewater treatment process steps next to the corresponding number in the blank provided. 1. River Intake 2. ______________________________________ 3. ____________________________________ 4. _____________________________________ 5. ___________________________________ 6. ____________________________________ 7. ____________________________________ 8. ____________________________________ 9. ____________________________________ 10. __________________________________ 11. __________________________________ 12. __________________________________ 13. __________________________________ 14. __________________________________ 15. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.:.___ __ 16. __________________________________ 17.----------------- 18. River Outfall 182 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide G eorgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page --------------------- RIVER INTAKE/ PUMPING STATION The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 183 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:lW:l{ddns .131\\ l:>:lf0ld 'e~JO:l!) ;,p~no smre:mp3: p;,qsJ;llllM. u-eqJ[l ;,q.L v8I RIVER INTAKE/PUMPING STATION: This is the screening process to remove all large debris. The water flows by gravity from the river into underground wells before entering the pumping station. Electric pumps pump the raw water (river water before treatment) to the drinking water treatment plant reservoirs, that are the raw water storage areas, and then to the chemical house. This is where the water treatment process begins. LAB STATION PROCEDURE Materials: river water cup and 3 clear cups, various sized screening tools, sediment, sand, sticks, leaves, seeds, bark, small pebbles, and other debris ~ In a jar, mix sediment, sand, sticks, leaves, seeds, bark, small pebbles, and other debris in the water representative of river water. ~ Pour river water into a clear plastic cup to represent raw water coming into the water treatment process. ~ Do a physical pumping motion for 10 pumps to represent the pumping ofwater to the plant. ~ Place the largest screen over an empty clear plastic cup. Put a newspaper or paper towel under the cup before you pour the river water cup into the empty cup with the screen on it. Take any debris screened to the landfill. ~ Place a finer screen over an empty cup and pour the river through this finer screen and cup. Take any debris left on the screen to the landfill. ~ Place an even finer screen over another empty cup and repeat the screening process again. Take any debris left in the screen to the landfill. ~ Pass this cup to the next station. afied ,;~foJd ll~JO;JQ ;~p!nD SJOlll:mp3 p;~qSJ;llllM u-eqJ[l ;~q~ 981: COAGULATION: The water is treated here with chemicals that kill germs, improve taste and odor, balance acids and alkalinity, and help settle the solids in the water. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 4 small jars, cups, or canisters labeled lime, potassium permanganate, powdered carbon, alum, measuring spoons, and a plastic spoon. For the pretend chemicals, use water, and actually add the water to the cup ofwater moving through treatment. ~ Add 1 teaspoon of lime from the lime chemical dispenser for stabilizing the pH and buffering the water (lime dispenser will be water). ~ Add 1 teaspoon potassium permanganate for disinfection to kill bacteria and virus (potassium permanganate will be water). ~ Add 1 teaspoon of powdered carbon to improve taste and smell (powdered carbon will be water). ~ Add .z teaspoon of alum (actually add the real alum) to the cup and stir it through the water. Alum helps the particles stick together and form larger particles called "floc". ~ Wait several minutes and give the floc time to form. ~ Pass the cup with the added chemical to the next station. -. 8 18 Student Copy Page --------------------- SEDIMENTATION The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 187 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:IW:Ilddns .13M p:~foJd ll~JO:I!) ;)p!nD sJOn:>np:i p;)qSJ;)lllM u-eql[l ;)q.L 881 SEDIMENTATION: The water and floc particles flow into a sedimentation basin. The "floc" settles to the bottom and is then removed from the water. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 1 clear plastic cup ~ Wait several minutes for the floc to continue attracting particles. ~ The particles will get heavy and fall to the bottom of the cup. ~ Slowly pour off the top of the cup into another cup. Continue pouring slowly, but leave some water with debris and settled floc in the bottom of the cup. ~ Take the settled debris to the landfill. ~ Pass the cup ofwater to the next station. a6ed Ado) 1uapn1s Student Copy Page --------------------- SAND FILTRATION The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 189 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:IW:~yddns ~3M l:l:lf0ld "e~JO:lf) dp!nD SJOl-e:mp3: pdl{SJ:llllM u-eqJ[l dl{.L 06"L SAND FILTRATION: During this process, water flows through layers of sand and gravel, creating a filter. Any remaining particles are trapped during this process and settle to the bottom of the basin. