Turn on the Faucet

Children's Literature

When you turn on the faucet, how does the water get there? Here's where you can find out—step by step. Track the water from the faucet to the house pipes to the service line to the water main and feeder pipes to the storage tank to the treatment facility into the treatment plant out to the reservoirs to precipitation and back up to the clouds. Each book in this series "traces the path of a science-based act backwards, from its result to its beginning." Spreads explain individual steps in the process, each spread ending with the same question that begins the section on the next step. Simplifying the process into small steps makes it easier to grasp the total, rather complicated, procedure. Sidebars discuss related information including lead contamination, Moen faucets, water meters, and chlorine. More spreads detail other ancillary subjects like water heaters, water pressure, wells, and the amount of drinking water available on Earth. "The Big Picture" is a spread summarizing the whole process. This 48-page, large-format book also includes two pages of facts and figures, a glossary, an index, and sources for more information. Other titles in the "Step Back Science" series include Surf the Internet, Turn on the TV, and Start the Car. 2004, Blackbirch Press/The Gale Group, Ages 9 up.
—Chris Gill