Groundwater lecture and demonstrations of surface –groundwater interaction at Nguyen Thai Binh Secondary School, U Minh Town

Water is everywhere, particularly in the Mekong Delta. Understanding the water cycle and the importance of groundwater as the most valuable storage for fresh water is not an easy task. However, as protecting our water resources and groundwater in particular is important to assure water availability for further generations, the IGPVN team have delivered some lectures on the water cycle and groundwater protection for the pupils of the Nguyen Thai Binh Secondary School, U Minh Town, Ca Mau province, where the project has drilled groundwater wells and carried out hydrogeological investigations.

One of IGPVN’s goals is to communicate about the knowledge of groundwater to the community. Thus, together with the drilling of 5 monitoring wells in the schoolyard of Nguyen Thai Binh Secondary School for scientific study, IGPVN has delivered lectures on groundwater in order to raise the pupils’ awareness on groundwater resources. The lectures included presentations on the water cycle and practical demonstrations on groundwater flow and contaminant transport within porous aquifers. As this is quite a complex topic, the groundwater flow was demonstrated by using a groundwater box model, which brought full of excitement for the children.

IGPVN expert talking about the natural water cycle

Surface water – groundwater interaction demonstration box

IGPVN is thankful for the opportunity to construct a well group at the school. As a small thank-you gift, we were happy to provide some notebooks and school equipment as well as some comic books on the water-cycle and posters which can be used for educational purposes. We are looking forward to come back soon to work further with the teachers on the subject.