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 4 clear cups, 2 filled with alternating layers of sand, gravel, and coffee filters ~ Punch several holes in the bottom of the sand and gravel cups before filling with sand and gravel. ~ Make alternating layers of gravel and sand in 2 cups starting with the largest gravel on the top with the smallest gravel and sand on the bottom. Line the bottom of the sand and gravel cups with a coffee filter. ~ Pour the water from the cup you received from the previous process into the cup with the sand and gravel layers, and then into another clear cup held beneath the sand and gravel cup. ~ Ifyou have a second sand and gravel cup, youcan repeat the filtering process. ~ The water passes through these filters removing smaller particles and cleaning the water. ~ If you have a ring stand and clamps, you can place the sand and gravel cups there, which will avoid someone having to hold the cups during the filtering process, which can take several minutes. ~ Pass the filtered cup to the next station. afied ,{do) 1uapn1s Student Copy Page --------------------- DISINFECTION The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 191 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU;~w;~yddns .LaM l:>;~fold ll~JO;ID ;)p~nD SJOlll:mpa p;)qSJ;)lllM UllqJ[l ;)q~ l61 DISINFECfiON: Chemicals are added here in small doses to protect the water as it's transported through mains, and into homes, businesses and industry. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 3 small cups or jars labeled chlorine, fluoride, and phosphate, actual drops of Clorox if approved by teacher, dropper/pipette, gloves, protective glasses. Use water for the fluoride and phosphate. ~ Using gloves, protective glasses, and a dropper; add four drops of Clorox to the water in the cup if the teacher approves and supervises. This is for disinfection to kill bacteria and viruses for example. ~ Add 1 teaspoon of phosphate to the water for corrosion control to keep the pipes free of contaminants. ~ Add 1 teaspoon of fluoride for healthy teeth. ~ Pass the cup with the chemicals added to the next station. -. 8 IS Student Copy Page --------------------- CLEAN WATER STORAGE The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 193 Georgia Project WET Supplement 1u:~w:~rddns .LaM l:>:~foJd -e~Jo:~o ;>p~nn sJO:re:mp3: p;>qsJ;)lllM. ullqJ[l ;)t{.L t-61 CLEAN WATER STORAGE: Potable or finished water (water that has been through water treatment) is stored in underground, or in some cases above ground, clear wells that are safe contained places to hold clean water prior to distribution to homes, schools, and businesses. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 3 clear plastic cups, 1 large container for water storage, and a marking pen ~ Fill the large container to the half mark with water. ~ Pour water from the passed station cup into the clear well. ~ Label three cups homes, schools, businesses with marking pen. ~ Filll/3 cup with clear well water and deliver to the home station. ~ Filll/3 cup with clear well water and deliver to the school station. ~ Filll/3 cup with clear well water and deliver to the business station. 8 Student Copy Page --------------------- WATER DISTRIBUTION &USE The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 195 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:lW:ljddns .L3M_ p:~fold l:~JO:lD Jp~nn sJol-e:>np3 pJl{SJJlllM u-eqJ[l Jl{.L 961 WATER DISTRIBUTION AND USE: The Adanta water treatment plants supply 240 million gallons of finished water daily. This water is distributed to Adanta homes, schools, and businesses. People use 50-150 gallons ofwater daily to wash clothes, shower, flush toilets and wash dishes. Discuss all the ways people might use water in homes, schools, and businesses. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: cereal, toothpaste, tissue pieces, rice, dressing, sprinkles or anything that makes water look like wastewater, but be careful about adding too much color ~ Pour cereal, toothpaste, tissue pieces, dressing, vegetable oil, mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, powder, coffee, clay, sediment, soil, and anything else you have gathered to represent waste into the three cups labeled homes, schools, and businesses. ~ Do a pumping motion 10 times to represent the pumping of treated water through the system. ~ Pass these three cups to the next station. - .. @ IS Student Copy Page --------------------- WASTEWATER COLLECTION &TREATMENT The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 197 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:IW:~yddns .LaM l:>:~fold E~JO:IO ;)p!nD SlOl'E:mp3: p;)t{Sl;)l"EM u-eqJ[l ;)t{.L 861 WASTEWATER COLLECfiON AND TREATMENT: The wastewater treatment process speeds up the natural process ofwater purification. In this process there are more controlled conditions where bacteria and other organisms consume the waste just like they do in a natural process. Processes consist of physical, chemical, and biological treatments. These processes are also called primary, secondary, and advanced treatment. The primary treatment involves screening, floating, and settling out contaminants. The secondary treatment involves biologically removing contaminants. The advanced treatment involves filtering and disinfection. While the wastewater treatment plant can process as much as 240 million gallons per day, on average 100 million gallons are treated daily. Discuss with students what kinds of things make up wastewater. