Water Interpretation Center: The museum where you will meet the towel monster and learn a lot about water

Hi friends,

There are experiences that surprise you when you least expect it and this is the experience that I have recently experienced in one of my work trips.

About a month ago, I went to teach a training course for the laboratory of the water consortium of the city of Albacete (Spain).

As in all courses I expected the typical building with a small laboratory with scientific instrumentation to make a quality control of drinking water in the city, but this time I found that the laboratory was just one more part of a beautiful complex related to water that included a museum, an exhibition area and even a large viewpoint that already caught my attention from outside the building.

The water museum

The entrance to the water museum is very nice, with large windows and lots of natural light, helped by the fact that part of the roof is actually the bottom of a pond that is located on the roof. So the entrance of natural light gives the museum a very cozy atmosphere.

Before reaching the various exhibition areas of the water museum, the first thing we find is an explanation of the evolution of the large outdoor tower at the entrance. This tower is actually a large water tank which in turn is the highest point of the entire region of Castilla La Mancha, in which at the top has been built a viewpoint.

Additionally, in this first contact with the museum there is a model of the tower and the building that houses the museum, the laboratory and the exhibition area with a mechanism that allows multiple school visitors to operate a mechanism that simulates the filling of the water tank.

Central zone

Entering the museum, one finds first of all in the central area, a large globe where one remembers that as the blue planet because we are a planet covered 75% by water. And they even make the proposal to actually call us planet water.

In this central zone, one of the sections deals with explaining the distribution of water between fresh water, salt water, water stored in glaciers, water accumulated in gaseous form in the hydrosphere in the form of clouds, etc.

It also explains in a didactic way in which other planets and satellites water has been found or the evidence of having existed at some point (Marte, Europe, Venus, etc).

Are you aware that there is or has been water on so many planets and satellites? I was not aware until this visit.

Zone1 (Hydrosphere)

Zone 1 is the zone where the constant movement of water in the hydrosphere is explained. Where the water in liquid state evaporates by the action mainly of the sun radiation, with this water is formed in gas form that accumulates in the form of clouds and finally these clouds close the cycle when it rains to return the water on the terrestrial surface.

In this area 1 on the display table, emphasis is placed on the oddities of water, such as its surface tension that allows insects to walk on it, the fact that it is the chemical compound that dissolves the most substances, its ability to regulate temperature, and many other curiosities.

In another section of the area, it also indicates the different forms that we can find water (solid, liquid and gaseous) with examples that we can find in nature, this appreciated compound.

All this in a fun and iterative way so that from the youngest to the adults can have fun being a museum where one can touch mechanisms and even play with questions and answers.

To finish this last part of zone 1, the internal part of water is explained, that is to say, its chemistry based on hydrogen bonds, which gives it wonderful characteristics.

Zone 2: Urban Water Cycle (Potabilization)

This area describes the different processes applied to water for its potabilization.

It explains the mechanisms for its collection and transport.

The percentage of water use by the different sectors (domestic, municipal, industrial and commercial) is indicated.

The analytical control that is done to confirm that the water is safe for human consumption from the chemical and biological point of view, making a control to prevent the existence of pathogens that can affect health or even cause death, as is the analysis of E-coli bacteria. .

And finally, the whole process is explained schematically, from water collection to the moment we open the water in our taps.

Zone 3: Urban Cycle (Water Treatment Plant)

Due to the fact that water becomes contaminated with chemical and biological pollutants with use, once it is discharged back into the environment, it is necessary to purify these toxins. Therefore, in this zone 3 the operation and completion of a water treatment plant is explained.

Additionally, within this complex mechanism with the technological evolution, this purification process has been facilitated with the help of pipes with continuous measurement sensors and, on the other hand, with the acquisition of intelligent tanker trucks that facilitate the purification of water contaminated by some type of discharge.

However, as with any process, there is always a supervillain and in this case it is what is known as the towel monster. Due to inadequate use and when we throw the towels down the toilets, we form clogs in the pipes and complicate the water purification process. No wonder in this museum they call the problem as a monster and at the same time in an original way they have it represented in the museum.

Zone 4: History, Present and Future of Water

This section explains the evolution of water in the history of the city, going back to historical data from centuries before our era to the most contemporary history.

Throughout this area, the construction of the different municipal reservoirs that supplied water to the city is described, as well as the development of the supply networks and future projects to improve efficiency in the use of this resource in a city where the amount of annual rainfall is not the highest in Spain.

In the final section of this area there is a striking projection that tells the story previously developed on the panels in the area.

Additionally, between this area and the central area there is a box that reminds us that we are also water, the animals that surround us and also food. Being the section that I liked the most the part where you show us how as we get older we lose water.

Zone 5: Real-time water control zone

This zone is one of the areas that remind me that behind every drop of water that comes out of our taps there is always someone watching to ensure that it arrives in good condition.

As you can see, there are always several operators monitoring the different smart pipes installed in the network that supplies water to the city to detect leaks, pressure failures, etc.

Zone 6: Laboratory for schoolchildren

What perhaps I liked the most about the museum is a last section reserved for schoolchildren visits. Here they have lab coats for them and a miniature laboratory to be able to do some experiments with them in a safe way.

At the same time, as right next to it is the real laboratory for water quality control, it is a perfect link to go from the museum to the real laboratory.

Visit to the Water Tower

After finishing the workday, the head of the laboratory told me that we could go up to the viewpoint of the Water Tower. To do so, we left the lab, walked through the museum and headed to an outdoor area along a walkway where we encountered a second towel monster.

Then we took an elevator that crosses the tower and went up to the viewpoint of the Water Tower, which as I mentioned earlier is the highest point of the community of Castilla La Mancha and from it I could see the city of Albacete and many miles around.

Exhibition center

Finally, in the same building, on the intermediate floor between the museum and the access to the water tower, there are several offices of cultural groups of folklore or crafts.

Additionally, in the corridors that give access to these offices I found a very colorful painting exhibition.

This painting showing the actors who play Magneto and Professor-X was the one that most caught my attention along with this painting of a woman with a mustache in the style of Salvador Dali.

Delighted to go to work for two days to a place as interesting as this, do not hesitate to document my visit very well for those who are ever in Albacete that do not hesitate to approach this water interpretation center to have fun for a few hours.

Best regards.