Daily English 1289 Problems With Drinking Water

Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:06
Explanation begins at: 3:43
Normal Speed begins at: 18:35

Complete Transcript

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,289 – Problems with Drinking Water.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,289. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

[start of dialogue]

Yulia: Wait! Don’t drink that.

Jack: Why not? I’m really thirsty.

Yulia: That’s a standing pool of water. There could be all kinds of microorganisms living in there.

Jack: Fine, but somebody should have brought more water for this long walk.

Yulia: I know. It’s my fault. Hey, there’s a cabin. Maybe there’s somebody there who can give us some water. Do you see a well?

Jack: No, no well, and I don’t see an outdoor faucet either. In fact, I don’t see any signs of life inside. But hey, the door is unlocked.

Yulia: Are you sure we should just walk in?

Jack: I’m not dying of thirst just because you’re afraid to go in. Oh no! Nothing comes out of the tap. Let’s see if there are any water tanks or rain barrels out back.

Yulia: I’m not drinking rainwater or runoff from the roof.

Jack: Suit yourself, but here’s a tub of water.

Yulia: Wait! You don’t know if that’s potable. It could be untreated water with sewage or worse.

Jack: You can wait for some nice filtered water, but I’m not picky. I just need to quench my thirst.

Yulia: You should at least boil it first. Oh my God, I just saw something swimming in it!

Jack: I’m sure it’s willing to share.

[end of dialogue]

Yulia says to Jack, “Wait! Don’t drink that.” Jack says, “Why not? I’m really thirsty.” “To be thirsty” (thirsty) means to really want to drink something, such as water or some other beverage, something else that one normally drinks. Yulia says, “That’s a standing pool of water.” A “standing pool (pool) of water” is a small area or a small “body,” we would call it, of water that is not moving. Usually we’re talking about something that is only perhaps three or, at most, four feet around that doesn’t have a lot of water in it. It could be larger than that, I suppose.

Another word we might use here for a very small amount of water that you see on the ground is “puddle” (puddle). If you are walking along the street or down an area and you see water on the ground where there is a small depression or hole in the ground, we would call that a “puddle,” because there isn’t any water moving in or out of it. We might refer to it as a “standing pool of water.”

Yulia says, “There could be all kinds of microorganisms living in there.” A “microorganism” (microorganism) is a very small form of life that cannot be seen by your eyes unless you use what’s called a “microscope” – a special device that allows you to see things that are very, very small. Jack says, “Fine,” meaning okay, “but somebody should have brought more water for this long walk.”

We now understand what’s going on here. Jack and Yulia have gone for some sort of walk, probably away from the city, and they don’t have enough water. Jack is thirsty and is looking for something to drink. Yulia says, “I know. It’s my fault,” meaning “I am the one who is responsible for not bringing enough water.” Then she says, “Hey, there’s a cabin” (cabin).

A “cabin” is a small house that you would find out away from the city, perhaps next to a lake or up in the mountains or out where there isn’t anyone else around. A cabin is often a place where people go on vacation, nowadays, to get away from the city. “Maybe there’s somebody there who can give us some water,” Yulia says. “Do you see a well?” A “well” (well) is a very deep hole in the ground that is created in order to find water. The word “well,” of course, is also an adverb in English, but as a noun it refers to a deep hole from which you get water.

Jack says, “No, no well,” meaning no, there is not a well here. He continues, “I don’t see an outdoor faucet either.” “Outdoor” (outdoor) means outside of a house or a building. The opposite of “outdoor” is, of course, “indoor” (indoor). A “faucet” (faucet) is the metal device that you get water from, usually in a sink. “In fact,” Jack says, “I don’t see any signs of life inside,” meaning he doesn’t think there is anyone inside of the cabin. “But hey, the door is unlocked,” meaning whoever owns this cabin has not locked the door.

Yulia says, “Are you sure we should just walk in?” Are you sure we should go into this cabin? Because, after all, it isn’t their cabin. Jack responds, “I’m not dying of thirst just because you’re afraid to go in.” He means “I’m not going to die here in the middle of nowhere just because the owner of the cabin isn’t there.” He’s going to go in, even though it doesn’t belong to him, to see if he can find some water.

Then he says, “Oh no! Nothing comes out of the tap” (tap). The “tap” is another word for the faucet. It’s where you get water from in a sink. Normally you can turn a tap on, and when you do, the water comes out of the tap. But when Jack turns the tap on, nothing comes out, meaning there is no water there.

Then he says, “Let’s see if there are any water tanks or rain barrels out back.” A “water tank” (tank) is a large container that is used to put water in. Sometimes, if you live away from the city, you may have your water in a big tank. My parents used to have a small cabin up in the northern part of Minnesota near a lake, and we had a water tank where the water was kept so that we could have water to drink and cook and so forth.

A “rain barrel” (barrel) is a large container that collects the water from a rainfall. If you live away from the city and you need water, you might have a rain barrel that collects rain as it comes down. It stores the water in the barrel so you can use it later, often to do things such as give water to plants and so forth.

