Stage 2
Why be Waterwise?
Water is life.
Think of all the ways we depend on water to live.
How many different ways have you used water today?
Q. How long can a person live without water under normal conditions?
Only about one week.
Knowing: Where does your water come from?
Where your water comes from depends on where you are.
If you live on a property out of town you may have to collect your own water when it rains on your roof and store it in water tanks. Pipes connect the stored water to your house and property to come from the tap when you need it.
When your school and house are in an area that is connected to the public water supply, such as in town, your water is collected, cleaned and then distributed through an underground pipe network to reservoirs ready for use. Depending on where you live changes where your water comes from.
All water is continually part of the global water cycle
Water Cycle
The main water supply in the Clarence Valley is sourced from the Nymboida River, part of the Clarence River catchment area. It is then stored in Shannon Creek Dam, cleaned at the Rushforth Road Water Treatment Plant and distributed through pipes to local reservoirs (big concrete tanks). Wooli and Minnie Waters have a separate water supplies sourced from local lakes.
Shannon Creek Dam
The water supply for the Coffs Harbour area comes mainly from the Orara River (although sometimes from the Nymboida River), which are both part of the Clarence River Catchment. It is stored in the Karangi Dam and then cleaned at the Water Treatment Plant and distributed via pipes to reservoirs. Nana Glen extracts and cleans its own water supply from the Nymboida River.
Orara River -Bindarri
Credit: Coffs Harbour Website 2020
Council manages a total of eight (8) water supply systems.
The main water supply is the Kempsey and Lower Macleay drinking water supply system which provides drinking water to the towns of Kempsey, Frederickton, Smithtown, Gladstone and the associated rural areas and townships (Yarravel, Euroka, Bellimbopinni, Dondingalong, Aldavilla, Kinchela, Greenhill Community, Clybucca, and Burnt Bridge Community).
Water is extracted from the Sherwood borefield (8 production bores), which draws water from the alluvium supplemented via a recharge channel adjacent to the river. The water is stored firstly in the Steuart Mcintyre Dam, then cleaned at the Water Treatment Plant and distributed via an extensive piping network to various reservoirs ready for use
All water is in the Macleay River Catchment area.
The coastal villages of Crescent Head, Hat Head, South West Rocks and Stuarts Point along with the up river villages of Willawarrin, Bellbrook and the Thungutti Aboriginal Community have their own individual water extraction, cleaning and supply from local water sources managed by Council.
Sherwood Borefields
Credit: Bruce Winter 2008
Bellingen Shire Water Supply
Bellingen Shire has two water supply schemes, the Dorrigo Scheme, and the Lower Bellinger Scheme serving the towns of Bellingen, Urunga, Repton, Newry Island, Raleigh, and Mylestom.
The Dorrigo water supply is extracted from bores by the Bielsdown River, cleaned at the Water Treatment Plant and pumped into the Reservoirs to supply the town.
The Lower Bellingen water supply is extracted from groundwater bores by the Bellingen River (opposite the Water Treatment plant just west of Bellingen), where it is cleaned and pumped to a network of Reservoirs (big concrete tanks) to supply clean water to Bellingen, Urunga, Repton, Newry Island, Raleigh, and Mylestom.
Credit: Jane Grebert 2020
Knowing: Where does your water come from ? Activity
Draw a picture or a diagram showing how you get your water; at school or at home.
Check out my drawing of how I get my water at home :)
Saving water: How do you use water?
Did you know.. showering is one of the main ways you use (and can waste) water on a daily basis.
Q. How long is a Waterwise shower?
A. Maximum of 4 minutes! Could you do it in 2 minutes?
Watch this clip and see if you can dance and (pretend) shower in 4 minutes.
Caring for water: Looking after water
We can all do our bit to help keep water clean. Wouldn't it be great if we didn't make stuff that can pollute our water. We can help by saying 'no' to single use plastics and being Waterwise by choosing reusable and compostable packaging. What could you do differently?
Watch this great video below about the impacts of litter..
Additional Activities
School_water_conservation_project-Teacher_Worksheet.docxIn School Water Conservation Project
This Cool Australia activity asks students to think up a small water conservation project to do in their school then design and implement it.
The teacher’s challenge will be to make students; ideas realistic so that they will have time to achieve their project without spending anything.
The project can start by problem solving - part of the solution is efficient use of time and without spending anything.
For example:
Produce cartoon instructions with very few words about how students can wash their hands and waste little water.
Water Users Game
When we do lessons in schools we play 'The Water Users Game' with Stage 2 students. This involves breaking the class into 4 groups that represent the areas where we use water around the home; kitchen, bathroom, laundry and outside. Ask each group to think about what they use water for. Each team starts with 250ml in their 'reservoir', you can use any bowl, then using a spoon they have to transport the water from the 'reservoir' back to their home (kitchen sink, bathroom, laundry or outside tap) represented in this game by a cup. Usually this happenings through a system of pipes. The students must become the pipes relaying the water carefully and making sure they don't spill any (no leaky pipes please!). This game is not about being the quickest or having the most, this game is about being careful and not wasting water. After 2 or 3 minutes, stop the game. Measure how much water each group collected (in their cup). Measure how much is left in the reservoir (in their bowl). The overall winner is the team that wastes the least, calculate the difference from the original 250ml. If they wasted no water they should still have 250 ml remaining (cup + bowl). Food colouring used in the water for each team adds to the visual effectiveness when measuring in the tall measuring cylinders.
Water Users Game.jpg.pdfEquipment for the 'Water Users Game'
Credit: Jane Grebert 2020
Water Users Game Table.pdf