1. Water is taken from a river or lake and, once it is cleaned,
it is stored in a reservoir like the one in this photograph

2. Water comes from the reservoir to our homes
through large pipes that are laid in the ground

3. Pipes can be made of steel like these
or plastic like the ones in the last slide

4. Some water
pipes are laid
in fields

5. Some water pipes are laid in roads

6. Some water pipes are connected by pushing them together

8. These pipes are
connected by a
machine that
melts the ends
of the pipes
together

9. These pipes are joined together using bolts

10. Before starting to dig the engineer must make sure that nothing
important is in the ground that the excavator could damage

11. It is the
Engineer’s
job to
make sure
the work
is done
correctly
Can you spot
The engineer?

12. The engineer has drawings to show him/her where the water pipes are to go

13. For example can you see the yellow gas pipe in the photograph?
What do you think might happen if the excavator bucket strikes it?

14. The soil is loaded onto a truck and taken away

16. The pipes are then laid in the ground and joined together

17. Why do you think these large steel boxes are used?
The next two slides might give you a clue

20. This machine can drill a pipe under a bridge

21. Why do you think there are barriers around the excavation?

23. What do you think the small blue pipes are for?

24. Once the pipe is in the ground small stones are placed around it

25. The trench is then filled to the top with more stone

26. When the pipe trench has been filled to the top its time to tar

27. The road is then prepared for tarring

28. Trucks come with tar for the road

29. The road is then tarred

31. Finally the road is tidied up and is reopened to the public again

32. The pipes are then washed with chlorine
and tested to make sure there are no leaks

33. Now the water
has made the
journey from the
reservoir to your
kitchen tap!