28 -How is water made clean to drink

Transcript:

Nij: Hello, my name is Nij, and today on ImagineThis, I'm going for a run next to my favourite river! 

[Footstepsrunning alongside a gentle stream of water]

Nij: (out of breath)and I'm getting a little thirsty...

Kid 1: Have some water!

Nij:  Yeah,good idea, but I can’t find a tap or a bubbler anywhere. Maybe I can have adrink from the river…

Kid 2: Noo!

Nij: Well, how about a little sip from that puddle?

Kid 1: No!It’s dirty

Kid 2: It might make you sick

Nij: What about that one? It looks pretty fresh

[Smallsplash of water]

Kid 1: No! Its dirty!

Nij: Ah yes and that’s what today’s question isall about

Kid 2: Hi my name is Ella, and I want to know howis water made clean to drink?

Nij: How do wecleanwater?

Kid 2: I don’t know

Nij: A scrubbing brush?

Kid 1: No

Nij: Shampoo?

Kid 2: No

Nij: (laughing)A loofah?

Kid 1: (laughing)No!

Nij: Well, how?

Kid 2: We filter it

Kid 1: Because there’s viruses and dirt

Kid 2: There are some sort of special chemicals weuse and it goes through the tap water

Kid 1: And it comes out fresh

Nij: I reckon we should talk to my friend Dr AnnaRigosi, she’s a water scientist and knows lots about clean drinking water.Let’s go say hello!

[Music endson a bright flourish. A doorbell chimes and a door swings open]

Nij: Hi Anna

Anna: Hi Nij, hello kids

Kid 2: Hi Dr Rigosi

Kid 1: Hi Anna

Kid 2: Hi Anna

Nij: We have a question for you, but first can I pleasehave a glass of water? I’m really thirsty!

Anna: (laughing)Of course!

[Tap turnson, water fills a glass. Nij has a few quick sips]

Nij: Wow, that’s so much better. Thank you

Anna: Prego! So, what was your question?

Nij: How is water made clean enough so that we candrink it?

Anna: How about we imagine we’re drops of water sowe can take the great water journey together

Kid 1: Yeah!

[Magicaltransformation into raindrops begins]

Nij: I’m going see-through!

Anna: I’m all wobbly

Nij: And I’m shrinking!

[Rain dropsfall and thunder rumbles]

Kid 2: Pitter patter pitter patter

Nij: I’m flying! No wait, I’m falling! Ahhh!

Kid 1: I’m wet, I’m soaking, I’m falling

Kid 2: Weeee!

Nij: Looks like we’re falling into a huge lake.Hold on everyone!

Anna: We’re coming in for a wet landing

Nij: Get ready for a splash! Wee!

Kid 1: Wahoo!

[There’s a splashas Anna, Nij and the kids fall into the water catchment area. There are frogscroaking and insects chirping, with birds calling in the distance]

Nij: Look at all this water!

Anna: Yes, it’s enough for a whole city to drink!

Kid 2: Where does it come from?

Anna: Well, this is called a water catchment area

Nij: Ah cos theycatchthe water

Anna: Yes, from rivers and lakes, rain from the skyand even water that sits underground

Kid 2: Ew there’s bird poo in here

Kid 1: And a frog

Nij: Ew! We’re dirty water!

[Alllaughing]

Anna: Of course, it comes from nature! There’s dirtand sand and mud

Nij: We can’t drink this!

Kid 2: Ahh! There’s a fish!

[Watersplash]

Anna: Don’t worry, the fish won’t make it into thetaps. The first step of cleaning water to drink is getting all these big bitsout

Kid 1: How?

Anna: Follow the stream

[Watermovement and the sound of a drain gurgling]

Nij: I can feel us being pulled down

Kid 2: It’s like we’re going down the drain!

Anna: Yes, we’re heading into the water treatmentplant

Kid 1: Woah that a big pipe

Kid 2: It’s sucking us in!

Nij: We’re going through a net. Feels kinda nice!

Anna: This makes sure the big stuff stays out andjust the water comes in

Nij: Here we go!

[Suckingdrain gets louder and there is a flourish of water movement and bubbles]

Anna: Here we are, in the sedimentation tank!

[There is nosound except a few stray bubbles]

Nij: Anna, there’s nothing happening

Anna: Exactly. Sedimentation is when you let watersit still. After a while, all the dirt and sand sinks to the bottom

Kid 1: And clean water is on the top?

Anna: Well, it’s cleaner, but it’s not cleandrinking water yet. After sedimentation, the water is much clearer

Nij: Yeah look, the water is changing colour –it’s clear at the top and dark at the bottom

Anna: Exactly, the clear water is taken from thetop of the tank and moved to the next step

Nij: Where to next?

Anna: Filtration! Come on

[There isanother flourish of water movement and bubbles]

Nij: (straining)I can’t move! We’re stuck!

Kid 2: We’re stuck in sand!

Nij: Yeah, there’s tonnes of it

Kid 1: Eee! This is sticky

Nij: Didn’t we just get rid of all this?

Anna: Yes, but this sand is special. It’s being usedtofilterthe water

Nij: How is sand cleaning the water?

