Water is important because every single thing on this Earth requires water," said Linda Saad, a member of Eastern Lancaster County Source Water Collaborative (ELANCO SWC) and a co-coordinator of the organization's upcoming event. "We require water; plants require water. If we don't have clean water, the Earth as we know it becomes difficult to live on. From a recreational standpoint, we need water for things like skiing. There are a lot of communities who depend on water for their economies."

An advocate for clean water, ELANCO SWC will conduct the seventh edition of its annual Water Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, at Terre Hill Community Park, 210 Lancaster Ave. Designed to be an educational program, ELANCO SWC's Water Day will host fourth-graders, mainly from the ELANCO School District.

"The purpose is to bring consciousness and awareness to the students," said Saad. "We talk about countries where you can't drink the water; you've got to buy it - and some are developed countries. It's a pretty incredible opportunity to make an impact on learning."

Following the arrival of the student-filled school buses, Water Day will be broken down into 10 learning stations featuring five topics - Stream Buffers, Water Cycle, Where Does Your Poop Go?, Ground Water Model and Water Quality Testing. Supervised by their teachers, the fourth-graders and their classmates travel from station to station absorbing water-related information.

The instruction is broken up by a 30-minute lunch.

"The kids come in incredibly excited," said Saad. "It's a learning experience, and we want to make it fun. It's interactive. You can see the fun and learning in their voices and attitudes. We want students to realize the importance of water resources and how to protect them. We talk about how water around here flows to Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. We also have trivia to make them think.

"We work with the schools to make sure the stations meet some aspect of their curriculum," added Saad. "We've found that it works best for fourth-graders. We ask teachers for feedback, like, 'Are there things we can improve on?' We want to make this valuable for educators and students."

A majority of the 300 fourth-graders who will attend ELANCO SWC's Water Day attend school at New Holland Elementary, Blue Ball Elementary or Brecknock Elementary.

"When all the planning is done and the buses arrive, it's like 'Here we go,'" said Saad, a resident of Terre Hill. "It takes three months of planning. It's just a delight. (Co-coordinator Rhonda Hakundy and I) rotate around and make sure things are running well."

ELANCO SWC, which meets quarterly, is a civic partnership that involves representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lancaster Conservancy, nonprofits and township and municipal officials.

"We play an educational role," said Saad. "We try to play a positive role. We don't play an enforcement role. We want to help communities meet their water standards. I want people to realize that there's a local organization trying to educate about water and water quality."

For additional information, email Linda Saad at llsreply2@gmail.com.