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: large container with a cap or lid for wastewater, 1 clear plastic cup, and a marking pen ~ Label the clear cup Headworks (place where wastewater treatment begins at the wastewater treatment plant). ~ Water from each of cups labeled homes, schools, and businesses is poured into a larger container with a lid representing wastewater arriving in the Wastewater Collection System, which takes flow to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. ~ Shake up this larger container to break up bits and pieces in the sewer system (3 or 4 shakes). ~ Pour wastewater from the larger container into the clear cup labeled Headworks. ~ Pass the Headworks cup to the next station. - .. 8 IS Student Copy Page --------------------- BAR .SCREENS & DUMPSTER BAR SCREEN DUMPSTER The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 19 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU~W~!ddns .LaM l:>~foJd ll~JO~D :lp~nn S.JOlll:mpa P:llfS.l:llllM u-eq.Jo :llf.L OOZ" BAR SCREENS AND DUMPSTER: The water goes through a bar screen that eliminates large items and debris, such as rags, sticks, and large trash and plastics. The debris is taken to the land.fill. This is a physical process. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 3 clear plastic cups and a large screening tool. Place a paper towel or newspaper on the table under cups for screening ~ Label one clear cup the Bar Screen Dumpster. ~ Label one empty cup Landfill and place nearby. ~ Place a large screen over a clear cup to screen out larger debris. ~ Pour the headworks wastewater treatment plant cup into the clear cup with the larger screen on the top. Take the screened debris and dump the debris in the bar screen dumpster cup. ~ Deliver the debris from the bar screen dumpster cup to the land.fill. ~ Pass the screened cup ofwater to the next station. ~ .. @ 8 Student Copy Page --------------------- GRIT CHAMBER The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 2C Georgia Project WET Supplement 1u:~w:~rddns .L3M p:~ fold -e!j!Jo:~o :lp~nn sJOlE :mp~ p:ll{SJ:llEM. uEqJ[l Jl{~ ~0~ GRIT CHAMBER: Here the water slows enough for grit and the heavy solids to settle to the bottom. Grit is removed from the chamber and buried in a landfill. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: funnel and 2 clear cups ~ Place the funnel in the clear cup to represent the grit chamber. ~ Very slowly, drip water from the passed screened cup into the funnel that is inside the clear cup. ~ Slowly pour water off the top of the screened cup into another empty cup, leaving any debris in the bottom of the cup (should be settled out in the bottom of the cup) ~ Take that debris to the landfill. ~ Pass the cup ofwater with debris removed to the next station. - .. @ 8 St~dent Copy Page --------------------- DRUM SCREEN The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 2( Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:lW:l{ddns .131\i\ l:J:lf0Jd ll~JO:l!) ;,p~no s1ol1Dnp3: p;)l{Sl;)lllM uBqlfl ;)l{.L vo2: DRUM SCREEN: This finer screening eliminates smaller debris. The water goes to a drum screen where gravity holds the solids and the wheel turns; particles fall into troughs. These particles are taken to the landfill. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: small screen like a tea strainer, 1 clear plastic cup for debris and 1 clear plastic cup for screened water ~ Place a fine screen, such as a teacup strainer over the top of a clear plastic cup. ~ Pour the water from the last station through the strainer over the clear cup. ~ Debris left in the strainer should be poured in the second cup and taken to the landfill. ~ Pass the strained cup ofwater to the next station. a6ed Ado) 1uapn1s 8 Student Copy Page --------------------- . PRIMARY SEDIMENTATION TANK The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 2 Georgia Project WET Supplement 1u;~w;~1ddns .LaM lJ;~fo~d 'B~~o;~D ;>p~nn smre:mpa p;>qsJ;>l-eM u-eqJ[l ;>qJ. 90Z PRIMARYSEDIMENTATIONTANK: During this process, the heavier particles sink to the bottom of the tank. Settling tanks hold the water for several hours while the heavy particles sink and form sludge. Other materials float to the surface, such as oil and grease, which are skimmed and removed. Seventy percent of all solids are removed at this point. The sludge is sent to a centrifuge and thickened, and then to the digesters to be disinfected and dewatered. The sludge (biosolids) are either taken to the landfill, recycled by burning for energy, used for fertilizer or a soil conditioner. