From River to Faucet: Water Plant Words

From River to Faucet

1When you turn on a faucet, clean water pours out. But that water did not start out clean. Many towns get their water from a river, a lake or a reservoir. A reservoir is a lake that people make to store water. Before anyone drinks the water, it goes to a water treatment plant. To treat water means to clean it so it is safe to use.

2First, the water passes through screens. These screens work like giant strainers. They catch sticks, leaves and trash but let the water flow through.

3Next, workers add a substance that makes tiny bits of dirt stick together into clumps. The water rests in big tanks. Slowly, the heavy clumps sink to the bottom. The dirt that settles on the bottom is called sediment.

4Then the water trickles through filters. A filter is a layer of material with very small spaces in it. At many plants, the filters are made of sand and gravel. The spaces are too small for most of the leftover bits to slip through.

5Water can look clear and still hold germs. Germs are living things so tiny that you need a microscope to see them, and some can make people sick. So workers disinfect the water. They add a small amount of a chemical that kills germs.

6The clean water travels through large underground pipes called water mains. Smaller pipes carry it into homes and schools. All day long, people called operators run the plant. They take samples, or small amounts of water, and test them to make sure the water is safe.