Year 5 Visit Bough Beech
Last Thursday, Year 5 went on a trip to see how water is cleaned and delivered to our homes. The place that we visited was a water reservoir with a water treatment works called Bough Beech. Soon after arriving we had a lesson all about the water cycle, and the cleaning processes using an interactive display.
As well as teaching the children everything, the teacher made it really fun and interesting at the same time. The children learnt how the River Eden has been chosen as a suitable river because it was close to the area where they needed a new water treatment works. A reservoir was built by creating a dam wall to hold the water back. The reservoir had to be built on impermeable clay so that it didn’t let the water pass through. After the lesson we went around the water treatment processes and saw the processes in action e.g. screening for large items, adding of chlorine, clarification and more. We noticed that Bough Beech was very eco-friendly as they use solar panels, electric vehicles and gravity instead of pumps in certain places.
After lunch we walked up to the reservoir and saw it as well as the valve tower. We learnt that there was an overflow section which allows the water to go back to the River Eden. At the top of the valve tower, we saw house martins’ nests built out of impermeable clay, as well as some pulleys, valves and pipes that led down to the bottom of the dam. We learnt they had multiple pipes to drain the water at different levels instead of just one.
Soon after that, we actually walked under the reservoir inside a very large pipe that led to the bottom of the valve tower. Some of the children were nervous whilst others loved the experience. We were able to see the pumps in action sending the water to the water works to start the cleaning processes.
There were also some activities that made us realise how much water we actually use. It made us more aware of how valuable water is and how much we should try to save water. We learnt about the processes of connecting pipes to a village and the logistics involved in that. We tried carrying 5-10 litres of water for a while and noticed how heavy it was so it gave us an added appreciation for having taps in our houses.
“Overall it was an amazing experience and we are really looking forward to learning more”- Ella
“We learnt so much and it was so fun learning about water” -Sophie
“It was really interesting and I would love to go there again”- Oliver
“Overall it was a really good experience and I never knew water could be so interesting”- Alex
“Never judge a book by its cover and overall it was an amazing and fascinating experience”-Molly
“Who knew water could be so interesting?” – Evan
“Overall it was one of the best trips I have ever had in Caterham School”- Rory
“I didn’t realise until that trip that cleaning water was so complicated”- Clemmie
Article written by Year 5RD