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 1 cup labeled Digester, 2 clear cups and a spoon ~ Label one cup as the Digester. ~ Place the Digester cup in front of and between the Primary Sedimentation Tank and the Final Clarifier. ~ Let the particles settle for several minutes. ~ Use a spoon and skim any oil and grease from the top of the cup and pour the oil and grease into another cup, and take that cup to the landfill. ~ Very slowly, pour water from the cup where the water is settling into another clear cup allowing any particles that have settled to remain on the bottom. ~ Take the settled particles to the digester. ~ Take the water to the next station. afied .Ado) 1uapn1s IS St~dent Copy Page --------------------- AERATION BASIN BPR TANKS (Biolo9icll Pholphorus RernoQI) The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 2( Georgia Project WET Supplement 1u~w~yddns .LaM l=>~fold -e~Jo~n ;)p!nD SlOlE:>np:!J p;)lJSl;)lEM u-eql[l ;)l{.L 80Z AERATION BASIN: In this secondary treatment process, some of the sludge with microorganisms is added from the clarifiers to the aeration basin. The sludge is called activated sludge, and it contains microorganisms, such as bacteria and protozoa that are now hungry and eat the remaining organic material and nutrients. Air is mixed into the basin, so that the microorganisms will eat other harmful materials. During the chemical part of this process, primary sludge is settled and the phosphorus is removed. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 2 cups, turkey baster, bug hats for three microorganisms, construction paper, tape or stapler, scissors, chemical dispenser filled with water ~ Two or three people will wear bug hats they have made from construction paper with a band around their head and two antennae attached that have been cut from construction paper. If students have bug glasses, they can be used too. These bugs are the microorganisms that eat the harmful material in the water. ~ Microorganisms gather at the Digester. ~ An Aeration Station student goes to the digester and brings the microorganisms to the Aeration Basin. ~ The bugs will either make up their own munching song or use the song provided. ~ Take the cup designated for chemicals and fill it with water. ~ Squeeze air into the water using the turkey baster, being careful not to pull water up through the baster. ~ This is a biological process. The bugs pretend to be eating frantically and they sing their song. ~ Take the chemical dispenser filled with water and add it at this time. These chemicals help settle any remaining solids and help with phosphorous removal. Phosphorous needs to be removed because it contributes to increased plant growth, which will lead to oxygen depletion in the water. Aquatic life depends on having enough oxygen in the water to survive. This is a biological and chemical process and is secondary treatment. ~ The bugs move with the cup to the next station. Microorganism Song to sing while they are eating contaminants at the Aeration Basin. (To the tune of-Row, Row, Row Your Boat) Crunch, crunch, crunch and munch. Give me more more food! I really don't have time to chat. So please don't think me rude. I'm eating up contaminants. Yummy, yummy yum! They taste delicious; Oh so good They're filling up my "Tum". a6ed Ado) ~uapn~s Student Copy Page --------------------- FINAL CLARIFIER The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 2C Georgia Project WET Supplement lU;lW;~{ddns ~aM l:J;~foJd ll!1iJO;~f) JP!nD smre:mp3: pJl{SlJl"llM u-eqlo Jl{.L Oil FINAL CLARIFIER: At this process station there are large tanks with long arms that rotate to help the scum and material that has clumped together fall to the bottom. The microorganisms that grow in the aeration tank fall to the bottom of the tank. Some of the younger microorganisms are removed and sent back to the aeration basin where they continue to eat thereby removing harmful material (organics and nutrients). Excess older microorganisms are then pumped to the Digester. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 1 clear plastic cup, 1 spoon, microorganisms from last station ~ Stir the water in the cup slowly and then let the sedimentation occur. ~ Wait a couple minutes and pour off the water on the top into another cup. ~ Take one young microorganism back to the Aeration Basin to continue eating contaminants and take the other older microorganisms to the Digester. Generally there is an effort to keep a mixed population of bugs, a balanced community of old and young bugs. This is a secondary treatment and is a biological process. ~ Take the cup to the next station. a6ed Ado) 1uapn1s 8 Student Copy Page --------------------- EFFLUENT FILTERS The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 21 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:~w:~Jddns .LaM l:>:~fold B!2lo:~o ;,p~nD SJOlll:mp3: p;,qsJJlllM u-eqJfl ;,q~ nz- EFFLUENT FILTERS: During this process, the water is filtered through sand and gravel that cleans out any remaining small particles. The water moves through a series of steps that "scrub" the water and removes harmful particles just as it might do in nature when water percolates through the soil, sand, and rock. This is advanced water treatment. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 4 clear cups, 2 sand and gravel cups, coffee filter ~ Construct 2 cups as filters by alternating layers of rock and sand making the rock layer at the bottom smaller. ~ Put several holes in the sand and gravel cups and line with coffee filters to keep the sand in the cup. ~ Filter the cup ofwater from the clarifier and pour through both cups into another cup. This is advanced treatment. ~ Take this cup to the next station. a6ed ,{do) lUapn:J.s Student Copy Page --------------------- UV DISINFECTION The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 213 Georgia Project WET Supplement 1u:~w:~rddns ~aM l:>:~foJd -e~Jo:~n ;,p~nn SJOl"B:>npa p;,qsJ:ll"BM u-eqJo ;,q~ vil ULTRAVIOLET DISINFECfiON:The final treatment process in most plants is disinfection. Sometimes chemicals are used, such as chlorine that kills viruses and bacteria, which can cause disease. Other treatment plants use ultraviolet light instead of chlorine. Water passes through chambers that contain ultraviolet lamps and exposure to this light kills any remaining disease-causing virus or bacteria. Samples are taken of the water at this point to check water quality before its release to the river. