National Ground Water Association

The National Ground Water Association is proud to be an educational partner of the new WATER Exhibit. Traveling to museums around the world, this special exhibit focused on the importance of water recently opened at COSI, a science center in Columbus, Ohio.

The exhibit focuses on all sources of water and features live animals, hands-on exhibits, and immersive dioramas. Through a grant from the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation, wells and groundwater are an integral part of the exhibit.

The exhibit will be at COSI, named the top science center in the country by Parents magazine, from March 17 to September 3, 2012. NGWA is listed as an educational sponsor on the promotional materials used by the science center and was recognized as such at the exhibit’s media opening on March 15.
 
The groundwater portion of the exhibit features "Porous Stones," an exhibit intended to help dispel the common misperception that groundwater occurs largely as underground lakes and rivers. Visitors are encouraged to trickle water onto various rock samples to observe that some have sufficient porosity and permeability to permit water to enter and flow through them.
 
Also featured is a component that shows what may happen when two wells access the same aquifer. When water is pumped from one of the wells (by turning a hand crank), the pressure in the aquifer drops as a cone of depression spreads out until it reaches the recharge area of the aquifer, the discharge area, or both.
 
A third groundwater component is featured in the three-dimensional GeoWall animation. It shows how groundwater underneath Tucson, Arizona, has fluctuated during the past several decades in response to groundwater pumping and recharge.

“This exhibition addresses the most compelling water-related issues facing societies and ecosystems around the globe, challenging you to learn how personal choices and actions can help sustain this precious resource for our children and generations to come,” says David E. Chesebrough, president and CEO of COSI.

Click here to view a gallery of images from the media sneak preview event on our Facebook page.