On Tuesday 24th March, all of Year 7 bravely set off to the Musée des Égouts de Paris. The students learnt about how our wastewater is treated, the risks that the sewage workers face, the special equipment that is used to clean the wastewater and the sewers, and they completed a field sketch of the River Seine. This trip was completed as part of our current topic on Rivers and Flooding. The students were pleasantly surprised to find that the sewers did not smell quite as bad as they were expecting! Many thanks to all the staff who supported this trip and helped to make it possible. Please see some feedback from the students below.
“I loved this trip. It was a great opportunity for me and my peers to find out about how well the sewage system in Paris works and how the silent heroes of the sewage system help us flush the toilet and bring us clean water! Overall, an amazing trip and it was super fun especially the field sketch.”
“The trip was fun and educational. We learnt about the dangers of sewer workers in the olden days and how the sewers work. It was a very enjoyable trip with a nice relaxing field sketch when we finished our tour in the Sewage Museum.”
“Even though the trip was a bit smelly it was extremely exciting and fun. Also, we saw the old-fashioned equipment and why it had lots of hard times. Afterwards we had a very relaxing time drawing the River Seine.”
“The trip was great fun and very interesting to see and learn how they turn sewage water into clean drinking water. At some points in the museum, you would walk over a metal grated bridge or floor and when you looked down you could see people’s waste floating underneath you. At one end of the sewer there was a timeline and next to it there was a video of how they cleaned the sewers and the only light they used was a torch light. I would really recommend it for a school or family trip.”
