Features

Telling the Water Quality Story
‘H2O = Life’ exhibit reviews water use, management, and solutions

If there is one thing that Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.) members know, it’s that water is essential to life. It’s their bread and butter, passion, and life’s work.

A 2.4-m (8-ft) long, lifelike model of a polar bear perched on its own ice floe is a focal point of  the “Water Everywhere” section of the exhibit. Visitors discover how rising global temperatures and melting Arctic ice are making life difficult for the world’s polar bear population.   © D. Finnin/AMNH

This stack of 0.5-L bottles graphically portrays America’s infatuation with bottled water. Globally, consumption nearly doubled between 1997 and 2005, and the U.S. is the largest total consumer of bottled water. The bottles shown in this circle could hold the amount of bottled water consumed by the average North American in 2005 — about 80 L. © D. Finnin/AMNH

Science on a Sphere — actual moving images of the Earth from space projected on a 1.8-m (6-ft)diameter globe — is one of the highlights of the exhibition. © D. Finnin/AMNH

Beyond that, it’s a vital and precious resource that most outside the water quality field don’t really think much about.

Echoing what we all know about the field’s public perception challenges, Eleanor Sterling, curator of the Water: H2O = Life exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City, says in one of the exhibit’s videos: “Here in the United States, we’re so used to turning on the tap water we don’t even think about it.”

Water, running now through May 26, was created to educate the general public about various water quality issues and present broad and in depth view of the challenges posed — globally and here in the United States.

Eleanor Sterling. © D. Finnin/AMNH

Over the next 10 years, the exhibit will travel to museums across the country and in other parts of the world. According to Sterling, also director of AMNH's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, Water is the most highly requested AMNH exhibit. "Now is really an important time to raise awareness about the issues of water," she said.

What follows is a comprehensive experience organized to get people to learn about freshwater uses and to comprehend what water stewardship means on many levels.

The exhibit immerses visitors in nearly all aspects of the fresh water supply — a humbling 1% of the total water on Earth.

Dioramas, interactive exhibits, videos, live animal displays, and displays present stories of water in engaging fashion for all ages. The exhibit took a team of more than 100 artists, writers, scientists, and others at AMNH and the Science Museum of Minnesota more than 2 years to research and put together. Using grant funding from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, AMNH began the project in 2005 with a nationwide survey of how the general population understands water issues, said Merry Camhi, Water content developer.

“The findings suggested that people care deeply about water … but they did not have a very good understanding of how to keep water healthy and deliver it to them,” she said.

The team canvassed many experts to advise on sections of the exhibit, such as Jonathan Bulkley, a professor of University of Michigan’s College of Engineering and School of Natural Resources and a Federal Court, Eastern District of Michigan-appointed monitor of the Clean Water Act.

“I was impressed with the thoroughness and quality of the work … [it is] serving a tremendous potential for education for people to learn about the water resources we have on this planet,” Bulkley said.

Presenting Water and Its Challenges
One of the team’s challenges was in displaying water, but using very little of it, “in a museum with 30 million specimens that don’t do well with excess humidity,” said Sterling. As a result, the exhibit uses 380 L (100 gal) of water and recycles it.

Also, while an important emphasis of this museum’s exhibit is to impart visitors with “how important [water] is to us spiritually and culturally,” said Sterling, contemporary problems and scientific solutions are integrated throughout.

The exhibit uses visuals — graphs, charts, and photographs — spoken messages, and hands-on experiences. Discussion of nearly every major aspect of water management is included. Concepts such as controlling rivers and use of dams, ecosystem effects, and how weather events affect water supply and delivery — including tsunamis and combined sewer overflows — are all given allotment.

Serious discussion about human rights issues and “reasonable access” to safe water in other parts of the world are addressed. “Experts predict that by 2025 over 2.4 billion people will live without adequate supplies of fresh water,” the voiceover tells visitors as they gaze at a sphere-shaped video screen continuously playing introductory material.

The idea of sharing one global supply of fresh water is demonstrated. It is important that visitors are “thinking about water systems and that we are all downstream from someone else’s water supply,” said Sterling. A 3-D display shows how groundwater is accessed by a hydraulic pump and an artesian well. When they turn the display’s crank, visitors can see how the pump easily removes groundwater and decreases the supply to the well “next door,” said Sterling.

And, the concept of doing more with less, according to Sterling, is made clear. Considering water use and using technological and alternative solutions to increase the availability of water, while reducing consumption and demand, is an overriding point: “In the 20th Century, we expanded ways to get more water. In the 21st Century, we must expand ways of using less water to do more.”

Urban Water Delivery
“People have a very poor understanding of how water gets to them,” said Camhi.

There is a virtual quiz show about everyday water products and a touch-screen computer display that allows visitors to select cities of the world and learn about urban water management.

For instance, when visitors select New York City, computer-animated videos emerge. Visitors learn about water management from the tap to the watershed, and down through the drain and beyond. This presentation can be understood on some level by anyone. “This is how the city takes care of the water,” said one young boy to another as they commandeered my touch screen.

AMNH worked with the New York Department of Environmental Protection to develop the animated infrastructure presentation, and it will soon be posted on the exhibit’s Web site. Also, other cities have the opportunity to create their own computer-generated presentations in advance of the exhibit’s arrival.

“We had to figure out how to take these issues and make them 3-D,” said Camhi.

Water treatment technologies, such as desalination, are considered. On display is a section of reverse osmosis membrane, donated by HydroNautics (San Diego, Calif.), with accompanying material about the environmental and energy costs associated with desalinating seawater for freshwater supply.

Agriculture Solutions and Industrial Uses
Because 70% of fresh water is used for agricultural purposes, a long stretch of the exhibit, with many visual displays, is devoted to expressing how important agriculture is to human society, how much water is used in various agricultural industries, and solutions that use less water. Drip irrigation, which produces crops but uses less water than contemporary methods, is promoted.

