When joining Scouts (as part of the Scout Law) our youth promised “to have respect for the environment”. Educating them about Wellingtons fresh and wastewater infrastructure fits well with this terms ‘water’ theme and is a great opportunity to explore the environmental impacts of the city’s water use.
Last week Colin Crampton (CEO of Wellington Water) explained to us how Wellingtons fresh water supply network operated. He touched on where our water came from, how much we used and talked about the impact of our use on the regions previously large natural fresh water springs.
Our youth had many varied and occasionally thought provoking questions!
Tonight, February 28th, we visited the Moa Point Sewage Treatment Plant. The sense of anticipation was heightened by having to don protective gloves and high-vis vests. It was therefore a little disappointing to discover that plant was basically a ‘closed system’. Still we did get to peer into the odd open hatch!
Again there was a real interest in how the plant processed wastewater – the youth listening intently to explanations of the various stages of treatment. An appreciation of the complexity of making wastewater was ‘clean’ was gained by everyone. Another great scouting experience!?
YiS, John
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