Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) staff members took time to spread the message of the value of water and to educate about wastewater treatment. On June 10, WEF welcomed 75 middle-school students from Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy (Alexandria, Va.) to its headquarters as part of the service project “Operation H2O,” organized by the staff volunteer group, WEF Eco.
During the visit, students spent an hour at four different educational areas to learn about green infrastructure, water monitoring, and wastewater treatment. At a rain garden station, students learned about problems caused by stormwater runoff and how rain gardens offer one solution by absorbing stormwater and filtering out pollutants. On WEF’s green terrace, students learned about green roofs and how they capture rain to prevent runoff, insulate buildings, reduce city temperatures, and provide urban habitat for wildlife. At a monitoring station, students used WEF’s World Water Monitoring Challenge kits to test water samples collected from three different waterways in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for acidity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and temperature. To wrap up the experience, students met Niles the Crocodile, the WEFCOM mascot, and learned about wastewater, how it is treated, and ways to protect water resource recovery facilities by not putting fats, oils, and grease or non-dispersibles down toilets or drains.
This year, a total of 16 WEF staff helped host the fifth annual service project. Since WEF launched its Low Carb(on) Diet initiative in mid-2007, it has installed a green roof and terrace, installed energy-saving equipment at its headquarters, promoted public transportation use, increased recycling and use of recycled or reusable materials, disseminated green-lifestyle information to staff, and hosted five annual service projects to get WEF out into the community.
For more information about WEF’s efforts to represent the value of water message, read the following WEF Highlights articles:
- “Walking the Talk for Water,” published in 2013;
- “WEF Staff Support WATER’s WORTH IT™ Message With Action,” published in 2012;
- “WEF Staff Makes a Splash in Celebration of Earth Day 2011,” published in 2011;
- “WEF Staff Mark Storm Drains for Earth Day,” published in 2010; and
- “WEF Completes Construction of Green Roof and Green Terrace,” published in 2009.
— Jennifer Fulcher, WEF Highlights
WEF 2014 Service Project |
On June 10, 2014, 14 Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) staff helped host this fifth annual service project. See galleries featuring WEF’s previous service projects:
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July 25, 2014
Featured, Multimedia, WEF Resources & Efforts