Skipper once again found himself surrounded by darkness. By now it had become a familiar embrace. As he moved deeper and deeper into the darkness, the memory of his recent journey played over and over in his thoughts. He relived the changes he experienced as he travelled through the Water Treatment Works and reminded himself of the way people looked at him and his friends as they filled the glass. The smiles on their faces and the way they seemed to place so much value on their mere existence made him feel needed and wanted, seen and appreciated.
Skipper was so deep in thought that he didn't pay much attention to the strange new world he was flowing into, a world filled with strange new odours and strange new sounds. He however quickly snapped out of it when he and his friends were pushed to the side by a stream of newcomers. These newcomers were dirty, filthy even. Some of them were greyish in colour and some of them looked kind of soapy while some of them were almost unrecognizable, droplets with horrid faces and an awful odour. "Where did you come from?" Skipper asked one of them hesitantly. The answer was anything but pleasant as the drop told him to mind his own business.
Averting his eyes, Skipper decided to do just that and focus on that which was taking place around him instead of focussing on the rude newcomers. Skipper looked around and noticed that the pipes were getting bigger and bigger. He noticed a consistent inflow into these pipes as more and more streams joined them – some of them quite clean and some of them looking unlike anything Skipper had ever seen. He also noticed strange new objects that found their way into the sewer. Then Skipper noticed the condition he and his friends were in. “How on earth were they going to get clean? Will we look like this forever?” he wondered. He didn’t have much time to ponder this thought though as, up ahead, Skipper saw large vertical bars and noticed that the water level was increasing.
“This is peculiar” Skipper thought as he observed the process taking place. He marvelled at how the large objects, paper, plastics and all sorts of other foreign material, got trapped on the screen. Skipper felt how the flow of water was being reduced. Skipper felt himself being squeezed past the bars. He sighed in relief - they were finally safe from those strange objects.
His ordeal had however made Skipper more aware of his environment and as such, he now started paying attention to the many smaller objects surrounding him - the screens didn’t remove everything. "What are all of these grains of sand doing here? How will they be removed?" he asked to no one in particular. He barely had time to finish his thought before his environment began to change once again. Things around him were slowing down and as they did, the grains of sand settled down at the bottom of the grit channels. “Interesting,” He thought. “What could possibly be in store next?”
But nothing could have prepared Skipper for what he encountered as he flowed to the next tank. Nothing could have prepared him for the strange new forms of brown bacteria that joined the stream and, even though he had been through so much already, Skipper couldn't help but feel insecure - would they be kind to him or would they also be in some kind of bad mood? He waited anxiously as more and more joined him and the other drops of water.
Skipper wanted to get a better look at these newcomers, but their new environment made it really difficult to focus. He was swirled around in the tank by large noisy machines that clearly had no regard for his comfort. "Just go with the flow" he heard someone shout over the chaos. He looked around and saw some of the brown bacteria slowly approaching him. They didn't seem unfriendly, he noticed. In fact, they were actually smiling. "Don't be afraid." Another said. "We're here to clean you up." Before Skipper could utter a word, they were already getting to work. When they were done he felt lighter, cleaner. "See? It wasn't that bad." Skipper smiled and thanked the bacteria. As he did, they were already off to clean another drop of water.
More and more bacteria passed him by as they swirled around the tank. Eventually, Skipper’s surroundings changed once more – this time it was quiet and vaguely familiar. Skipper thought back to his experiences at the Water Treatment Works and remembered an environment that was very similar to this, one where the particles of floc settled and left him and his friends to flow to the filters. “Would this be the same?” he wondered. And indeed it was. As Skipper moved through the tank he saw clumps of bacteria settle to the bottom while he and his friends moved up and outward towards an overflow.
Skipper realized that the treatment process was approaching the end when he saw another familiar sight – a yellow cloud of chlorine. He remembered that chlorine disinfected the drops of water and cleaned everyone up. Now that the physical impurities were removed and now that all the chemical compounds that made him and his friends feel so dirty were gone, Skipper realised that the only thing that remained was for any bacteria that might not have settled out to be deactivated before the stream left the Wastewater Treatment Works. Skipper was excited, he was curious to see where he would end up next.
As the little drops of water continued their journey through another long dark pipe, Skipper could feel the anticipation building - what could possibly be waiting for him on the other side? He saw a bright light at the end of the pipe. Was this it? He saw droplets falling up ahead and closed his eyes, waiting for the moment he too would fall. He took the plunge and, after catching his breath, realized he was back at a place that seemed all too familiar – he was back in a river.
The days that followed were warm. Skipper could feel himself heating up. It sent tingles all over him. He liked this. He liked where he was. Watching the sky above him, be began to reminisce about all the adventures he had. He thought back to where it all started, how he and his friends made people happy and relived his journey through the Wastewater Works. He had had quite an adventure.