Kid 2: Because of the small gaps, maybe the waterwill sink all the way down

Kid 1: The bad stuff sticks to the sand and it dropsdown then you can drink it

Anna: Yes! The sand is really, really fine. Thatmeans each grain is very small, almost like powder. As the water moves throughthe sand, all the teeny tiny bits of dirt get stuck, but the water can movethrough it

Nij: Anna, can we drink it now?

Anna: Almost! There’s just one thing left to takeout, and it’s the smallest part

Nij: What’s that?

Anna: All the microscopic bacteria! Come on, let’swiggle through this sand and head onto the last stage

Kid 2: What is it?

Anna: Disinfection!

[There isanother flourish of water movement and bubbles]

Nij: Now this water is clear

Kid 1: Crystal clear!

Anna: Yes, all the steps we’ve been through havedone a great job at all the yucky things we don’t want to drink. Now the laststep is disinfecting it

Kid 2: The dirt has a lot of microbes and germs whichget all absorbed into the water

Anna: Exactly. They can make you sick so, achemical called chlorine is added to the water to kill all the bad germs

Nij: Chlorine – that’s what goes in swimming pools

Kid 1: Yes

Kid 2: Chlorine is in the pool

Nij: Yeah, and you’re not supposed to drink poolwater

Anna: There’s too much chlorine in a swimming pool todrink. But here in a water treatment plant, much less is added to the water.And, if the water is very clean at this stage, you don’t have to add much atall

Kid 2: Where does it go now?

Anna: In our cities, it’s sent out to all the tapsacross thousands of kilometres of pipes

Nij: Can we drink it now?

Anna: Yeah!

Nij: Woohoo!

[Slurpingand sipping sounds in the water]

Nij:(laughing)I’m drinking myself!

[Kids laugh]

Nij: Where else does this water go?

Anna: Well, it’s not just kitchen taps - it’sshowers, garden hoses and even toilets

Kid 1: What?!

Nij: After all this work cleaning it? It’s justgetting flushed down a toilet!?

Anna: That’s why it’s important to use water wisely.C’mon there’s one last stop on our drinking water journey

[There isanother flourish of water movement and bubbles. Outdoor farm noises fade in –cows mooing and dogs barking]

Nij: Hey! We’re on a farm

Kid 2: Hello cows!

Kid 1: Hello sheep

Nij: What do cows have to do with drinking water?

Anna: They have a lot to do with it!

Kid 2: What do you mean?

Anna: Because the way we uselandhas a bigeffect on water!

Kid 1: How?

Anna: Well, fresh water comes from lots of places.

Nij: Yeah, it can melt on snowy mountains and thenrun down into rivers and lakes

Anna: It can come from the ground under our feet

Kid 2: And from the sky too

Kid 1: From rain

Kid 2: And hail

Kid 1: And snow

Anna: It’s all connected in a great big water cycle

Nij: Does all of that water become drinking water?

Anna: It can become drinking water, but every stepon the water’s journey, it can get mixed with lots of things you don’t want todrink.

Kid 2: Like what?

Anna: Like fertilizer from big farms like this one,or plastics and other chemicals that end up in our waterways 

Nij: Yuck we don’t wanna drink that

Kid 1: It’s bad

Anna: There are so many amazing ways to clean waterbut the best thing we can do, is make sure our waterstaysclean in thefirst place.

Kid 2: Use less plastic

Kid 1: Clean up the rubbish

Kid 2: Use less oil

Anna: And there are others too. Like eating fruitand veggies that are in season and that don’t have to travel too far to get toyour plate

Nij: Wow, farms, oceans, the supermarket! Drinkingwater is connected to so many things!

Anna: Yes, and it’s all the same water.

Nij: Yeah, we can’tmakemore water

Anna: It keeps moving through the water cycle

Kid 1: Water falls down as rain, and it flows downrivers, maybe in pipes into the ocean. Then it gets heated up then it becomesclouds and falls as rain again

Anna: That’s why it’s so important we take care ofthe world’s water

Nij: Thanks, Anna!

Kid 2: Thanks very much for having us

Kid 1: Thanks Anna

Kid 2: Bye

Kid 1: See you

Anna: Ciao!

Nij: Ciao

[Farm noisesfade under bright classical music]

Nij: So, the water that comes out of the tap

[Faucetsqueaking on]

has been on along journey. From rain in the sky

[Rain fallsand thunder rumbles]

Or water in awinding river

[Sound ofrushing river]

All the way to awater catchment area to be cleaned and treated. First, the water is cleanedwith screens to get the sticks and leaves out

Kid 1: … and the little fishies

Nij: Next, it’s left to sit still so all the dirtand mud sinks to the bottom

Kid 2: Sedimentation!

Nij: Then it’s pushed through very fine sand

Kid 1: It’s a filter!

Nij: to catch any tiny particles. Next, chemicalsare added, like chlorine, to kill any germs that could make us sick

[Sound of dissolvingchemical]

Until it’s readyto go through thousands of kilometres of pipes,

[Clankingpipes]

All the way tothe taps in your home

[Water glassbeing filled, a shower turns on, and a toilet flushes]

But that’s notthe end of the story, because it’s a cycle

Kid 2: The water cycle!

Nij: The water we use goes back into nature

[Sound ofbird calls and insects chirping]

We have to lookwater and all the land it passes through, from skies

[Thunderrumbles]

to seas

[Wavescrash]

to fields

[Cow moos]

to the tap

[Faucettightens off as music ends]