Earthship Logs

Water, Water Everywhere --
Or Maybe Not?

Even though it was early springtime, the day was unusually warm as the three pollution fighters gathered in Control Central called T.R.E.E.

"Whew," Captain Earthwom muttered, "If it stays this hot, I'm going to have to get a bigger vaporizer for my quarters to keep my skin damp."

"Sure is warm," agreed Captain Bluegill. "Makes it look like the experts may be right about global weather changes."

"They're still studying that," Captain Redbird trilled, "but whatever's causing it, I need a nice cool splash." He fluttered past his friends and sailed down to the recycled plastic bird bath near the base of the headquarters tree. A minute later Worm and Bluegill heard his squawk of outrage.

"It's dry!" he gasped. "Dry as a bone! I can't believe it! Young Billie Birdfriend never forgets to fill this birdbath."

"Sorry, Redbird," said Billie as she hurried up to the tree. "The water treatment plant's been taken 'off line' - that means the manager has shut it down until they can clean up some bad pollution that's gotten into the water. Until they can fix it, the water isn't safe to drink."

Inside her portable Gill-haler, Captain Bluegill gasped and turned a pale shade of violet. "Unsafe water?? How did that happen?"

"The TV news team called it a 'cross connection,' and said it happened when someone adding water to a tank of liquid lawn fertilizer let the hose go right down into the chemicals in the tank," Billie explained. "And right at the same time, on the other side of town some construction equipment hit a water line and broke it. That made pressure drop in all the water mains connected to it. The low pressure let water run backward into the water lines. And it just sucked all the fertilizer right out of the tank truck and into the water lines going into people's homes. The TV folks called it a 'siphon' effect."

Captain Earthworm looked thoughtful. "Sounds like this may be a job for us," he said. "How long is the water going to be turned off?"

Billie looked worried. "The news team said it could be days. The water company has to be sure the fertilizer didn't get into the treatment plant. Then they have to open fire hydrants around town and let the water run until they're sure the mains are all clear. 'Flushing' is what they called it. Then they'll have to take samples and be sure it's safe to let people drink it again."

Now the three pollution fighters looked worried too. "Bad news, all right," said Worm. "What can we do?" asked Bluegill. Redbird waved a wing at Billie and flew back up to join his friends at Control Central. "I think I'll fly over and have a chat with those TV reporters," he chirped. "We all need to get the word out that people need to think when they do anything involving our water supplies. A minute of carelessness is all it takes to dry up the birdbath - and your faucet."

To find out how much you really know about our drinking water supply, try out our Water Quiz!

Wow! What a terrible mistake! This could have been very harmful to everyone. Please remember: The water supply is vital to all things, be careful not to pollute it!

Captain Bluegill's Water Tips

Here are some tips from Captain Bluegill that you can use at home, at school, and in your neighborhood to keep the water supply free from pollution.

• Water is a precious resource; don't use more than your fair share.
• Encourage your family to wait until there's a full load before running the washer or dishwasher.
• Be sure to take the end of the hose out of the tub when you've finished washing the dog-leaving it underwater could cause a cross-connection!
• Take shorter showers. Use only as much water as needed when taking a bath.
• Don't clean the driveway or sidewalk with the hose; use a broom.
• Tell people not to dump leftover oil or gasoline on the ground or down a sewer drain; either way, they can get into water and pollute it.

Check back later for more exciting adventures.

Envirofun | Our Earthship | Earthship Logs | Fun Stuff