JosieLynn: Sewer Treatment

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sewer Treatment

I learned a lot about the sewer treatment plant in our town by going on a tour of it last week. I learned that our water gets clean by going through many steps of sanitation. The first part of this process is where the water enters that plant. It first goes through a big grinder that grinds up solid waste, toys, fish, and any other things that people flush down their toilets. I also learned that about 99.9% of the water that goes to the plant is clean. The next step is where the water is put into a big tank that pumps oxygen into it. This allows for the healthy microorganisms to eat the dirty parts of the water. Then the water goes into another tank which allows the solids to settle to the bottom and be taken out. This is the final step before the water leaves the plant into the Grand River. The water that leaves the plant is very clean.
I saw the recycling center for the first time last week. It was pretty cool. There were bins for plastic, glass, aluminum, and cooking grease. I will recycle a lot more knowing how easy it is to sort and recycle everything. It was very easy to understand how everything worked. I enjoyed recycling and will help my family to get more involved with it.

Drought

INTRODUCTION

A Drought is a climate that has a shortage of water for an extended period of months and years. Rain rarely ever falls in a climate that has a drought. A drought can turn fertile land into a massive desert.

This is a picture of how droughts remove water quickly and how the land drys fast as well.

WHERE AND WHY

Droughts happen around the equator where water evaporates very quickly and where it is hot and dry. Some places that have droughts are India, US, Brazil, Iran, West Africa, South Afrcia, Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and Australia. Droughts happen because a region recieves belowaverage precipitation. Some of the World's droughts are shaped by cycles like El Nino and La Nina. It is predicted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research that in the future droughts will increase in intensity and the percentage of Earth's land area that has droughts will double in size.

This is a picture showing droughts. Dark purples and greys are at risk of droughts. Blues are where droughts are least likely to have a drought.

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Some of the weather conditions needed for a drought to happen are low to no water. This low amount of precipition causes the soil to dry out in a land that already has very little water. When droughts occur the risks of wildfires increase.

The top map shows where droughts were reported and the bottom map shows the people who were affected by the droughts.

TECHNOLOGY

Scientist use Case Studies to help predict droughts and how the predictions are communicated to a society. Computer-based simulations have been used to track areas of persistant dryness of the past to help predict where they might occur in the future. These models do not agree on which areas will be at risk the most.

This is a picture of African Children finding water in a Drought.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Droughts have a big impact on people and the environment. The greatest impact on the environment would be the decrease in plant life and animals because of the dryness not being able to support life. The impact on the people is that water is really hard to find and this climate doesnt allow life or human beings to survive. People would have to move out of an area of drought to places with more water.

This is a map showing Drought Frequencies in an Area in Africa.

WARNINGS

Warnings for droughts are issued by governmental figures in a society and relayed down the ladder to other groups of people who may be endangered. Droughts are a slow climate change so relaying a warning in a society wouldn't be hard to do.