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: flashlight ~ Take the flashlight and shine light on the water for 30 seconds to imitate the UV disinfection process. ~ Take the water to the next station. B Student Copy Page --------------------- POST AERATOR The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 215 Georgia Project WET Supplement 1u;~w;~yddns .LaM p;~foJd ll!~Jo:~D ;)p~nn s1ore:mp3 p;)qsJ;)lllM utlqJn ;)lJ.L nl POST AERATOR: Post aeration ensures that an adequate amount of dissolved oxygen is in the water before its release to the river. This process mimics riffles, or water flowing over rocks in a stream. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: Materials: 1 cup ~ Pour water into the second cup by holding the cup with the water from a high position and pouring it into the empty cup in a lower position. This creates agitation of the water, such as a riffle in a stream does naturally when it flows over rocks in the stream, adding oxygen to the water. Repeat five times. ~ Take the cup to the next station. 8 8 Student Copy Page --------------------- RIVER OUTFALl The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 217 Georgia Project WET Supplement lU:IW:l{ddns .LaM p:~fold ll~lO:ID :>p~nn smre:mp3: p:>qsJ:>l"EM u"EqJo :>lf.L 8t~ RIVER OUTFALL: After treatment removes contaminants from the water, it is returned to its original water source. LAB STATION PROCEDURE: ~ Return the water to the container that represents the Chattahoochee River. a6ed ,-lt'j = UlC.. _,... e"0 l'l "0 I added to kill any bacteria or microorganisms that may be in the water. Storage: Water Is placed in a closed tank or reservoir where It flows through pipes to homes,schoois and buslneeses In the community. ~~ .i . , , JA . 1'-~ "~\ ilill hW \l Clty ~, Atlanta D-lt'l Water Cycle:- ~ . Water Conservation Education. South Florida Water Management District. 29 March 2005 < http://www.sfwmd. gov/curre/education.htrnl>. 236 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement Student Copy Page Water Conservation Audit for Georgia How much water does YOURfamily use? Directions: Ask your family to help you answer these questions to find out how much water your family uses. 1. Do you live in a... ? (check one) - - - house ___ apartment/condo 2. How many people live in your home including you? - - - mobile home Circle one: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 more than 10 3. How old are the children in your home? 4. Check your water bill (hint- ask your parents to call the water department if your water bill does not show water use in gallons). Find out how many gallons of water were used in your home during the last billing period and place that amount in the square below: Dgallons 5. How many days were there in that billing period? L.days Water Use Outside Your Home 6. How big is your yard compared to the other yards on your street? (check one) ___ larger ___ the same - - - smaller The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 237 Georgia Project WET Supplement ISStudent Copy Page 7. What type of plants do you have? (check all that apply) ___ grass ___ ground cover ___ flowers ___ shrubs ___ trees ___ vegetable garden 8. How much water did you use outside from April to October last year? Estimate it by answering the questions below. a. How many minutes do you water your lawn each day you water it? 0 number of watering minutes per day (total number of minutes each hose or sprinkler is run every watering day) b. How many days per week do you water your lawn? . . _____Inumber ofwatering days per week (one to seven) Water Use Inside Your Home 9. Dishwasher (answer only if you have one) a. How many times per week is the dishwasher run? _ _ __ b. How full is the dishwasher usually loaded? ___ full _ _ half full ___ less than half full 10. Washing machine (answer only ifyou have one) a. How many loads per week are usually washed? _ __ b. How full is the washing machine usually loaded? _ _ full _ _ half full ___ less than half full 238 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page c. Is the setting on the washer set correctly? (For example, is it set for a small load when washing a small load?) ___ always ___ never ___ sometimes 11. Count them! How many of each of the following do you have in your home? ___ sinks ___ showers ___ bathtubs _ _ toilets 12. How many showers per week are taken in your home? Do the Math! ___ #of family members x ___ #of showers/member per day x ___ #of days/week= ____ Total# of showers per week 13. How many baths per week are taken in your home? Do the Math! ___ #of family members x ___ #of baths/member per day x ___ #of days/week = ____ Total# of showers per week 14. How many minutes is your family's average shower? Estimate it by answering the questions below. a. Time it! Use a stop watch to record the amount of time it takes each of your family members to shower. Add the minutes together and write them in the space below. b. Do the math! Total# of minutes family members spent in the shower in one day _ __ Total# of family members _ __ = # of minutes for your family's average shower _ __ 15. Count it! a. How many times each day is a toilet flushed in your house? _ _ times b. --~# of toilet flushes X l days/week (one to seven) = _ _ _ Total# of toilet flushes per week The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 239 Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page 16. Are there other places where a lot of water is used in your house? (Examples: automatic sprinklers, hot tub, swimming pool, etc.) If so, where? