4.26 WATER RESEARCH
While Canada is fortunate in regard to potable water supply, other countries in the world are less so. Students can work in teams to look at water quality and quantity statistics of different continents or world regions: South America, Central America and Caribbean; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; the Middle East, Africa; Asia; Micronesia.
Questions to focus their research are suggested:
- what proportion of the population has access to safe drinking water?
- what and where are there important health problems as a result of water-borne diseases (more than10% of the population affected)?
- what percentage of the population drinks reprocessed waste water?
- what are the water demands by sector: agriculture, industry, and domestic/household use?
- what proportion of the population lives in cities which have inadequate sanitation or water treatment facilities.
[Sidebar:
Atlas on the Environment and the State of the Earth Atlas and the annually issued UNDP Human Development Reports are good sources of information for this exercise.]
4.27 BOTTLED WATER-IS IT BETTER?
Many markets in urban Canada now sell bottled water which is sometimes claimed to come from "springs", artesian wells, or to be mineral water. Collect a range of these products and find out as much as you can about the source and composition of these waters. How does the quality of the bottled water compare with that coming from the tap in the town? Why do people buy bottled water if municipal governments provide good water available in the home at low cost? Use the How Much Energy is in My Lunch (Activity 3.8) approach to determine the "real costs" of bottled water.
4.28 WHO'S USING OUR WATER?
Who are the major water users in the region? Try to find out how much water is used by industry, business, agriculture, and by domestic users. How do the amounts compare? Are all users charged the same rates for water? Do any user groups, (e.g. farmers or industry) get special, reduced water rates? Analyse the reasons.
4.29 INVESTIGATING WATERWAYS
What are the major sources of water pollution in your area? Have students develop a large map of the region locating the potential and actual water pollution sources. Take note of agriculture, feed lots, and other food producing activities as potential pollution sources. Logging in watersheds can also contribute to water pollution and stream degradation. How do the various sources of pollution treat their wastes? What enforcement is practised to control and check pollution sources? Have there been any recent violations of pollution controls: how were the violations addressed by the regulators? (See Appendix 1-Sample Lesson Plans for a more detailed description of this activity.)
4.30 WATER SAVING TOOLS
Some municipal utilities, hardware and plumbing supply companies now sell special devices to help conserve water. They include flow reducers for showers and special toilet valves, as well as low water volume toilets. Contact some local suppliers and find out whether or not these are available in your area. Contact some plumbers and find out whether or not housing developers and general contractors install these fixtures when building new homes-if not, why not?
4.31 WETLAND HABITATS
Try to find out whether any local conservation organizations in your area are especially concerned about wetland habitats, streams and rivers, or lakes. Are there any projects operated by larger organizations such as Salmonoid Enhancement, Ducks Unlimited, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act, Save Our Wetlands? Find out about the local projects and goals of the organizations in your area. Who sponsors these organizations? Do they need student volunteers?
4.32 PESTICIDES IN OUR WATER?
What pesticides are used by government agencies in your area? One group of students could check highway departments, railways, agriculture departments, city parks, school boards and other official bodies which might employ insecticides, herbicides or other pesticides. What pesticides do they use, how often, and for what purposes? Try to find out information about the long term impacts of these pesticides and whether or not they are known to move into aquatic habitats. Another group of students might look at pesticides for sale in local garden supply centres, drug stores and hardware stores. Make a list of these products and find out as much as possible about their environmental impacts. Do the same for national lawn care companies.
|
