NEWBURYPORT — Edward G. Molin Upper Elementary School fifth-graders on Thursday soaked in all the sights, sounds and smells associated with the city’s water cycle when it toured multiple facilities, including the wastewater treatment plant on Water Street.
“It was gross but it was also pretty cool,” fifth-grader Lorelei Rea said.
The wastewater plant tour was part of an all-day field trip for fifth-graders that began at the city’s water treatment plant on Spring Lane. There, the kids were given a lesson on the Merrimack River watershed by water superintendent Tom Cusick.
“They learned about precipitation, the finite amount of water on Earth and human-impact pollution, chemicals and runoff,” fifth-grade teacher Kathy Volpone said.
Kids then headed over to the wastewater plant where Volpone said Sewer Division Chief Operator Christopher Pratt taught her students about the chlorine-killing process the city goes through before running the water back into the river.
“This is all part of human impact,” she said. “And we wanted the kids to know how we’re making sure that the water we use is ready to be put back into the water cycle appropriately at the river.”
The kids were also taught about the bacteria that’s used to break down sludge.
Volpone’s fellow fifth-grade teacher, Josh Cote, said his students got to take a look at the sludge-eating bacteria under a microscope.
“They could see them moving around, eating the sludge,” he said. “Each station they went to showed how the filtration system improves the water, step by step. It was a great visual for the kids.”
The whole day, according to Rea, was very educational.
“I used to wonder where everything goes. I used to think it went to a place and I didn’t really know what happened to it,” she said. “Now, I know.”
Another student, Landry Desch, said she learned not to flush sanitary wipes down the toilet anymore.
“They don’t break down that easily and get stuck in the pipes,” she said.
Fifth-grader Benson Adams said the tour was a unique experience.
“We were literally standing above chunks of poop,” he said. “But it wasn’t that smelly.”
Adams and his classmate Penn Weigold said they were excited to go home and flush their toilets with a new understanding of how the process works.
Fifth-grader Whitaker Murphy said she learned a lot more on the field trip than by just sitting in a classroom.
Volpone enthusiastically agreed.
“This kind of learning is so much more engaging and memorable for the kids,” she said. “It doesn’t make as much sense to them when we’re just in a general lab. When they can actually come out and see this process in every step and how much work goes into it, they appreciate the people who do the work.”
After the wastewater facility tour, the students had a picnic lunch near the river.
From there, they ended their day by heading over to Maple Crest Farm in West Newbury to find out about agricultural runoff at the Indian Hill Reservoir. (The city draws its water from the Indian Hill Reservoir, along with the Upper Artichoke and Lower Artichoke reservoirs.)
Fifth-graders took a similar field trip last year. Volpone said she made sure to refine the experience this week.
On Monday and Tuesday, fifth-graders began their water cycle unit with a presentation on the Merrimack River watershed from the Greenscapes North Shore Coalition.
The Ipswich-based collaborative of municipalities as well as partner organizations focuses on stormwater and watershed-related issues.
Volpone said representatives from the organization came to her school’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM for short) lab to teach her students about the human impact on the river as well as how to keep it’s safe, moving forward.
Those lessons, she added were made possible thanks to a roughly $2,500 grant from the city’s Resiliency Committee.
“They used hands-on models to show the kids the watershed maps, the different stages of the water and how it goes from clear to used, then is turned into fertilizer,” she said. “They also saw a 3D model of chemicals being put into a well, all the way down to the groundwater.”
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.