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Home Water Use How much water do YOU use? 17. Do the math! Figure out how much water is used by each member of your family on an average day. (Hint - the shapes below correspond to the shapes above. Find the answers below from the same shapes above.) D Gallons Per Billing Period = Number Of Daily Average Days In Consumption Billing Period = Number Of Average Use People In Home Per Person In Gallons/day Watering Minutes Per Day Watering Days Watering Minutes Per Week Per Week Watering Hours Per Week 0 X 1800 = Watering Hours Gallons Gallons Per Week Per Week Per Hour Outside Watering 240 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page 19. Figure out how much water is used inside your home by completing the chart below. WaterUse.Activity InYour Home Dishwasher - Qyestion #9A Washing Machine - Qyestion # 10 A Showers- Qyestion # 12 Baths- Qyestion # 13 Toilet Flushes- Qyestion #15b Total Approximate Water Use Per Week #OfUses Per Week - Multiply X X X Avt:rage Gallons/ . use 15 60 30 Equals Approximate Water Use Per Week = = = X 35 = X 5 = *Based on statistics from South Florida Water Management District -Water Conservation Education "Home Water Audit" These are the ways I can conserve water at home and at school: Water Conservation Audit developed by Mary A. Elfner, Georgia DNR The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 241 Georgia Project WET Supplement Meter Reading Materials ~ Water Meter Student Copy Page Background The student's ability to read their water meter is essential to their ability to monitor water usage. Knowing how will help them better understand their bill as well as help them track their conservation efforts. In order for students to read their meter, they will need to locate it. Water meters are usually located near the street on the front of their property under a metal lid. If they live in an apartment or condominium, they may need assistance from a property manager in locating the meter. Once located, tell them to open the lid and examine the face of the meter. Seventy-five percent of the meters in the Atlanta water system are straight dial meters. Straight dial meters are easy to read. Like the odometer in your car, the pointer revolves as long as water is flowing through the meter. Adanta's Department ofWatershed Management measures water consumption in CCF's or 100 cubic feet and one CCF equals 750 gallons. The students will not need to record the last two digits, because they represent tenths and hundredths. For example, the meter shown here reads 651.36 cubic feet or 6.51 CCF. The students will be reading the numbers shaded in white. To calculate how much water they have used in a given period of time, record the amount ofwater consumed at the start of a time period (the initial reading) and subtract that number from the reading at the end of your time period. For example, if at the start of the time period, the water meter read 6.51 CCF (the initial reading) and at the end of the time the water meter read 9.54 CCF, the amount ofwater consumed during that period is 3.03 CCF (9.54 CCF minus 6.51 CCF). Multiply 3.03 CCF by 750 gallons/CCF to determine the amount ofwater used in gallons. An important part of the student's water meter is the leak detector, a small red triangle that detects small volumes of water that may be passing through your meter. If any amount ofwater is being used (passing through the meter) the leak detector will revolve in a counter-clockwise direction. The more water that flows through the meter, the faster the leak detector will turn. To determine if there are any water leaks, tum off all the water in the home (including washing machines, dishwashers, sinks, toilets etc.) and then check the leak detector. If the leak detector continues to turn there could be a water leak. 242 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement -------------------------------------~~~- In order to determine if there is a leak in the home or underground, locate the master water valve. The valve is usually located under the house, in the crawlspace or in the basement utility room. Close the master valve to shut off the water flowing into the house. Check the water meter to see if the leak has stopped registering. If the leak continues to register with the valve closed, the leak is probably located underground between the meter box and the master valve. If the leak stops registering, the leak is somewhere inside the house. The lD-gallon dial spins when water runs through the meter Leak Detector If there is a leak at the meter or a large amount ofwater in the meter box, please contact the Atlanta Water Department Customer Service Center at 404-658-6500. Circular Dial Reading Some students may have circular reading meters and they can be a little more difficult to read. These meters have 6 or 7 dials. To read a circular meter you begin with the dial that has the greatest volume and continue to the dial with the next greatest volume and so on until you get to a dial that says "one foot" and is used to detect leaks. This dial reads as a 0 and is not recorded. The ten dial is also not read. If a dial is between two numbers, you read the number as the smallest number. 