Portage, Loch Alpine, Barton Dam, and the A2 Water Treatment Plant

Our amazing guide Dave Szczgiel

So much to do!  So much to see!  So much to learn!  We had an incredible day touring around learning about water.  The weather was great…HOT, (we tied our record HIGH!) but wonderful nonetheless.  

We started our day at the Portage Lake Basin where Mr. Kangas taught us all about how he cleans the water for his 1,250 customers.  It’s a cool process that takes 100 days from beginning to end.  It was here we found our first friend of the day: a snapping turtle later named Nordstrom Houdini Haisley.  Nordstrom was placed into a Nordstrom bag (hence his first name) for his ride along on our trip.  Whenever we left the bus, he escaped from his bag (here’s where he earned his middle name) and we had to search our bus for him upon our return.  He is currently residing in the lobby fish tank (giving him his final name) and will be released back into the river system in June. 

Our next stop was in Loch Alpine (on Huron River Drive) where we learned how they clean the water for their small community (it only takes two days here as they use some chemicals, whereas Portage does not).  The honeycombs are from 1954.  Let that sink in.  These pieces of plastic have been spending 100% of their time outside for 61 years and they have been CLEANING WATER the ENTIRE TIME!  Isn’t that crazy!? 

Next, we went to Delhi Metro Park to eat lunch.  We ate under the pavilion by the river – a delightful place to have a picnic and enjoyed the sun and the company of one another.  As they finished eating, they explored the area and soon found a crayfish (we kept him too – he’s also residing in our lobby fish tank!) and saw a water snake (we left this dude alone) meandering his way upstream in the river.  Lessons on how to pick up a crayfish ensued and a lot of kids had the courage to pick him up.  A perfect opportunity to teach them about exoskeletons and how they can’t bend certain ways…and they can’t bite you if you are behind them!  J 

From here, we headed to Barton Dam.  If you haven’t been, you should.  It’s a gorgeous pocket of our fair city and lends itself to long walks and plenty of places to snap great pictures.  We learned about the history of the dam and how it works.  They even walked across the top!  Can you find your kid?  J 

We ended our day at the water treatment plant on Sunset (near Wines Elementary).  This is a great place to visit.  Our plant is quite amazing and does an incredible job cleaning and protecting our water.  Forget bottled water, you have an amazing resource in your kitchen!  For a single penny, you get 4 gallons of water!  You just can’t beat that price!