Flush!: Treating Wastewater (Carolrhoda Photo Books) [Hardcover]

Karen Coombs (Author), Karen Mueller Coombs (Author), Jerry Boucher (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6?A thorough and lively explanation of how wastewater is treated in the U.S. After a brief history, Coombs takes readers through each step of the process, from the flush of the toilet until the water is ready to be used again. Clear explanations, usually supported by well-chosen reproductions and full-color photographs or diagrams, make the process easy and interesting to follow. The author includes intriguing details, such as what the air smells like in various rooms of the treatment plant, and points out some of the unusual objects that find their way into the sewer system (toys, money, reptiles). Statistics are neatly included within the text. A final chapter discusses natural alternative methods of cleaning wastewater. The book closes with a list of ways in which people can help the treatment process and an interesting bunch of "Fun Flushing Facts." With its attractive format and lively presentation, Flush should appeal to more readers than most books on the subject, and makes a natural companion to Penny Colman's Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers (Atheneum, 1994), which discusses the topic from a historical viewpoint.?Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-6. Coombs takes a more thorough look at water purification than do Cole and Degen in the Magic School Bus at the Waterworks (1986), using humor to do it. After examining the limited supply and importance of fresh water, she highlights sanitation practices through the centuries--from chamber pots to outhouses, from typhoid outbreaks to the burning Cuyahoga River. She then turns to the present, explaining how waste water travels from house to sewer to treatment plant and discussing the four stages of purification. Her explanations are clear, and she hits the details kids want to know: Is waste water smelly? What happens to toy balls that fall down the sewers? The photographs are plentiful, high quality, and surprisingly attractive given the subject matter. Coupled with the appealing jacket and high-interest topic, they help make this a good purchase for both public and school library collections. A glossary and suggestions for improving water quality are included. Susan Dove Lempke

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876148798
• ISBN-13: 978-0876148792
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,254,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

On Karen's bulletin board is a quote from Emerson: "May the work that you do be the play that you love." It's a perfect statement of the way she feels about writing─at times, it seems more like play than like work. She is an award-winning author of eight published books for children and young adults and a long-time member of SCBWI.

Although born in Wisconsin, Karen grew up in the Northern Alberta town of Grande Prairie, where the Aurora Borealis flickered and shimmered across the night sky. The winters were long and cold, so cold her nostrils stuck together when she breathed too deeply, so cold her legs turned blue if she were foolish enough to go outside without warm stockings or pants, so cold she could hear the ice on the slough snapping and popping as she lay in bed at night. Winter days were short. It was dark when she left for school in the morning and dark when she came home. No matter how cold, she ice skated and played hockey, often by moonlight. When she was older, Karen curled, her favorite winter sport. She wishes curling had been an Olympic sport when she was younger, because she would have loved to try out for the Olympic team.

In the summer, the sun rose very early and darkness didn't arrive until nearly midnight. Days seemed endless, wonderful for a child who loved to wander the countryside, either on foot or by horseback. And both the long nights of winter and the long days of summer were perfect for a child addicted to reading.

After graduating from high school in Grande Prairie, Karen attended the University of Alberta, first in Calgary and later in Edmonton. She taught first grade for a few years, then studied journalism at the University of Utah. There, a class in writing for children unearthed her passion.

Now living in Southern California, Karen continues to work at the "play that she loves."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview--lively writing, specifics, great illustr, May 26, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Flush!: Treating Wastewater (Carolrhoda Photo Books) (Hardcover)

Kids (and we're all kids) will find the answers to many
questions as to what happens after they flush the toilet.
The author highlights water as a precious commodity; with
clear, snappy writing, she discusses the history of water
treatment including a picture of Mr. Crapper's "Improved
Registered Ornamental Flush-down W.C.," problems (a dramatic
1952 photo of the burning of the polluted Cuyahoga River) and
a variety of modern water treatments.
Step-by-step, the book covers the process of water treatment
from first screen (where lots of children's toys are caught),
through the long process of clarifiers and aeration basins
and more. Illustrations include photos, maps, sketches, old
advertisements. Back matter includes tips on helping your
local wastewater plant ("Caution! What's going down the
drain?), "Fun Flushing Facts" (bet you didn't know that we
flush 4.8 BILLION gallons a year!); a helpful glossary; and
an index.
So FLUSH is going to work with curious children as a read-
aloud for parents/grand-parents; an important addition to
school and public library collections; a fine, specific
resource for students doing research. Great for any reader
from 6 to 106 curious about about what happens after the
FLUSH.
Edith Fine

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun (well, maybe) for kids and adults, July 3, 2004

By 

Charles Sutherland (Indy, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flush!: Treating Wastewater (Carolrhoda Photo Books) (Hardcover)

What happens when you flush the toilet? Kids ask questions like this, sometimes at awkward times. The truth of the matter is, though, that most adults can't really answer this particular question. We are quite happy just to know that it does work, and are quite unhappy when it doesn't!

Karen Mueller Coombs wrote this book after her four year old son flushed a toy down the toilet and wanted to know where it went. Coombs is a former elementary school teacher, and uses that expertise and the natural curiosity of children to explore this subject in a helpful and interesting way, even for adults. Did you know that Americans flush almost 5 billion (yes, that is billion, with a B) gallons of water each day? Water in the system is only about 1/3 from toilets -- the rest comes from clothes washing, which is the second largest water producer, bathing (the third), sinks and garbage disposals.

Coombs combines her writing with good, full color photography from Jerry Boucher, who has worked on many books like this. The text is geared for a late elementary school level, but the kinds of information here is fun for adults, too, because who knows this kind of stuff? How much toothpaste is washed down the drains each day in America? How much toilet paper? It is more than you would think!

So, this isn't the most appetizing subject around, but it is vital information in some respects, and kids with their sometimes bizarre sense of what they need to know find the book interesting, too.

5.0 out of 5 stars Flush! A great book!, April 10, 2005

By 

Super Reader "Super Reader" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flush!: Treating Wastewater (Carolrhoda Photo Books) (Hardcover)

I read this book to my son, and he immediately said it was his favorite book. Most kids have a fasination with toilets and waste- well this book answers all of their questions- like, "Where does the stuff go when you flush the toilet? Kids will love this book and parents will appreciate it. Buy it. It's great!