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Participants of Formula for Success school science contest visited the Nakhodka waterworks located in Partizansky district and saw how water is purified before it goes into the tap. These high school students will be able to apply what they learned in their research.

This is the third time the Nakhodka Mineral Fertilizer Plant (NFP) with the support of the city administration and Development EMC has held the Formula for Success contest. The goal of the contest is to identify and support enterprising and talented schoolchildren – those who want change their hometown for the better. Improving the quality of life in Nakhodka is the primary objective of NFP’s social policy, so Formula for Success is one of its priority projects.

This year the “water” theme is especially popular among the contestants, so the trip to waterworks became an important part of the school research projects. Nakhodka-Vodokanal waterworks municipal enterprise assisted in the organization of the trip, specialists of the enterprise gave the children an informative tour and answered all the questions.

“Six participating teams out of 40 chose water as the subject of their research. Determining the hardness of water from the tap, the study of water and soil on the beaches of Wrangel, biological methods of cleaning industrial waste – different topics, but within the same scope. That’s why we decided to go on a tour to the water intake point: better to see something once than hear about it a hundred times.”, said Irina Korol, a counselor of Development EMC.

At first, the students were told about the route that the water takes before it gets to the tap of a city apartment. Partizanskaya River is the main source of this water with 61 underground wells with an average depth of 25 meters along the way. The river water is filtered through all layers of soil and replenishes an underground water source. Formula of Success participants witnessed the next stage with their own eyes – the way water is purified at the waterworks.

“We took a tour of all the water treatment facilities that we operate. We visited the deferrization station and the second lift pumping station, at the analytical laboratory the children were able to measure water hardness themselves. Also, we showed them where the clean water storage tanks and chlorination room are, explained what procedures we use to bring clean water to the city”, – Vitaly Yakovlev, technician of Nakhodka-Vodokanal water treatment plant, states.

For Diana Khludneva and Sogdiana Parast, students of the Edelweiss school (school No. 7), the trip was a significant contribution to their research work. The theme of their project is “Testing water quality at home”.

“They told us everything in a very accessible way and answered all our questions. For example, we learned that our water is chlorinated, although we thought that they used some other chemical, because there is absolutely no taste or smell. All information can be applied to our project”, – the student report.

The teams, whose works are not directly related to tap water, were also interested in the tour. For example, students from the Center of Continuous Education have not yet decided on the topic of study, but were impressed by the trip.

“Last year we participated in the Formula of Success, studied the quality of water in Zolotari Lake. We haven’t decided yet whether we will continue or move on to other lakes within the city. In any case, the tour is not directly related to our topic, but it was very interesting. I heard that the quality of water in Nakhodka is one of the best, but what kind of water is it, how is it filtered, how is it purified? Now I know”, – Anastasia Glukhoyedova said.

This year the Formula of Success contest has over 160 schoolchildren participating, in two age categories – grades 5-8 and grades 9-11. They are assisted in their research by expert mentors: counselors from Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, and Nakhodka Mineral Fertilizer Plant.