Henry County Middle School students, who were divided into 18 teams, put their engineering skills to the test during the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition held at the Henry County Water Authority’s (HCWA) Tussahaw Water Plant.

  The HCWA awarded prizes for the top three teams, in addition to giving recognition for superlative designs and presentations. The following teams took home top honors:

• First Place – the “Minecrafters” team from Austin Road Middle School, which included Jesus Miranda-Orduna, Chase Morgan, and Alex Agbaere. The first-place team received a $300 gift card for their achievement.
• Second Place – the “Tree Savers” team from Austin Road Middle School, which included Beyuti Burrows and Naomi Hernandez. The second-place team received a $200 gift card.
• Third Place – the “Poppin Popcorn” team from Locust Grove Middle School, which included Alyssa Sherman and Halie Rogers. The third-place team received a $100 gift card.
• Best Engineering Design went to the “Spongebob” team from Austin Road Middle School, which included Tru DuBose, Charles Morgan, and TaShaun Bradsher.
• Best Artistic Design and Best Presentation went to Jenna Powers and Rachel Wilson from Locust Grove Middle School.

  During the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition, each team’s tower was judged according to three criteria – structural efficiency, hydraulic efficiency, and design ingenuity. In addition, participating students completed interviews with a panel of judges, which included HCWA Deputy Manager Tony Carnell, as well as HCWA Division Managers Pat Hembree and Scott Sage. The model water towers were constructed out of everyday household items, with bonus points for creative designs and the use of recycled materials.

  During this year’s Model Water Tower Competition at the Tussahaw Water Plant, while half of the competing teams received evaluations of their water towers from HCWA water professionals, the remaining students enjoyed science activities and tours of the award-winning water treatment facility.

  The full-day event concluded with a “Meter Madness” competition, where students raced to assemble a standard residential water meter correctly, but as quickly as possible.

  The objective of the Georgia Model Water Tower Competition is to make students more aware of the engineering and construction challenges of providing a community with reliable drinking water, while introducing them to possible career paths within the water profession. The students develop a creative idea into a functioning water tower, similar to how HCWA water professionals integrate these structures into a water system that serves more than 60,000 residential customer accounts in Henry County.

  The Georgia Model Water Tower Competition, which was first held in 2012, is an educational program of the Georgia Section of the American Water Works Association and the Georgia Association of Water Professionals. It was established as a competition that challenges middle school students to design and build a (model) water tower according to specific size and height requirements. In doing so, students apply lessons they’ve learned through their school’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curricula. In addition, they learn more about the value of water to a community, while getting a closer look at their local water utility.

  This year’s Georgia Model Water Tower Competition included nine regional events held across the state during this school year. In addition to the Henry County event hosted by the HCWA, others were held in Clayton County, Fulton County, Cobb-Marietta, Griffin-Spalding County, the City of Carrolton, the City of Augusta, Fayette County, and Cherokee County.

  A photo gallery from this year’s Henry County, Georgia Model Water Tower Competition is available on the HCWA website at www.hcwa.com.