Fall 08
Vol. 13 No. 4

PWE makes waves at water museum

Sculptor Donald Lipski’s bathtub fountain will adorn the entrance to the new waterworks museum near Lake Houston. Photo courtesy of WaterWorks Museum + Education Center

By Bobby Vasquez

Although it’s popular to “go green,” one city department is going blue. Public Works & Engineering will showcase the city’s history of water usage and conservation at the WaterWorks Museum + Education Center, opening in the fall of 2009.

Under construction inside the Northeast Water Purification Plant near Lake Houston, the WaterWorks Museum + Education Center will encourage citizens to be “good stewards of life’s most precious compound,” said Susan Smyer, who will oversee museum operations.

“We want to tell the story of the value of Houston’s role in the care and distribution of drinking water,” she said. “Through our exhibits, we will show how drinking water is treated before citizens consume it.”

There will be about 35 permanent exhibits depicting conservation and many of the natural and man-made processes used in producing drinking water, Smyer said. The site was chosen because it’s close to Lake Houston.

“We are moving away from using ground or well water for our drinking needs,” she said. “This plant pumps water from Lake Houston, so that will enable us to provide a better visualization of where the water comes from and where it goes.”

In addition to the exhibits inside the museum, there are several outdoor features, Smyer said. A civic art piece by nationally renowned sculptor Donald Lipski and featuring a fountain of seven bathtubs floating in the air with water cascading to a central pool will greet visitors when they enter the facility.

A drop in the bucket
According to PWE, the drinking water operations division, which oversees water purification and the museum, distributes more than 146 billion gallons of water each year through a 7,000-mile pipeline system. Every drop of water consumed begins as a drop of water pumped through the plant.

To emphasize this distribution system, visitors will get a first-person account of the process. They will play the part of the drops as they are pumped into the station, filtered, treated and distributed to consumers. The tour includes a functioning bottling plant.

“Seeing what it takes to prepare water for drinking may encourage citizens to be more proactive in conservation,” Smyer said.

The facility’s education center also conforms to the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, which should make it a popular destination for school groups.

“It was important for us to be aligned with TAKS,” said Linda Stice, administrative manager for education and outreach. “School field trips usually go to places that are in line with the curriculum, so this makes the museum and education center a more attractive venue.”

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