Yulia says, “I’m not drinking rain water or runoff from the roof.” Jack proposes they look for a rain barrel or a water tank in the back of the cabin, but Yulia says, “No, I’m not going to drink rainwater” – that is, the water that comes from the sky as rain. She is also not going to drink any “runoff” (runoff). “Runoff” is water that usually has gone over some surface such as the roof of a house.

If you have rain on your house, the water probably goes somewhere. It doesn’t stay on the top of your house. Well, we would call that water “runoff” because it has come from some other surface or gone over some other surface. It has “drained,” we would say, away from your roof. You could also have runoff from a street or a road. “Runoff” is usually water coming from a rainstorm, but not always. It could be from some other machine or source of liquid.

Jack says, “Suit yourself, but here’s a tub of water.” “Suit (suit) yourself,” means “That’s fine – you can make your own decisions for you, but I’m going to do something different.” He says, “Here’s a tub (tub) of water.” A “tub” is normally something we use to bathe in. You can get yourself clean with soap and water in a bathtub. The word “tub” can refer to any large container used for either bathing, that is getting your body clean, or washing, such as washing your clothes.

Yulia says, “Wait! You don’t know if that’s” – meaning the water in the tub – “if that’s potable” (potable). “Potable” means something you can drink, something that is safe to drink. Not all water, of course, is safe to drink for humans. Yulia says that that water “could be untreated water with sewage or worse.” “Untreated” means that it isn’t clean. It hasn’t been prepared for humans to drink. “Sewage” (sewage) is what we call wastewater. It’s any sort of water or liquid that has something dirty in it, including things that come out of your body, if you know what I mean.

Jack says, “You can wait for some nice filtered water, but I’m not picky.” “Filtered (filtered) water” is water that has been cleaned. We would say it is water that has been “purified.” You’ve gotten rid of all the bad things that might make you sick in the water. Jack says he’s not “picky” (picky). “To be picky” means to be very selective about what you eat or drink, or what you will accept. “Oh, I don’t want any of that; I don’t want any of that; I don’t want any of that; I only want this.” That’s being “picky” – when you only want certain things or are only happy with certain things.

Jack says, “I just need to quench my thirst.” “To quench (quench) your thirst (thirst)” means to drink something so that you are no longer thirsty. You no longer have a strong desire to drink. Yulia says, “You should at least boil it first.” Yulia is telling Jack he should “boil” (boil) the water. “To boil” water or any other liquid means to bring it to a temperature that causes little bubbles, little bits of air to come out of the liquid – to bring it, that is, to what we would call a “gaseous state.”

In Fahrenheit, 212 degrees is the temperature at which water will boil, although that depends exactly on how high up in the air you are. Here in Los Angeles, we’re basically at sea level, so 212 degrees Fahrenheit is about right. That would be 100 degrees Celsius for the rest of the world. Yulia thinks that Jack should boil the water. Then she says, “I just saw something swimming in it” – that is, she saw some little animal, perhaps a little fish even, swimming in the water.

Jack isn’t concerned. He says, “I’m sure it’s willing to share,” meaning “I’m sure this little animal will let me have some water as well.” He’s obviously not concerned about getting sick from what appears to be unclean water.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Yulia: Wait! Don’t drink that.

Jack: Why not? I’m really thirsty.

Yulia: That’s a standing pool of water. There could be all kinds of microorganisms living in there.

Jack: Fine, but somebody should have brought more water for this long walk.

Yulia: I know. It’s my fault. Hey, there’s a cabin. Maybe there’s somebody there who can give us some water. Do you see a well?

Jack: No, no well, and I don’t see an outdoor faucet either. In fact, I don’t see any signs of life inside. But hey, the door is unlocked.

Yulia: Are you sure we should just walk in?

Jack: I’m not dying of thirst just because you’re afraid to go in. Oh no! Nothing comes out of the tap. Let’s see if there are any water tanks or rain barrels out back.

Yulia: I’m not drinking rainwater or runoff from the roof.

Jack: Suit yourself, but here’s a tub of water.

Yulia: Wait! You don’t know if that’s potable. It could be untreated water with sewage or worse.

Jack: You can wait for some nice filtered water, but I’m not picky. I just need to quench my thirst.

Yulia: You should at least boil it first. Oh my God, I just saw something swimming in it!

Jack: I’m sure it’s willing to share.

[end of dialogue]

If you have a thirst for English, you can quench it by listening to the dialogues written by our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. Thank you, Lucy.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossary

thirsty – with a strong desire to drink; needing water or another beverage

* Eating salty potato chips makes me very thirsty.

standing pool – a puddle; a small body of water that is not moving, with no flow in or out

* To control mosquito populations, it’s important to get rid of all standing pools of water, where the insects like the breed.

microorganism – a very small form of life that cannot be seen by the human eye without the use of a microscope

* Scientists say that the human body has trillions of microorganisms.

cabin – a small wooden home in a natural area, far away from a city, and without very many modern conveniences

* They enjoy spending their weekends at a small cabin near the national forest.

well – a very deep hole in the ground that was created to find water, so that a bucket or pump can be used to bring water to the surface