10.000 ,._ 0' '"" ,E) CUBIC0 Q , FEET 0 t 100 10 This circular dial reads _ _ _ _ _ __ Procedure Begin by finding out if the students know what a water meter is. Then ask if they know where their home water meter is located. It is usually located near the street under a metal lid. Review with the students how to locate and read their water meter. Assign them the task oflocating the water meter on their home property with their parents. Have the students draw a picture of it and fill out the first part of the Meter Reading Worksheet and bring it to class. Have students share their pictures ofwater meters and where they found it. One week later have the students record their meter numbers again on their Meter Reading Worksheet. In class, have students subtract the ending cubic feet from the beginning cubic feet and multiply it by 750 gallons to get the total gallons ofwater used in a weeklong time period. Discuss ways the students can reduce the amount of water used in their home. The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 243 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page Meter Reading Worksheet Directions: Locate the water meter at your home. It is usually located near the street on the front ofyour property under a metal lid. If you live in an apartment or condominium, you may need assistance from a property manager in locating the meter. Open the lid and examine the face of the meter. Record the numbers on your water meter in the spaces below. If you have more numbers than the spaces provided, disregard the last numbers. Initial Water Meter Reading: Record the numbers on your water meter at the beginning ofyour time period in the space below. Meter recording at the beginning of the time period _ _ _ + 100 End Water Meter Reading: Record the numbers on your water meter at the end ofyour time period in the space below. Meter recording at the end of the time period _ _ _ + 100 _. _ _ CCF End Water Usage Total Water Usage: Calculate how much water your family used during your time period (Hint- the shapes below correspond with the shapes above). Minus _ _ _ CCF End Water Usage Equals _. _ _ CCF Total Water Usage Total Water Usage in Gallons: Calculate how much water your family used in gallons during your time period (Hint- the shape below corresponds with the shape above). _. _ _ CCF Total Water Usage . X 750 =Total #ofgallons used in _ _days 244 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement 8 Student Copy Page Reading aWater Bill The following is an example of the City of Atlanta water bill. The consumption CCFs is the total amount of water used from the first month to the second. One CCF equals 100 gallons ofwater used. The prior bill amount is given, along with whether this payment was made, which is noted with a CR. The security charge is an additional tax paid by City of Atlanta residents. The sewer charges and water charges are calculated with cost per CCF = $8.00. Therefore, 14 CCF multiplied by $8.00 =$112.00. We then add the security charge of$2.10 to $112.00, and the result is $114.10 as the total current charges, and since the prior bill amount was already paid, the total amount due as well. Then, multiply the total amount of$112.00 by 0.70 (70%) to calculate the .sewercharges, which is $78.40. Multiply the total amount due of $112.00 by 0.30 (30%) to calculate the water charges, which is $33.60. PLEASE INCLUDE THE TOP PORTION OF YOUR BILL AND MAKE PAYMENTS TO THE PAYMENT CENTER ABOVE. DIRECT ALL INQUIRIES OR CORRESPONDENCE TO: CITY OF ATLANTA DEPT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT 55 TRINITY AVE, SW ATLANTA, GA 30335-0330 PHONE: (404) 658-6500 METER READINGS 05109105 0440 04/07105 0426 CONSUMPTION 14 -CCF ---------- BILLING SUMMARY ---------- PRIOR BILL AMOUNT PAYMENTS THRU 05/03/05 BALANCE FORWARD CURRENT BILL CHARGES: $63.76 S63.76CR so.oo SECURITY SURCHARGE SEWER CHARGES WATER CHARGES $2.10 $78.40 $33.60 TOTAL CURRENT CHARGES $114.10 TOTAL AMOUNT DUE $114.10 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 245 Georgia Project WET Supplement IS Student Copy Page CreatingYour Own Water Bill Now, each student should cut out the water bill below and complete the following steps: 1. Fill in the first and second months dates 2. Fill in the amount of usage for each month, with the first month holding a lower amount of usage than the second month. 3. Fill in the amount of security surcharge for this month. 