The water supply of New Haven comes from at least three different sources: either Lake Galliard in North Branford, Lake Saltonstall in East Haven, or the West River, and/or Lake Galliard. As you can see the water for the city has a distance to travel and this impacts its quality. It is not enough to consider the condition of the lake or reservoir but also the path that the water travels to get there. This area which the water travels through on its way to the lake or reservoir is called a watershed. Those surrounding towns like Hamden, North Haven, Woodbridge and Cheshire which also have people getting their water from wells must also consider the activities going on around them that may impact their drinking water. Whereas surface water is stored in lakes, rivers or reservoirs, well water is stored in underground holding area called aquifers.16 In order for student to see what an aquifer is like there is a good experiment offered by the EPA website that is called Aquifer in a cup. In the experiment students make their own model of an aquifer to see how it can be polluted and affect the drinking water.
Objective: Students will make individual models of an aquifer to help them understand their importance and how they work.
Materials needed
Clear plastic cups 2 ¾” deep x 3 ¼” wide
1 piece of modeling clay that can be flattened into a 2’pancake
White play sand that fill each student’s cup ¼”
Aquarium gravel natural color or small pebbles about ½ cup per student. Pebbles should be washed to remove any dust so they will not cloud the cup.
Red food coloring
Eye droppers
Containers of clean water and small cups to scoop water with
Procedure
1. Put ¼” of white sand into bottom of each cup completely covering the bottom. Pour water into the sand wetting it completely but make sure all the water is absorbed. Let students see the water while absorbed is still around the particles of sand and is stored like in an aquifer.
2. Have students flatten a piece of clay into a pancake big enough to cover half of the container. It represents a “confining layer” that keeps water from passing through.
3. Pour some small amount of water over it so students and see that ht e water stays on top and doesn’t travel through the clay.
5. The next layer should be the aquarium rocks. Have students slope the rocks forming a high hill and a valley. Now pour water over the rocks. The rocks form a porous layer. Pour water over the rocks and students will see that water is stored in between them and that a “surface” supply of water (a small lake) has formed.
6. Have students now put a few drops of red food coloring on top of the rock hill as close to the side as possible. Explain that the dye represents the pollution from motor oils, chemicals, farm chemicals and trash. Students should see the red coloring spread through the rock and also out into the surface water.
7. Have students take their aquifer home and explain what is happening to our water supply to their parents.17
When the regional Water Authority takes water from wells or reservoirs there may be tiny particles of dirt and leaves or other organic matter with certain contaminants in it. By the word contaminant I mean anything which enters the water and has the affect of making it unacceptable as drinkable water. Therefore as water is pumped in along the miles of pipe the water goes to a water treatment plant where chemicals are introduced which will cause the particles to sink to the bottom. Filtering is also done to remove very fine particles. Ground water which comes from wells is usually cleaner since it is usually cleansed by its journey through layers of the earth. However this assumption is dependent on what is in the ground that the water is traveling through. The quality of the water will depend on the local conditions. 18
The potential contaminants fall into four categories:
(1) Inorganic (metals and minerals)
(2) Volatile organic chemicals (mostly industrial solvents and chemicals)
(3) Synthetic organic chemical (mostly pesticides).
(4) Biological contaminants (bacteria, viruses, parasites)19
There are two types of pollutants: point source and nonpoint source. Point source contamination is when something harmful is put directly into the water. An example of this would be a spill from an oil tanker into the ocean. A nonpoint source of contamination occurs when some harmful substance gets into the water indirectly. An example of this is when fertilizers enter the water supply through runoff. Rules and regulations have more effect on point source contamination while nonpoint source contamination is more difficult to stop. Pollution from runoff or industrial waste is harder to control because they occur as a byproduct of some other activity which is often economically difficult to eliminate. For example much of the pollution from petroleum and radioactive substances are the result of nuclear power plants, and the industrial and medical use of radioactive material. Can we turn off power plants or stop medical use of radioactive materials? It would be hard to justify. Can we jeopardize jobs by eliminating industries that pollute the environment? While we can try to clean up certain industries total elimination is almost impossible. The nature of nonpoint source pollution often means that the contamination has gone into the groundwater and cleanup there may be difficult if not impractical. The cost to local, state and the federal government often precludes any attempt to deal with nonpoint source pollution.20
In order to guarantee that its customers have the highest quality water the Regional Water Authority follows a four-step process: (1) Protection: monitoring the quality of the water and activities that take place on the surrounding land. (2) Treatment: Water is filtered and treated with chlorine to kill microbes that can cause illness, (3) Distribute: Supply clean water through pipes that are periodically flushed to remove naturally occurring sediments, (4) Monitor: Verify the cleanliness and safety of the water supply by testing samples in the laboratory. The WRA also employs a police patrol that monitors the lands to keep the recreation areas safe and the preserve the water quality in the watersheds.21
Thanks to one member of the seminar, I was introduced to the Freddy the Fish story and website which illustrates in a wonderful hands on way how the waters become polluted. The activity basically involves telling the story of Freddy the Fish. Students are given a number of things like soil, paper dots, pancake syrup, soapy water, etc. to mimic the pollutants that find their way into our water systems. The story is told in nine sections. In each section Freddie who is a fish made from sponge travels downstream in an aquarium. As each part of the story is told Freddie goes by a portion of the river where some type of waste is put into the environment by polluters or in this case the classroom students. Students are encouraged to make comments and observe after the pollutants enter the aquarium. At the end of the story students can see how the problem of water pollution happens. 22
