It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {TAPS Manual Part 3: Leaky Underground Storage Tanks}

Frannie's friends at the Groundwater Foundation recently published the second edition of the Training About Protecting the Source (TAPS) Manual. The manual guides users through hands-on activities that explore potential threats to groundwater and challenges them to think about what can be done to protect this key drinking water source.

This manual can be used inside the classroom and is aligned to the national Next Generation Science Standards, but Frannie loves just learning about groundwater, no matter where she is. For the next few weeks, you can join her as she works through the different activities. 

Frannie will be using the Groundwater Foundation's Awesome Aquifer Kit, but if you don't have one, you can follow along with materials that might be found around your home. This is the second part of Frannie's exploration of the TAPS Manual. You can follow the link to see what she learned about improperly abandoned wells and the over-application of fertilizer.

Today's activity is....Leaky Underground Storage Tanks.

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An underground storage tank system (UST) is a tank and any underground piping connected to the tank that has at least 10 percent of its combined volume underground. Underground storage tanks can contain fuels, chemicals, and wastes. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency there are over 550,000 underground storage tanks that store fuels or other hazardous substances. These tanks may leak and when they do, they can contaminate surrounding soil, groundwater, surface waters, and even affect indoor air quality.

For this activity, you will need:

• Awesome Aquifer Kit, OR
• Plastic box
• Gravel
• Plastic tube
• Hand pump or Syringe
• Nylon
• Rubber band
• Food dye
• Small plastic container with lid (ex. a film cannister, sprinkles or spice container, etc.)
• 16 oz cup of water

Activity Steps

1. Read through all the instructions first before you begin to build the model. Make sure you have all the needed materials and supplies.

 

2. Fill the plastic box with gravel until it is about ¼ full.

 

3. Add water so that half of the rocks are covered. (This will represent an aquifer.)

 

4. Create a well by covering the end of the plastic tube with nylon, securing it with a rubber band.

 

5. Insert the well, with the well screen on the bottom, near one corner of the plastic box. Push the well down so that it reaches the bottom of the model.

 

6. Add more gravel until the box is about ½-¾ full. The surface of the gravel should be fairly level across the box.

 

7. Dye about 1.5 oz of water with three or four drops of food coloring and use it to fill the plastic container. Seal the container when full.

   

8.Using a tack, carefully poke holes in one end of the film canister or container.

 

9. Dig a small hole in the gravel on the opposite side of the model from the well. Place the canister/container inside the hole. The end of the container with the holes poked in it should be facing down. Cover the container, either partially or entirely, as long as at least 10% of it is underground.

 

10. Pour water on the surface of the gravel to simulate rain. Observe what happens to the colored water inside the storage tank after it rained. 

 

11. Pump the well by inserting the tip of the syringe into the well (plastic tube) or attaching and pumping the hand pump.

Frannie observed that once the water "rained" over her aquifer, the red water, which was contained in the storage unit, leaked out into the aquifer below. As it rained more and more, even more leachate entered the aquifer. Very quickly, the whole aquifer becomes contaminated  and when Frannie tried to pump water up from the aquifer, it was pink from the contaminant. 

Storage tanks are a common and useful way of storing and disposing of toxic waste, but they must be monitored carefully to prevent contamination of our drinking water sources, crops, and livestock.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Upcycled Conservation Flowers}

Hooray! It's finally May! That means we've finally reached the time of year where the flowers, bushes, and trees are coming to life in beautiful and vibrant colors. This year, try planting some Upcycled Conservation Flowers to remind you of all the ways you can conserve water.

But wait a minute, Frannie: what in the world are Upcycled Conservation Flowers?

Upcycling is a fun trend that helps protect the environment by reusing items that may have previously been thrown away. Reusing an item keeps it from ending up in a landfill where it may take millions of years to decompose. Upcycled Conservation Flowers are made out of plastic water bottles and each petal represents an easy way to help conserve and protect groundwater! 

Find out how to make them below!

Students showing off their Upcycled Conservation Flowers!