The exhibit also sheds light on industrial uses, such as bottled water, in sobering detail. “The plastic bottle turns out to have a hidden dark side: energy consumption, waste disposal, and other environmental concerns. As bottled water grows in popularity, these problems also proliferate,” according to exhibit notes.

Exhibit research found that bottled water consumption more than doubled worldwide from 1997 through 2005, with U.S. consumption totaling more than 3 million m³ (7.8 billion gal), or an astounding 98 L (26 gal) per person in 2005. A large display hosting countless plastic bottles tells visitors that 3 liters of water are needed to produce just one 1-L bottle of water.

Facts about bottled water could not be overlooked by AMNH. The museum no longer sells bottled water and installed new taps, designed to easily fill reusable water bottles, throughout the museum.

The exhibit will travel to the San Diego Museum of Natural History for display beginning in July 2008. For a schedule and more information, including details about additional collaborating institutions, see www.amnh.org/exhibitions/water.

— Andrea S. Bistany, WEF Highlights

Pro to Know: Leo Gaudette

Leo Gaudette, chief operator at Merrimack Wastewater Treatment Facility (N.H.) came to us in 2006 after a 25-year career at the Nashua, N.H., wastewater treatment facility.

Gaudette brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to the job. When my boss retired in 2005, I took over as the manager of the wastewater treatment and collection system. I needed someone who could come in and hit the ground running, particularly since we were at the beginning stages of a $4.6 million upgrade. Gaudette was able to take the lead on this project, while learning the ropes of operating the facility.

In particular, his knowledge of wet scrubber odor control units was invaluable to us. This was our first unit, and it is being utilized to control odors from our new septage receiving facility. Gaudette manages five plant operators, four equipment operators, and two seasonal maintainers. He has been able to train the operations staff on new process equipment, assist me with planning future projects and budgets, and manage our Environmental Protection Agency award-winning compost facility. Although composting was new to Gaudette, he has become instrumental in navigating the maze of state and federal regulations that allow us to market our compost all over New England and New York.

Gaudette is a New Hampshire Grade IV certified operator and is in charge in my absence. In addition, he is a certified hazardous waste coordinator and manages our universal waste and lab wastes. Gaudette also has a CDL-B license with tanker endorsement and has driven our sewer vacuum and six-wheel dump trucks as needed.

In conclusion, Gaudette’s knowledge and expertise have been key to our success!

— Nominated by Jim Taylor, assistant director of Public Works, Merrimack Wastewater Treatment Facility

Know a wastewater “pro” who deserves recognition? E-mail Meghan Oliver at moliver@wef.org for information on how to nominate a hard-working friend or co-worker.

Member Associations (MAs) are essential to carry out the Water Environment Federation's (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) mission of preserving and enhancing the global water environment. There is a dynamic between WEF and the MAs that needs to be evaluated and encouraged. We each have strengths that complement each other and enhance our effectiveness.

The Structure of WEF
WEF was founded in 1928 as a federation of Member Associations. While the number of MAs has grown and the focus changed over the years, the core idea remains intact.

We are organized as a federation of closely aligned organizations, each independently chartered and governed, similar to the states and the federal government. At one end of the spectrum are strong, centrally structured organizations with one national organization and regional sections, much like corporations with divisions. More loosely bound than federations are arrangements between independent organizations, where they come together by contract or agreement for specific activities although they share a commonality of interest (confederations). At the end of the spectrum are independent organizations that, while they share some common interests, go about their business as if the other organizations do not even exist.

Today, WEF has 81 affiliated Member Associations representing an additional 50,000 water quality professionals throughout the world. WEFTEC^®.07 in San Diego brought in nearly 20,000 attendees and more than 1000 exhibitors. Member association annual meetings and WEF specialty conferences bring technical training to many thousands more.

The WEF–MA Relationship
Over the years, there has been an increased emphasis on the services WEF and MAs supply to all members. While WEF has concentrated on larger-scale national and international issues and a broader spread of research and scientific endeavors, MAs have addressed more local needs within their states and municipalities.

Is this the best way for us to proceed? I do not know. It is essential we have a clear understanding about how we work together, and use this effectively to advance our mission. Anything less saps energies that are better devoted to moving forward.

In November, I sent a letter to the House of Delegates, including some discussion topics on the subject of the WEF–MA alignment, challenging them to look at the existing arrangement and find ways to improve on it. Subsequently, I sent a similar challenge to Member Association leaders to begin the dialogue on how best to carry out our missions and create opportunities to work together. I look forward to engaging in these discussions.

Interaction among these groups is an important issue, and the time is right to address it. Each Member Association has a unique relationship with WEF; and we, as MA leaders, tend to believe that the way our MA interacts with WEF is how all the others do. Now as a WEF leader traveling around to MAs, I am struck by just how different the dynamics and issues are in our various MAs. These differing viewpoints have the potential to create misunderstandings, but they also have potential for great synergy. It is important that we get a clear picture of reality and use that understanding to achieve our mission of protecting and enhancing the global water environment. And yes, we should consider changing to a new reality if it will improve our ability to carry out the mission.

I leave you with this thought. The world of the 21st century is vastly different from the world of 1928, when WEF was formed. Has the WEF–MA relationship stood the test of time, or should there be another alignment? Let’s find out.

I hope you will engage in these discussions in your MA and provide input to the House of Delegates as they take on this discussion. I, too, would like to hear your thoughts, so feel free to e-mail your ideas directly to me at azabinski@wef.org. I will share them with the House, the trustees, and staff as part of this ongoing dialogue.

— Adam Zabinski, 2007–08 WEF President