2ND PLACE WINNER, GRADES 3-5
Joseph Dello Russo, Grade 4
Ms. DeRosa, Teacher / Abraham Lincoln School, Revere

"Make the LEAP to Tap Water"

Once there was a fish swimming in a mountain stream looking very worried when a green frog hopped over.

The fish said, "All of my water is disappearing. Do you know anything about this?"

"Yes, I do," the frog said.

"Can you tell me why?" exclaimed the fish.

"Sure," said the frog. "It's the humans who work at the bottom of the mountain. They are taking the water and putting it in bottles to drink."

"Oh," said the fish. "But don't the humans get their water through the pipes at the big reservoir?"

"They should, but there has been a false rumor that bottled water is better than tap water."

"So is that why I always see plastic bottles floating in the river?" the fish exclaimed to the frog.

"That's right! I see them on the land as well. So on top of taking our water, the humans are littering our homes," the frog sadly said.

"But on the bright side, the MWRA is trying to persuade people to start drinking tap water. I mean just think about all of the benefits of tap water."

"Could you tell me about them?" the fish asked.

"I would be glad to," the frog said.

"Did you know that the humans who take care of those big pipes at the reservoir must have the water they use tested by a certified lab to make sure it is the best? The MWRA takes over 1500 water samples every month, everywhere from the reservoir to the people's taps, to make sure the water is the best it can be. The humans who bottle water do not have to do this. The people at the MWRA have to make sure the water they use is disinfected while bottled water has no federal requirements to do this. Even the people who operate the system that brings the water through those pipes have to be certified. But the operators at the bottled water company do not have to be."

"Another reason tap water is better than bottled water is that bottled water is driven by trucks which use gas that adds to all sorts of environmental problems and uses energy," the frog explained to the fish. "But the water used by the MWRA makes energy. When
the water leaves the reservoir, it generates clean electric power that the humans can use. Also did you know that about 1.5 million barrels of oil annually is what it takes to make bottles for America? If you filled a good quality water bottle with tap water and reuse that bottle, you could reduce the number of bottles and that would mean less trash in our environment. Even the cost of drinking tap water is better than bottled. If humans drank a half of a gallon of tap water every day of the year like they should, it would cost them $.84, while the same amount of the cheapest bottled water would cost them $91.25.

"Wow!" said the fish, "You really know a lot about this water business."

"Thanks!" said the frog. "Everyone should learn more. The easiest way that anyone can learn about tap water is to visit the MWRA web site."

"Thanks, Mr. Frog for all this great information. I think I'll do that," said the fish as he swam away.

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