Kids Learn What Happens When They Flush

Fourth-graders at San Ramon Elementary School recently learn about what happens to water when it goes down the drain or gets flushed down the toilet.

Ninety enthusiast students had a hands-on learning experience with a mini laboratory set up in their classrooms. Lab technicians from Novato Sanitary District and Central Marin Sanitation Agency brought in all the equipment for the day. Four stations were set up for students to learn specific aspects of keeping our waterways clean.

The first station consisted of a large microscope where students got to see the microorganisms that treat the wastewater by consuming the dissolved material. The students were curious to see "real life" bugs in action.

Next, they moved on to the watershed diorama, which had a bay with a whale floating in it, waterways, a city and a farm. However, the kids were shown how oil can leak from cars (soy sauce was dribbled onto the diorama), how soap suds from washing cars drains directly into storm drains (blue cake sprinkles were used as suds) and how other contaminants can eventually get into the bay.

The environmental trouble was emphasized when a storm came (a water bottle spraying the entire diorama) and how all the dirty "soy sauce" water and blue suds were now floating around the whale in the bay. This really was an eye-opener for the kids.

Moving on, the kids learned how wastewater is treated at a treatment plant. By dropping solids and liquids into a water source, the lab technician showed the different chemicals, bugs and processes that are used to clean the water. The water changed colors, solids disappeared and the result was clean water. The kids ooohed and ahhed at these experiments.  

The final station was a fun interactive video called "EcoMasters" in which kids learned more about pollution, how to protect the environment and set in stone all that they had learned.

The educational program was a free presentation sponsored by the the wastewater treatment agencies of Marin County as part of their public education outreach programs. To learn more or have the wastewater presentation come to your school, contact the Central Marin Sanitation Agency at 459-1455.