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EMWD Children’s Book Focuses on Recycled Water

The student-produced "Professor Purrkis Ponders Purple Pipes" won the EMWD's Write Off contest
June 17, 2013
2 min read

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) announced the release of its latest student-produced children’s book that focuses on the role that recycled water plays in the community.

“Professor Purrkis Ponders Purple Pipes” is the sixth book authored by area middle school students as part of EMWD’s award-winning Write Off contest. The program encourages students to create books for grade school students that focus on water quality and conservation.

EMWD partners with Rancho California Water District to present the annual contest.

Professor Purrkis will soon join the other EMWD books as being available for download for the iPad, Kindle Fire and Nook Color from www.emwd.org/ebooks. EMWD is the only water agency in California to produce e-books.

“Professor Purrkis” was written and illustrated by Temecula Middle School students Iliana Reyes and Alyssa Rossi. Temecula Middle School teacher Susan Sarkis served as their mentor and adviser.

Rossi and Reyes, who were honored at an EMWD awards ceremony, presented author readings at their former elementary schools in May. Roughly 350 students from eight different schools participated in the Write Off contest in 2012-13.

“These girls worked really hard for weeks on this,” said EMWD Education Specialist Malea Ortloff. “It was important to them to turn in a perfect project, and they did an amazing job.”

In the book, three students—Otis Turtle, Claire Bear and Presley Peacock—are given a homework assignment to create a poster about recycled water.

To learn more, the trio seeks the assistance of Professor Purrkis, who helps the students understand the process of turning wastewater into recycled water that can be used for beneficial purposes.

EMWD’s series of books, which focuses on water quality and conservation, began in 2009 as part of a Write Off contest among area students. Since then, five of the previous six books have been written by area middle school students and all six have been illustrated by students from schools within EMWD’s service area.

The other books include “Gobi’s Adventure,” “Bartholomew Investigates how to Use Water Wisely,” “Otis the Turtle gets Water Wise,” “Cody the Crocodile Contemplates his Water Wise Propensity,” “Mabel the Mouse and Breezy Bird Learn About Tap Water Quality: It’s Good!” and “Gobi and Aguat Get Savvy about Water Quality."

Source: Eastern Municipal Water District

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