THUNDER BAY -- Bill Bartley says only two per cent of the world’s water is drinkable.
He’d like to see the younger generation capture a firm understanding of that point while they’re still young enough to let it sink in.
Bartley, who heads the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, held court Wednesday for about 300 students from area schools, his organization teaching children about the importance of a clean water supply and what they can do to help ensure it remains.
“Young people are almost like sponges,” Bartley said. “They absorb an awful lot of information and understand it. As we get older we tend to not believe everything we hear. Basically what we’re doing is passing on some simple things.”
Messages delivered at the annual water festival, in its final year, included teaching children why it’s important to turn off the tap while brushing their teeth, the dangers of oil spills and chemical use on lawns and how water can be used to create energy.
“You learn things faster at a younger age,” Bartley said.
Eight-year-old Brayden Morrill said learning about water was fun and taught him a lot.
“If you put stuff around your backyard and it rains it will go back in the lake. And if you drink that water, it will get you sick,” he said.
“If you put oil in a big truck and it spills it will get into the ground and make the ground bad.”
Ensuring clean water is a no-brainer he said.
“Because then you could drink it, clean your pets and take showers.”
The water festival and displays won’t disappear next year.
Instead, Bartley said, they will mobilize it and rather than hosting a one-day affair at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds, will take the tour to local schools. Bartley said that way they can spread the conservation message to hundreds of more children.
