Story 139 – Clean Water

CLEAN WATER

written by Debbie Williamson

“I am really thirsty,” said eight year old Dianne, one morning, during recess at school. “I need a drink.”

Dianne went over to the water fountain, where several children were taking a drink of water.

“Don’t drink this water,” Dianne heard a little voice say to her.

Dianne looked down at the fountain and there, sitting on the spout was a little bug.

“I know who you are,” said Dianne. “You’re the environment bug. I’ve seen you on television.”

“Yes,” said the Environment Bug. “That is who I am.”

“Why can’t I drink the water?” asked Dianne.

“It’s contaminated,” said the Environment Bug.

“It is!” exclaimed Dianne. “That is terrible. I’m going to tell the principal.”

“Good idea,” said the Environment Bug, smiling.

That was exactly what the Environment Bug was hoping would happen. He wanted an authoritive figure at the school to know what was going on.

The principal came over to the water fountain with Dianne.

“This water is not contaminated,” said the principal. “This is pure, clean water.”

“But the Environment Bug said it was,” said Dianne, noticing that the Environment Bug was gone.

“That pesky little thing is more trouble than he’s worth,” said the principal. “And if he ever steps foot in my school again, I’ll squish him.”

The principal took a drink from the water fountain and went back to his office.

By the first recess, some of the children were complaining of stomach cramps. By lunch, some of the children had to be sent home and the principal was starting to get sick, too.

“Now do you believe me?” said Dianne. “You drank that water and then you got sick.”

“Yes,” said the principal. “I do believe you.”

The principal called the school secretary into his office.

“Send everyone home,” he said. “And please call the health department. We have contaminated water here.”

The health department came immediately and took tests of the water. It turned out that the water at the school was contaminated. Nobody got seriously sick from it but the school did remain closed until the water came back with a clean bill of health.

The school was closed for about a week. The principal held a special assembly on the first morning back. He presented Dianne with a plaque honouring her for trying to bring the situation to his attention.

“To the Environment Bug,” said Dianne, holding the plaque above her head and to her surprise, the Environment Bug came on stage.

“Thank you,” said the Environment Bug. “But the honour for this plaque goes to Dianne. She is the one that warned the principal about the contamination.”

“That was really nice,” said Dianne to the Environment Bug, after the assembly was over.

“What was?” asked the Environment Bug.

“What you said about me on stage,” said Dianne.

“You are the one that deserves the honour,” said the Environment Bug.

“I’m just glad that no-one was seriously ill,” said Dianne.

“Me too,” said the Environment Bug. “Me too!”

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The Environment Bug is concerned about our environment. He would like to know what you have done about helping our environment. You can post your stories on the Environment Bug – What Have You Done? page, so that you can be an inspiration to others. You can also visit this website for more information on Live Earth.

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