Materials:

• Empty plastic water bottle
• 8 different colored acrylic paints
• Paint brush
• Hole punch
• String
• Wood stick (optional)
• Glue
• Sequins, beads, paper, glitter, or gems

Instructions:

1. Clean your plastic water bottle. Remove any plastic labeling from the outside.
2. Cut your water bottle in half. Recycle the bottom half of your bottle.
3. Cut eight petals by cutting from the middle of the bottle towards the cap. Make sure to cut all the way to the edge of the cap. Round the edges.
4. Press the petals out and flatten them to make your bottle look like a flower.
5. Paint each petal a different color to represent the different ways to protect and conserve groundwater. Add glitter for fun!
6. Cover the cap with beads, gems, sequins, paper, or paint to represent the pistil/stamen.
7. Use a paper hole punch and string to make your flower an ornament or use a wooden stick and glue to create a decorative flower for potted plants.

Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater:

Go Native
Use native plants in your landscape. They look great, and don't need much water or fertilizer.
Reduce Chemical Use
Use fewer chemicals around your home and yard, and make sure to dispose of them properly - don't dump them on the ground!
Don't Let It Run
Shut off the water when brushing your teeth, and don't let it run while waiting for it to get cold. Keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge instead!
Fix the Drips
Check all the faucets, fixtures, toilets, and taps for leaks and fix them right away.
Shower Smarter
Limit yourself to just a five minute shower, and challenge your family members to do the same!
Water Wisely
Water plants during the coolest parts of the day and only when they truly need it. Make sure you, your family and neighbors obey any watering restrictions.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Reduce the amount of "stuff" you use and reuse what you can. Recycle paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, aluminum, and other materials.
Learn More!
Get involved in water education! Learn more about groundwater by checking out The Groundwater Foundation's website www.groundwater.org/get-informed/.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {At Home Learning: You Be The Judge}

Water is an essential part of our everyday life. Water resource managers, city utility personnel, water well professionals, and more go to work every day to make sure we all maintain access to our clean water, even in uncertain circumstances.

Sometimes they are faced with hard decisions: Should water use be restricted? Should a certain amount of water be allocated to certain people or to everyone? In the following activity, you will be provided scenarios and you get to decide who should get the water. You be the judge!

Here's what you need:

• Pitcher filled with water
• Cups for each participant
• Water use cards - you can copy or print the cards found in the activity instructions or make posters representing different water uses
• Scissors 
• Poster board (optional)
• Markers (optional)  

Here's what you do:  
1. Fill a pitcher with water. Make sure there is a limited amount of water so that not all cups can be filled.

2. Give each participant a cup.

3. Pass around the pitcher so each participant can fill their cup. A full cup represents enough water for the participants to meet their water needs.

4. Sometimes there is not enough water available for everyone's needs - in times of drought for example. Ask the participants to express how they feel.

5. Ask what they could do to make sure they all get water.

6. Repeat steps 1-5, this time with water allocations. Choose one or combine both of the following options:

• First in time, first in right. Have the participants arrange themselves in order by their birth date.   
• Use the water use cards found in the activity instructions to determine how the water is distributed. Randomly pass out the cards. Participants can use the information on the cards to discuss and campaign for more water or why others should get more and some should get less.

7. Discuss the results, other ways the water could be allocated, and what the participants learned about water use. 

• Those with more important uses get more. Who decides what's more important?
• Equal shares: everyone gets some, but some will get less than what they need.
• Apply water restrictions and use water conservation practices to reduce the amount needed/used.

Share what you learned with the Groundwater Foundation!

BLOG: 4 Simple Ways to Start Saving Water At Home Today

by Sally Phillips, Freelance Writer

Water is a necessity for life. Our survival depends on the availability of water and our consideration of its usage - a factor that often slip our minds. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the average American family of four uses roughly 300 gallons of water a day, 70 percent of which is used indoors. Many of our daily tasks involve water; showering, cooking, gardening even ironing (steam irons). Growing concern over water usage has spurred interest in ways we can be  more efficient with our usage. Businesses and industries including agriculture and aquaculture are seeking ways to conserve water. But how can we save water at home?  Check out these simple ways you can implement at home to get behind the conserve water movement.

