Lakota Waste Water Treatment Plant

Yes, you read it right, we visited the Lakota Waste Water Treatment Plant. Having studied the water cycle and having read several books about taking care of the earth's rivers, lakes and oceans, we wanted to see just how the water goes from our sinks, our bathtubs, our washing machines and our...er, uh, toilets out to the Puget Sound. It was quite the sensory overload and quite the fun, walking through and over a myriad of tanks, filters, water ways, machine rooms and pipe hallways. 

Safety first!

The primary, the secondary and the treated water. 

The clean water goes out to Puget Sound.

The left over sludge gets sent to Eastern Washington as fertilizer for hay and corn (animal feed) fields.

Step 1: Taking out the things that don't belong in water: plastics, dental floss, bark etc. 

It took awhile to get used to walking over the water, especially the strong smelling water. 

Lots of holding tanks.

Getting the grease out of the water. 

These men are very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. 

As we progress through the process, the water looks and smells much better!

The ultraviolet purification step

The water is clean and ready to go back to the Puget Sound. 

There it goes!

We love where we live!

When asked if anyone wanted to work at a waste water treatment plant when they grow up, no hands went up (the odor was the deciding factor, not the math or the science involved.) 

But when asked if anyone wanted to learn more about taking care of the earth's greatest natural resource - water - all hands went up!

On to our next science topic, environmentalism....