LET'S MEET THIRSTIN & LEARN ABOUT WATER:

Thirstin, Water Mascot for the US Environmental Protection Agency, is considered a favorite of the City of Fountain's Water Department for helping to promote, educate and provide valuable information concerning protecting and conserving our drinking water.

Thirstin and his friends below are always willing to help spread the word on how important water is to everyone. Did you know that without water all living things would pass away? Now you may be asking yourself, why is water that important? Why do living things need water to survive? Where does all the water come from? How old is the earth's water?

Thirstin and his friends would like to answer some of your questions. So let's start at the beginning on how old is the earth's water? Do you know?

Would you believe the Earth's water, including Colorado's water, is as old as the Earth itself or, in other words, the Earth's water has been around since the beginning of time? Further, the water that we drink, sprinkle on crops, fish in, and use to manufacture goods today is the same water that was on the Earth from the very beginning. And did you know the Earth's amount of water is the same today as it was millions of years ago - no more, no less? Would you believe prehistoric dinosaurs drank the same water we drink today or can you believe a remote tribe in the rain forest of Africa might have used the same water we use today to clean their wild game? Or even the water that may have been flushed down a toilet in New York is being used somewhere else today? How about the water in the ocean that Christopher Columbus sailed on to reach America? The answer to all these questions is yes! Even after being used time and time again by people, domestic animals, fish and wildlife, plants, bacteria, and all other forms of life, most of the earth's water is still around for use.

Then what does that say about water? First of all, it says that "water is recyclable!" Water has a remarkable ability to return to a useable state after being used. As water moves through the Hydrologic Cycle (water cycle) it is filtered by underground soil and rock material; it evaporates off of lakes and streams; and, it is taken up by plants through a process called evapotranspiration and sent into the atmosphere as water vapors leaving contaminants behind. The quality of Earth's water would degrade at a rapid rate in the absence of these important natural processes. People also play a role in cleaning water through treatment and water purification technology, which has advanced to the point that most common contaminants can be removed before being delivered to users.

How does Water Recycle? Water moves in a continuous cycle between the air, ground, plants and animals. Most water does not naturally exist in a pure form or in a form that is safe for people to drink. That is why water must be cleaned before we drink it. Water Utility Companies provide such treatment before water is sent through pipes to homes in the community. The demand for water varies. The availability of water also varies in different areas of the world. In order to meet those varying demands, Water Utility Companies may store extra water in places known as reservoirs. Water is usually contained in reservoirs by a dam. Reservoirs help ensure that communities do not run out of water at any given time regardless of the community's total water use. To learn more about the water cycle, you can visit the U.S. Geological Survey's website that gives you a more thorough background on the process at the following website: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.html along with related topics.

Do you know what a Hydrologic Cycle is? Some of the water sources used in a reservoir comes from precipitation in the form of rain and snow or other bodies of water also may feed off the reservoir, such as lakes and rivers. Do you know how water gets into a reservoir? It seeps over and through the soil above the reservoir. If you would like to create your own water cycle, try the experiment below to build your own water cycle and watch how the jar with the plants and initial water will continue to recycle itself through participation, saturation and evaporation.

Build Your Own Water Cycle:

You will need: A medium size jar, a few plants, a bottle cap or small shell to place water inside, some soil or dirt, some sand, and some small rocks.

Fill the jar first with small rocks, then sand, then soil. Then add plants in the soil and place your bottle cap or shell of water in the jar.

Fill the jar as shown in the picture and put the lid on. Put the jar in a sunny place and see how the water cycle of life works.

NOW LET'S LEARN ABOUT WATER CONSERVATION

Do you know why it is important to conserve water? There are several key reasons why we should all do our part to help conserve water whenever possible. Thirstin has listed several reasons why we should all do what we can to conserve and preserve our water resource because:

• Increasing demands for water has already led to shortages in many communities;

• When you conserve water, you also save money, save energy, and help protect the environment;

• We need water for drinking, bathing, cooking and cleaning;

• We need water to grow food, provide power, heating and cooling;

• We use water for swimming, fishing, boating and gardening; and,

• Most of all, all living things need water to stay alive.

Here is a list of what you can do to help conserve water:

• Don't let it run. We have all developed bad habits of letting the faucet run while we brush our teeth or wait for a cold glass of water. Keeping a pitcher of water in the refrigerator or turning the faucet off while we brush our teeth can save several gallons of water each day! It's simple really, before you turn on the tap, think of ways you can use less water to accomplish the same purpose.

