This article was taken from The Thousand Oaks Star, May 16, 2001 by Jean Cowden Moore, Staff Writer

If your city has to import every drop of water you use for brushing your teeth or washing your dishes, you’d better learn to conserve.

That’s the message behind a water conservation program aimed at youngsters in Las Virgenes schools.

”They can’t just assume that reserve supplies will always be there,” said Deborah Low, who heads up education programs for Las Virgenes Water District. ”Here in our region, water is scarce, and people need to use it wisely.“

Cities in the Las Virgenes area import all their water from Northern California. And because much of the area lies in the Santa Monica Mountains, it is also environmentally sensitive, Low said.

That’s why the district starts its programs with the youngest kids, hoping to instill early on the idea that water is precious.

For students in kindergarten through third grades, the water district sponsors annual plays where the characters learn to conserve water. In this year’s drama, the residents of a mountain community run out of water, only to discover to their dismay that there is no ”magic fountain.“ That discovery leads them to realize they can’t waste what water they do have.

Elementary–school youngsters in grades 1 through 6 can compete in the district’s annual poster contest. The top poster artists win prizes at the local level, and go on to compete for a spot on a regional Water Awareness calendar distributed by 26 agencies.

The highlight of the program, though, might be a visit to the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility. Fifth–graders make the visit as part of their week at outdoor school, where water conservation is woven throughout the daily activities aimed at teaching kids about nature. “It opens up a new way of thinking about conservation,” LVUSD teacher Trudy Shapiro said. “They’re learning what they can do to help out.”

At the facility, just off Las Virgenes Road, kids get a firsthand look at what happens to water after it leaves their homes.

The first step once water arrives at the plant is to remove large objects — the sock that got lost in the washer, for example. Then, the smaller objects — like bits of eggshell.

Next, the water goes through sedimentation tanks, where human waste and other solids settle to the bottom — then on to aeration tanks where oxygen and microorganisms are added. In the next tank, those microorganisms separate out.

Finally, the water is filtered and chlorine is added, then removed.

Only then is the water ready to go back to work irrigating community landscapes.

On a recent visit, kids got a close–up look — through a microscope hooked up to a TV screen — at the microorganisms that help make the water safe to use for irrigation. Because water is so precious, the water district reclaims about 25 percent of water used by customers, and returns it to the community for irrigation.

The students also learned that solids from waste treatment get turned into fertilizer, which the district gives away to customers from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday.

”You gave it to us,” Low told the kids. "We’re giving it back."

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