EDUCATION | WATER TREATMENT PLANT TOURS

EPCOR Britannia Mine Water Treatment Plant

School Tours

January 2008 has seen the launch of this exciting new Discovery Centre. We are offering tours to schools for Grade 5 and above.

Your students will:
- Experience the treatment plant in action
- Investigate the environmental issue and remediation
- Get hands-on with ‘real’ science

What Curriculum Organizers are covered?
There are many Science and Social Studies topics that fit the Water Treatment Plant. We are currently focusing on Grades 5 – 8, but intend to develop an educational programme for Grades 9 – 12 later. The tour in general fits aspects of:
- Physical Science – Forces*; electricity*; atoms, elements and compounds*
- Earth & Space Science – renewable and non-renewable resources
- Life Science – ecosystems
- Chemistry*
- Skills & Processes of Social Studies
- Human & Physical Environment
- Economy & Technology
* The Discovery Centre interactives look specifically at these topics

What does it cost?
The fees are $6.50 per student, with 1 free adult for every 1:6 students (elementary), 1:10 students (secondary). Additional adults are $6.50 per person.

If you choose to do both Museum and Discovery Centre tours, we offer a discounted rate of $10.50 per student (plus $3.50 extra for gold panning if selected).

What group size can I bring?
The lower limit is 12 paid visitors. We can be slightly flexible with the upper limit of 30 people. At this time, we cannot take a double booking, i.e. two classes, unless you are doing a full museum tour too.

Can I combine parts of the Museum tour with parts of the Discovery Centre tour?
No, for the time being we are only offering full tours. However if you book a Discovery Centre tour (subject to availability) we offer you the chance to book some of the museum’s activities/facilities: gold-panning ($3.50 per person), gift-shop, covered lunch space.

How long does it take?
You will be at the Discovery Centre for around 1 hour, and around 1.5 to 2 hours in total, allowing for registration at the museum, snack/bathroom breaks and travel with the guide to and from the Discovery Centre. If you book for museum activities such as gold panning, this will of course add extra time. Give us a call to help plan your timings.

Can I bring younger grades?
We will of course welcome younger students to the Discovery Centre. However, please be aware that the content is targeted at students with an understanding or awareness of chemical, physical and technological processes. Give us a call to discuss your needs.

What happens on the tour?
You will meet your guide at the Museum. If you are traveling by bus he/she will travel with you up to the Discovery Centre where you will hear an introduction to the tour. If your group is car-pooling, the guide will lead your ‘convoy’ there.

Please note that if you are travelling by bus, it is your bus that will be taking the students to and from the facility. If you have a double group doing both the Museum and Discovery Centre tours, the bus will need to be there to swap the students between places. You’ll go to the viewing platform to hear how the facility works, experiencing the sights and sounds of the plant in operation* before heading in to the Discovery Centre.


Once inside, depending on size, your class will be split into groups where they will explore three interactives and associated displays. The interactives have been specially designed to mimic the processes that actually happen at the facility.

- Acid Rock Drainage – use chemistry to precipitate the metals from the water (as sludge)
- Filter Press – use a filter press to remove the metal sludge from the water, leaving crystal clear water behind
- Hydropower – generate electricity with a mini-Pelton wheel to light bulbs with different efficiencies (LED, CFL, incandescent, halogen)

Afterwards, you’ll travel back down to the museum with the guide, where, if booked, you will take part in gold panning, or have your time in the lunch space or gift shop.

* We cannot guarantee that the plant will be operating at all times; on occasions, EPCOR staff must close down operations, e.g. after a power outage, or for maintenance. If your visit coincides with a lime powder delivery, it may mean doing the platform tour from inside (due to noise levels).

Is there any preparation I have to do?
A little, but not much. To help your students get the most from the trip, if you are bringing more than 15 students we ask that as the teacher, you facilitate the power generator interactive. This will let the guide focus on the other two more involved interactives. We will send you the preparation information on booking, but there’s not much involved. The key objective of the power generator interactive is to stimulate discussion over sustainability, so much of your role as facilitator is really to get them talking about renewable vs non-renewable resources, energy efficiency and what they can do as individuals to be sustainable – all topics we’re sure you’ll be comfortable and familiar with anyway. Give us a call if you’ve any questions.

This is a working plant with chemicals and machinery. Is it safe?
Yes, absolutely. This is a modern plant, operating under strict safety regulations. Your class will only be on the designated viewing platform and in the Discovery Centre. The guide will give simple safety instructions before the tour. In the unlikely event of an operational issue where there is a risk to people, EPCOR staff will cancel the tour.

We do use polluted water (though partly treated so no longer acidic) and chemicals (a man-made polymer) in the Discovery Centre – it’s the best way to show how the plant works, and lets your students get hands-on with real science. Naturally we provide protective goggles and gloves, and talk about safety before their use.

How do we get to the EPCOR site?
As you meet your guide at the museum, this is not something you need to consider. If traveling by bus, the guide will direct the driver when you leave the museum. If car-pooling, the guide will lead the convoy there. Please note that if you are travelling by bus, it is your bus that will be taking the students to and from the facility. If you have a double group doing both the Museum and Discovery Centre tours, the bus will need to be there to swap the students between places.

What facilities are at the EPCOR site?
This is a working plant, so facilities for a tour group are minimal. The Discovery Centre is up a flight of outdoor stairs and so is not wheelchair accessible. There are two washrooms (female & male) and a coat rack. To have lunch whilst on your visit, you will need to coordinate this either at the museum or elsewhere in Britannia. Call us to discuss options.

You’re a museum that focuses on history. Are you competent to deliver a tour focusing on science?
Good question. Yes we are. Our Education team includes an experienced science educator who has thought very carefully about the content and delivery of this programme, and of the training of the guide(s) for this programme.

Do you have lesson plans?
We will be working on these over 2007/08.

Is there anything else I should know?
This is a Discovery Centre with a difference. We use real science to demonstrate how the water is treated. So yes, the interactives are slightly more involved than you will find in other science centres, which is why we ask that you help facilitate one of the interactives. But trust us, it’s worth it – you and your students will genuinely be amazed and inspired by what you see.

We are currently in the pilot stage of this programme development, so would love to hear your feedback. We’re convinced you’ll be pleased with the Discovery centre and our tour, but know that with any pilot project, there’s room for fine-tuning.

Your group will be outside (on the viewing platform) for around 10 minutes at the beginning of the tour, therefore we recommend that they dress appropriately for the weather.