Practice Efficiency With Your Faucets
One of the simplest things we often do that leads to water wastage: leave our taps running. Leaving the water on while brushing our teeth or washing our dishes, or even just neglecting to fully turn off the tap can waste liters of water each year. When using your taps, get into the habit of just switching them on when needed. For example, keep the tap switched off while you brush your teeth and only turn it on to rinse. Switching the water off can save valuable water and dramatically decrease your water bills. Don’t hesitate to fix leaks and faulty fixtures, such as toilets. Leaky toilets can waste up to 20 liters of water each year.

Get Behind Re-purposing
There are some great innovative, yet simple, ways you can reuse water in your home. Simple tricks around the house such as installing a shower bucket and capturing and reusing your pasta water and water used to rinse fruits and vegetables can help reduce your water use and ensures maximum efficiency of the water you do end up using. A great idea for re-purposing and reusing water is to install a grey water recycling system which is typically connected to your home’s plumbing system and can save as much as 35 percent of the water that would otherwise be returned to the sewers.

Time Your Showers
A 10 minute shower uses an average of 25 liters of water while a bath can use between 35-50 liters each time. Turning off the shower while you lather up can save you hundreds each year in water costs. If you tend to lose track while showering, try setting a timer to keep you from losing track of time. The installation of a low-flow showerhead in your shower costs just a few dollars but can turn out to be one of the most effective tips for going green in your residence.

Upgrade Your Appliances
Regular daily-use appliances such as your washing machines and dishwashers are often major determinants of your household water usage. However, with the progression of technology and support of sustainability, there are now a magnitude of more efficient appliances available. When using, only run full loads of laundry or dishes or if you generally have smaller loads, consider installing a smaller model, certified by Energy Star. Opting for an Energy Star washer and dryer can save a household up to $370 over its lifetime. Energy efficient washers can use up to 33 percent less water than standard models.

When you are conserving water, you are not only conserving the Earth’s resources but also reducing your energy usage and in turn, your household bills. By using these simple water saving techniques around your home, you can see the result from the very first month. The future of the planet and your pockets will thank you.
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Sally Phillips is a freelance writer with many years experience writing across many different areas. She enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family, and traveling as much as possible.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the view of The Groundwater Foundation, its board of directors, or individual members.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Rain Barrels}

If April showers bring May flowers, then what do May flowers bring?

June bugs!

All joking aside, it’s very hard to keep those beautiful May flowers alive and blooming through the hot and dry summer months. Frannie wants to share with you an easy, and even artistic, way to save and repurpose rain water this season.

Rain barrels are, broadly, any type of above-ground container that has been modified to collect and store rooftop runoff for non-drinking uses. During a heavy rain, gutters efficiently move the water away from the roof and out onto the ground below but all of the water can quickly over-saturate the soil. By collecting that water in a rain barrel instead, we can reduce the amount of water that evaporates or flows away.

Rain barrels can cost as little as $20 for a simple container installed by the homeowner or as much as $300 for a fancy set-up and you can be as creative with it as you like. Many people opt to paint the barrels with their favorite flowers or insects that help pollinate the gardens.

And in case you need another reason to start building your own rain barrel, the EPA suggests that the average home saves 1300 gallons of water over the course of the summer!

Save money and water this summer by installing a rain barrel and share your progress with us on Facebook and Twitter!

BLOG: 5 Ways to Save Water in Your Home

by Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation

The average American uses about 100 gallons of water a day. For comparison's sake, the average person in the Netherlands uses only 27 gallons per day, and the average person in the African nation of Gambia uses only 1.17 gallons per day.

So how can we use less?

1. Take Shorter Showers
A quick shower uses 20-30 fewer gallons of water than a bath. Challenge yourself to take just showers of just 5 minutes or less, then challenge your family members to do the same. Use a shower timer to help keep the time down. 

2. Check the Plumbing
Proper maintenance is one of the most effective water savers. Faucet washers are inexpensive and take only a few minutes to replace. At home, check all water taps, hoses, and hose connections (even those that connect to dishwashers and washing machines) for leaks.