* If this well dries up, we’ll need to connect to the city’s water system.

faucet – the metal device that water flows out from, usually into a sink

* To water the garden, just attach this hose to the faucet.

tap – faucet; the metal device that water flows out from, usually into a sink

* Is it safe to drink water from the tap, or do we need to boil it first?

water tank – a large container used to store water

* Earthquake preparedness experts recommend that every community has a water tank with enough water for several days.

rain barrel – a large container that collects the rainwater that falls onto a roof, used to water plants during drier seasons

* One way to reduce your water bill is to install rain barrels. That way, you aren’t paying for clean water to take care of your outdoor plants.

rainwater – water that falls from clouds in the sky

* In polluted cities, rainwater is acidic and can damage buildings and outdoor statues.

runoff – water that drains away from a surface, such as a roof, street, or field

* The investigators found that runoff from nearby farms carried pesticides and fertilizers into local rivers.

tub – a large basin used for bathing or washing

* Soak dirty clothes in the tub for a few hours before you wash them.

potable – safe to drink; water that is not dirty, contaminated, unhealthy, or dangerous

* The streams in this forest aren’t safe to drink, so make sure you bring at least two liters of portable water on our hike.

untreated – not cleaned, processed, or preserved; not prepared for humans to drink or to use to prepare food

* If you wash fruits and vegetables in untreated water, you might get sick.

sewage – liquid waste; used water, urine, feces, and other dirty things that are carried through pipe systems

* Cities that don’t have public restrooms often have problems with sewage in the streets.

filtered – cleaned and purified by passing a liquid through very fine (small) screens so that particles (solid pieces) and other unwanted materials are separated from the liquid

* Fresh cow milk must be filtered to remove animal hair.

to quench (one’s) thirst – to drink something so that one is no longer thirsty; to satisfy one’s thirst

* Soda doesn’t quench my thirst as well as plain water does.

to boil – to bring a liquid to the temperature at which it bubbles and becomes a gas; to bring water to 212°F (100°C)

* Please boil some water to make tea.

Comprehension Questions

1. Which of these is most likely a source of treated water?
a) A well
b) A faucet
c) A water tank

2. Which of these things is potable?
a) Runoff
b) Filtered water
c) Untreated water

Answers at bottom.

What Else Does It Mean?

well

The word “well,” in this podcast, means a very deep hole in the ground that was created to find water, so that a bucket or pump can be used to bring water to the surface: “Homes that aren’t connected to the town’s water system need to have a well on the property.” A “well” can also be an oil well: “The company is drilling wells all over northern Texas, searching for oil.” The phrase “to do well by (someone)” means to treat someone nicely or to be kind or generous to someone: “Blake always does well by his co-workers, so they respect him.” Finally, the phrase “might as well” is used to show agreement or willingness to do something, but without enthusiasm: “We might as well try to implement her proposal, but I don’t think it will work.”

tub

In this podcast, the word “tub” means a large basin used for bathing or washing: “They filled the tub with hot, soapy water to wash the dog.” A “bathtub” is the large basin in a bathroom, often connected to a shower: “The children like to splash in the bathtub before bedtime.” A “hot tub” is a jacuzzi, or a small pool filled with very warm water that air blows through to make bubbles: “After exercising, Trent likes to relax in the hot tub at the gym.” A “tub” can also be a small container used to hold food: “Please buy a tub of butter when you’re at the grocery store.” Or, “Movie theaters normally sell sodas and tubs of popcorn to moviegoers.” Finally, “tub of lard” is a rude and insulting way to refer to an overweight (fat) person: “I feel like a tub of lard after eating an entire gallon of ice cream!”

Culture Note

The Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act, “effective” (made into law in) 1972, is the “main” (primary; most important) “federal” (national) law covering water pollution in the United States. It is “administered” (operated or managed) by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is “tasked with” (asked to do something) “restoring” (bringing back to healthy, natural state) and “maintaining” (keeping something at a constant level) the nation’s water. The law has gone through several “iterations” (versions) to clarify its “scope” (how much it covers; what its responsibilities are), and today it governs all types of water except “groundwater” (water found deep underground), which is protected by other laws, specifically the Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Superfund Act.

The Clean Water Act makes it “unlawful” (against the law) to “discharge” (emit; issue; send out) any “pollutant” (something that makes air and water dirty or unhealthy) into a body of water without a “permit” (official permission to do something). For example, if a factory needs to discharge “wastewater” (dirty water that is produced through manufacturing processes), it must “apply for” (request) a permit that governs how the wastewater must be treated and how much wastewater can be discharged.

The law also establishes “water quality standards” (expectations of what levels of pollution are allowed in a body of water). If pollution in a lake or river “exceeds” (is greater than) the water quality standards, the Environmental Protection Agency may take action to improve the quality of water, such as limiting agricultural runoff or improving the health of nearby “wetlands” (very wet natural areas that act like a filter for water).

The Clean Water Act also “addresses” (deals with) “thermal pollution” of water, or efforts to make sure that water temperatures are not harmful to plants and animals in the water.

Comprehension Answers

1 - b

2 - b