4. Pass the water bill to another student and have them calculate and fill in the following: a. Calculate the total consumption within the month of usage by subtracting the first months usage from the second months usage, with the result in CCFs b. Convert this CCF amount to gallons and place this amount here: gallons used this month. c. Calculate the total current charges and total amount due using 1 CCF = $8.00. d. Multiply the total current charge by 0.70 (700Al) to calculate the sewer charges and fill in the corresponding blank. e. Multiply the total current charge by 0.30 (300Al) to calculate the water charges and fill in the corresponding blank. -------------------*-Cu-t -ou-t w-a-ter-bi-ll*---------------------------- BILLING SUMMARY ---------- PRIOR BILL AMOUNT PAYMENTS THRU 05/03/05 BALANCE FORWARD $63 .76 S63.76CR so.oo PLEASE INCLUDE THE TOP PORTION OF YOUR BILL AND MAKE PAYMENTS TO THE PAYMENT CENTER ABOVE. DIRECT ALL INQUIRIES OR CORRESPONDENCE TO: CITY OF ATLANTA DEPT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT 55 TRINITY AVE, SW ATLANTA, GA 30335-0330 PHONE: (404) 658-6500 CURRENT BILL CHARGES: SECURITY SURCHARGE SEWER CHARGES WATER CHARGES TOTAL CURRENT CHARGES TOTAL AMOUNT DUE s_ __ S_ __ s_ __ s_ __ s_ __ _ ! _ !_ METER READINGS _ !_!_ CONSUMPTION 14 -CCF ----------------------------------------------~ 246 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement These are the ways I can conserve water at home and at school: IS Student Copy Page The Urban Watershed Educators Guide 247 Georgia Project WET Supplement Earth Friendly Household Cleaner Materials ~ 1 gallon plastic milk jug container to hold alternative cleaner (1 per student) ~ Ammonia, vinegar and baking soda (enough for number of students in the class multiplying the total in the recipe) ~ 1 General Household Cleaner Recipe written on an index card ~ Index cards- one per student ~ String ~ Paper to create labels ~ Markers and crayons ~ Glue Background Household hazardous wastes are products that contain toxic chemicals that can be dangerous for humans, pets, and fish. Examples of these products are the following: paints, stains, sealers, used motor oil, antifreeze, paint strippers, paint thinners, cleaning agents, solvents, drain and oven cleaners, fertilizers, pesticides, gasoline, kerosene, propane, batteries, mercury thermometers, thermostats, fluorescent lamps, and pool chemicals. Disposing of these products improperly can cause water quality problems. In this "Walk the Talk" lesson, students will create an alternative household cleaner with safer ingredients. According to the Pollution Prevention Assistance Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, it is estimated that 62 million pounds of human household waste is generated by Georgians every year. This is approximately 20 pounds per household per year. To help reduce the amount of household hazardous waste, use biodegradable or alternative products when possible. Biodegradable products are items that bacteria, especially biological agents, can decompose. Biodegradable pollution is pollution that is rendered harmless by natural processes and causes no permanent harm. If a biodegradable alternative is not available, then it is important to dispose of products correcdy and recycle them when you can. For additional information on these products, please contact P2ad.org for additional information on Hazardous Household waste. For information on a list of recycling sites and local contacts, call1-800-CLEANUP or go to www. P2ad.org and www.cleanwatercampaign.com. Procedure Select a recipe from the list provided below and collect enough ingredients so that each student can make an earth friendly recipe to take home. If you have parent helpers they usually are glad to help and could collect the ingredients and help in the classroom on the day of the project. Have students bring a gallon jug to school. Students will be asked to create their own label for their earth friendly product. Give each student a half sheet of paper or a copy of the Cleaning Bottle Label Design provided below to decorate. Students can create a name for their product and put it on the line provided and provide graphics that advertise their earth friendly product. Give each student an index card with a punched hole and a string so that the index recipe card can be attached to the jug to take home. Have students copy the recipe for the household cleaner that you select from the list below onto their card. 248 The Urban Watershed Educators Guide Georgia Project WET Supplement ------------------------------------~ ~~~- Recipes ~ Air Freshener- Simmer cinnamon and cloves; leave open a box of baking soda in a room or set out a dish of vinegar ~ General Household Cleaners - Mix 1h cup ammonia, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1,4 cup baking soda in one gallon ofwarm water ~ Drain cleaner - Dissolve 1h cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar iri boiling water. Pour solution down the drain. Continue to flush with hot tap water until the clog breaks. ~ Spot Remover - Club soda, lemon juice or salt ~ Tub and Tile Cleaner -lh cup ofbaking soda, 1h cup of white vinegar and warm water ~ Toilet Bowl Cleaner - Paste of borax and lemon juice Sources Recipes for Alternative Cleaning Solutions. Iowa City Landfill & Recycling Center. 10/12/04 . Alternatives to Hazardous Chemicals. City of Dover Community Services Department. 10/12/04