3. Don’t Let It Run
It’s simple really, before you turn on the tap, think of ways you can use less water to accomplish the same purpose. Always shut off the water when you brush your teeth, fill the sink when shaving instead of letting the water run, keep a pitcher of water in the fridge instead of running it til it gets cold.

4. Drip No More!
There is no such thing as a little drip. A leaky faucet can waste 10 gallons of water every day. On a toilet, an average leak can add up to 60 gallons per day! Replace worn sink washers or valve seals to get rid of the drip, and check for leaks in a toilet's tank or replace old toilets with low-flush units.

5. Fill It Up
Only run full loads in the dish and clothes washers. Get the most clean for the least amount of water!

For more ways to conserve water, download the free 30by30 water tracking app. Challenge yourself to reduce your water use, and tell us how you did.

BLOG: At Home - Clean Your Drains Naturally to Protect Water

by Sally Phillips, freelance writer

Clean and sustainable groundwater is the water we drink and the water we use to grow our food. Groundwater is essential for both our health and the health of our environment and is the largest source of usable, fresh water in the world. In fact, about 27 trillion gallons of groundwater are withdrawn for use in the U.S. yearly. 

What we do at home has an impact on groundwater and the environment. Did you know that drain cleaners are actually among the most toxic home cleaning products? While you think you are unclogging your drains, you are actually harming your pipes, your health and the environment.

The Dangers For Your Health 
Drain cleaners often contain bleach, sodium silicate, lye or caustic soda. Bleach and ammonia can harm your lungs, eyes and respiratory system in general, as a combination of the two can produce toxic gases. This can happen even if you unknowingly dump an ammonia based cleaning solution after cleaning your floors down the sink, which might still contain drain cleaner.

Furthermore, lye requires the production of heavy metals and can cause irritation when breathed in or when it comes into contact with the skin.

Repeated contact with these hazardous chemicals can have serious repercussions on your health and lead to serious conditions and even poisoning. If swallowed, drain cleaners can even cause death.

The Dangers For The Environment
Bleach can combine with surface water to create a number of toxins which can represent a hazard to the environment. Lye is also dangerous for the environment, as it can modify the pH of water and in turn can affect the animals and plants living in lakes, streams and rivers.

Even the packaging is dangerous and should be treated as hazardous waste and cannot be recycled, as it still contains toxic chemicals and the residue from drain cleaners can be dangerous and have detrimental effects on the environment. 

The Natural Alternatives 
Clogs often are the direct result of dumping fat, oil or grease down the sink; these substances may come from dirty dishes or certain soaps. Even natural soaps may contain drain-clogging vegetable fats. Keeping your sinks, toilets and bathtubs clean with drain traps or by discarding what you can instead of pouring it down the drain can help your pipes last longer and benefit the environment. 

If your drains do get clogged, you can use hot water as an immediate solution. In fact, hot water melts soap scum and grease and enough hot water will flush the melted grease out of your pipes. It can even help with particles such as eggshells or hair, as it will melt the grease surrounding those particles. Be sure to check the temperature of the water however, as boiling water can actually melt your pipes.

A plunger can also be an effective solution, as sometimes the change in pressure is sufficient to move the clog to an area of the pipe where it is easier to rinse it away. A strong seal around the edge of the plunger is necessary for best results. 

Other effective solutions include a combination of baking soda and vinegar, which produces carbon dioxide and dissolve residues, and natural enzyme drain cleaners, which employ enzymes to eat the organic material stuck in your drains. 

Prevention is the Key
The best way to keep your pipes clean and help the environment is to try to avoid clogs in the first place. This is easy if you follow a few simple rules: 

• Place a hair trap in showers
• Let grease solidify and throw it in the trash; do not pour it down the drain 
• Do not put fruit and vegetable peels or cheese in the garbage disposal

Unclogging your drains using harsh chemicals can be dangerous to you and the environment, but by keeping your drains clean and using natural solutions, you can avoid the negative effects of chemical drain cleaners.

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Sally Phillips is a freelance writer with many years experience across many different areas. She enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family, and traveling as much as possible. Reach her at sally@diamondmail.net.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the view of The Groundwater Foundation, its board of directors, or individual members.