City of Columbus Hosts Central Ohio Children’s Water Festival

May 5, 2011

City of Columbus Hosts Central Ohio Children’s Water Festival

In recognition of the national Drinking Water Week, the Columbus Department of Public Utilities
hosted 640 fifth-grade students and teachers for the fourth annual Central Ohio Children’s Water Festival today. The annual event, held at the Public Utilities Complex on Dublin Road, is designed to promote environmental awareness about our valuable water resources to elementary students through interactive displays and hands-on activities.

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman welcomed the students during the morning’s Tapping Team demonstration.

It’s an honor to welcome the students and provide them with an overview of the water treatment process, from the source to the tap,” he said. “The City of Columbus pumps an average of 140 million gallons of water to homes, schools and businesses each day, and we do it as energy efficient as possible for our 1.1 million customers.”

City Council President Andrew J. Ginther spoke to the students about the important part in history Columbus played in water treatment. In the 1870’s, chemist Ellen Swallow Richards mentored several engineering students, some of whom later worked on pioneering water treatment methods and reservoir dams in Columbus. City Councilmember Eileen Y. Paley, chair of the Public Utilities Committee, was also on hand to greet students as they participated in festival activities, which were focused on ground water, surface water, drinking water and water quality.

The Water Festival helps to inspire the engineers, chemists and community leaders of tomorrow by showing them the enormous positive impact their work can have on the lives of others, said Paley. Public Utilities workers are on the job, every hour of everyday, to protect Columbus residents by providing the safest drinking water possible.

Participating school districts included Columbus, Westerville, Worthington and Bexley. Partnering agencies included:

The Franklin and Delaware Soil and Water Conservation Districts
Metro Parks
Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
Ohio EPA
Canoe Creation
Engineering consultants: Brown and Caldwell, Burgess and Niple, Malcolm Pirnie and MWH

Residents interested in learning more about the drinking water treatment process and quality can view the current consumer confidence report at www.utilities.columbus.gov or request a copy by calling Customer Service at 645-8276.