• Fix the drip. There is no such thing as a little drip. A leaky faucet with a drip of just 1/16 of an inch in diameter can waste 10 gallons of water every day. You can turn off that drip by replacing old worn out washers or valve seats with the help of your parents.

• The silent leak. Even worse than the careless hand on the faucet is the silent toilet bowl leak, probably the single greatest water waster in homes. A leak of 1 gallon every 24 minutes can average up to 2.5 gallons per hour or 60 gallons per day! To check your toilet for a leak, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait. If the color appears in the bowl, then there's a leak. Often these leaks can be fixed with a few minor adjustments, cleaning calcium deposits from the toilet ball in the tank or by replacing worn valves.

• Close the hose. Letting the garden hose run faster or longer than necessary while we water the lawn or wash the car often becomes a careless and wasteful habit. A ½-inch garden hose under normal water pressure pours out more than 600 gallons of water per hour and a ¾-inch hose delivers almost 1,900 gallons in the same length of time. If left on overnight, one garden hose can easily waste more water than the average family uses in one month.

• Check the plumbing. Proper maintenance is one of the most effective water savers. Faucet washers are inexpensive and take only a few minutes to replace. At home, check all water taps, hoses, and hose connections (even those that connect to dishwashers and washing machines) for leaks. Check the garden hose too; it should be turned off at the faucet, not just at the nozzle.

• Teach others in your house and community. Just as it is important to conserve water in your own home, it is important to help our towns and cities save water by teaching others to use water wisely. In agricultural areas, water may be saved by using more effective irrigation methods. In industrial areas, manufacturers can save water by reusing it and by treating industrial wastes. Cities and towns can save water by eliminating leaks and installing meters. Waste water can be treated and reused.

As you conserve water at home and in your community, you will help insure that the water available now continues to meet the growing water needs of the future.

NOW, Could the Earth's water be used to extinction?There is no easy "Yes" or "No" answer to this question because the Earth's water is always changing forms from gas (vapor) to liquid or ice. During the last ice age, more water was in the form of ice; creating less fresh water around, worldwide. The most important form of water is liquid and especially fresh water, which life depends on. Yet, from a scientific perspective, there will always be about the same amount of water molecules around (or at least the elements to make water molecules). Remember, water moves around. As weather patterns have shown throughout history, changes in weather can have a major impact on water amounts throughout the globe. Did you know that the Sahara Desert wasn't always a desert? It's true. And if we look at areas where hurricanes have caused water surges, flooding occurs in areas where originally there was little or no water available.

Scientists are still out on the issue of global warming; however, if we are indeed going through a cycle of global warming, then changes in water availability can be affected. Normally, the Earth's water changes very slowly so life adapts over time to these changes. With global warming, areas that once were considered to have large bodies of water could dry up. If you look at the Hoover Dam, you can see how the water level lines of where water use to be and over time, through evaporation due to hotter climates and water usage, the water level has decreased enormously.

If we look at water being used to extinction on a local scale, people can actually use water to "extinction," at least in a limited area and for a limited time. Think about the ground water aquifer in the Texas area - it provides tons of water for everything. But, that water has to come from rain seeping into the ground. If people withdraw it faster than it can be replenished, then eventually there is less and less water in the ground, and essentially someday people may not be able to get water out of the ground anymore. Or think about the Colorado River - it used to flow all the way to the Pacific but now people all along the river have taken water out as it travels into their areas. The river continues to get smaller and smaller as it flows. If more water is taken out of the river by people and not replaced, as it travels, it disappears before it's reached the Pacific Ocean. This, in a way, is using water to extinction. What once was a river that flowed all the way to the Ocean now ends before reaching its final destination, the Ocean.

On a local scale you can easily see how important it is to conserve water; especially if you are living in an area where water is not in abundance. Colorado Springs is considered a "desert" climate where less ground water is available. This is a major reason why everyone in the Fountain and the Colorado Springs area should do their part to help conserve water whenever possible.

THIRSTIN & HIS FRIENDS WANT YOU TO REMEMBER:

Think BEFORE you drink!!
(Don't let the water run while you are drinking.)
-- AND --
WATER
Don't Waste or Abuse

Don't Forget to Check Out Thirstin's Coloring Book: To find out more information from what Thirstin has to say about water issues, water conservation and what you can do to help while having fun, go to Thirstin's Activity & Coloring Book listed in the related pages below. You can print out the activity/coloring book and enjoy learning while working on puzzles, finding the hidden baby dinosaurs, solving the riddle on water, and working on cross word puzzles.

So Kids - don't forget to do your part and conserve water when and where you can.

You CAN make a difference!!!