The November meeting of the Old Buckenham Social and Wine Circle took the form of a talk given by Rachel Harvey from Anglian Water. Rachel gave a very interesting and informative talk on how clean and purified water reaches our taps, and how the items washed down our sinks and drains - and flushed down our toilets - are dealt with at treatment centres. In this part of the country fresh water is found mainly in aquifers although reservoirs do help with storage. But the supply of water is not endless, new reservoirs and water treatment plants are needed as the population grows. East Anglia is the driest area in the country with an average rainfall similar to that of Egypt.
The items put into the water system prove difficult and costly to deal with. Fat, oil and grease gradually solidify in the cold running water and this blocks pipes meaning that roads have to be dug up to remove the underground blockages. Items flushed down the toilet – wipes, nappies, and various other things – have to be removed from the sewage and taken to landfill before water can be treated.
The evening finished with members being challenged to design a water supply system for a small town, a practical exercise involving a map, lots of pipe sections, containers and real water. This is usually used to teach schoolchildren but was enthusiastically entered into by the grownups who completed their layouts without spilling water all over the floor.
The next meeting of the Social and Wine Circle will be on Thursday 12 December in the Church Rooms commencing at 7.30pm. The AGM will be held at the beginning of the evening and will be followed by the usual Christmas party festivities.
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