Who's Down the Well?
What is the source of your drinking water?Copyright US EPA http://www.epa.gov/privatewells/booklet/index.html
Students learn about several possible scenarios of contamination to drinking water, which comes from many different sources, including surface water and groundwater. They analyze the movement of sample contaminants through groundwater, in a similar way to how environmental engineers analyze the physical properties of groundwater to predict how and where surface contaminants travel.
Environmental engineers identify and analyze existing contamination of water sources to produce high-quality drinking water for people. Engineers also design drinking water treatment facilities that bring safe drinking water to our homes. They identify the concentration of any harmful contaminants in the water, as well as sources and impacts.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Identify several sources of contaminants to groundwater.
- Discuss the movement of possible contaminants through that groundwater from outside sources.
- Describe how environmental engineers analyze contaminants to identify placement of drinking water wells.
- Understand that environmental engineers work to clean areas of contamination around drinking water sources.