World Water Day was established on 22 March 1993 by the United Nations to focus on the importance of fresh water – and to mark the day, we spoke to two of our volunteer STEM Ambassadors whose exciting and vital jobs are all linked to water.
Holly Grant is a graduate geo-environmental Engineer at United Utilities and a STEM Ambassador in the Trans Pennine region.
- What do you do as a geo-environmental engineer?
I help protect people and the environment from chemicals in the ground which could be harmful. My job also involves reducing pollution to water which is stored naturally underground and make sure that water from your taps is safe to drink.
- What does a day in your role normally involve?
I generally work in an office, researching site history and environmental information, analysing chemical test results and writing reports.
As there is only so much that we can see from above the ground, sometimes I organise ground investigations which involve digging holes to look at the underlying soil and rock and take samples for testing. This involves visiting a site, inspecting the area and discussing access for drilling equipment with our contractors. Safety is always the number one priority and at our operational sites we have to make sure everyone visiting wears Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like hard hats, hi-vis vests, boots, safety glasses and gloves.
- What is your favourite part of your job?
I like to think of my job as being a kind of detective, as you have to look at lots of different sources of information to build up a picture of what's really going on. It's great when you find a key piece of missing information which helps pull everything together. I also get a lot of satisfaction from knowing that what I do helps keep people safe and allows us to have clean drinking water, which not everyone in our world has.
Kelvin Rose is a Water and Civil Engineer at Pick Everard and a STEM Ambassador in the West Midlands.
- What do you do as a water and civil engineer?
I take water from the environment and design the filters and other processes that make it safe for drinking, cooking and washing with. I also take used water (sewage) and design the sewage treatment processes to make sure the water can be safely put back in to the rivers that we take the water from. I even design the pipes that get water to houses and take the sewage away.
- How does your job link to water?
Water is the most important thing on the planet. Without clean drinking water, we can only live for a few days. Only oxygen is more important for our survival than water!
Normally this means that we 'pause' the water cycle by extracting water from rivers or deep underground (aquifers). And when we are done with it (creating sewage), we clean it up again and put it back in to rivers or in to the sea where the natural water cycle continues.
- What is your favourite part of your job?
I love almost every aspect of my job! There are two great things that really stand out for me though. Being a water engineer, you are doing one of the most important jobs in the world. And, without sewage treatment, the world would be a very smelly and disease-filled place!
What I also like is that I get to do all the fun stuff – the design of water or sewage treatment systems or the design of pipes. But then someone else does the cold, wet and muddy work on the construction sites to bring my designs to life.
- World Water Day website – join in the conversation #WorldWaterDay:https://www.worldwaterday.org/
- Resource for World Water Day:
- https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/35541/water-water
- Practical activity for World Water Day: https://practicalaction.org/schools/stop-the-spread/
- Activities from the Institute of Civil Engineers: https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/inspire-the-next-generation/educational-resources