[ INTRO ].

Ahhh. It’s so nice to have a nice, cool glass of water after that epic soccer game we just had.

Hey, Squeaks, do you know where this water came from? [Squeaks squeaks]. That’s true, it did come from a sink! We’re pretty lucky here at the Fort; all we have to do is turn on the faucet and water comes right out.

But … what about before that? How did it get to the faucet? [Squeaks isn’t sure]. You might know that things like sinks and bathtubs are connected to pipes that carry water all through your house or school.

But before it even gets to those pipes, water has to come from a source — a place where there’s lots of water gathered in one place. Can you think of somewhere you might find lots of water? [Squeaks guesses]. That’s true, there’s a lot of water in the ocean!

But it’s too salty for people to drink. Instead, some cities and towns get their water from sources like lakes and rivers. They clean the water to get rid of any germs or chemicals that could be unhealthy, then send it through pipes to everyone who lives there.

In other places, including here at the Fort, people get their water from a well in the ground. A well is a hole that reaches down, deep into the Earth. Once it reaches deep enough, the well hits water. [Squeaks asks a question].

Good question, Squeaks. The water gets into the ground when it rains. The rain sinks down through the soil, going between the pieces of dirt, until it hits solid rock that it can’t go through.

That’s when the water stops, and sits in the spaces between the dirt. We call this water groundwater. And even though it might sound a little bit like an underground lake, that’s not really what it is — it’s not like there’s a big empty space filled with just water.

The groundwater is inside the dirt … kind of like a giant area made of mud. But even though it’s surrounded by dirt, groundwater is pretty clean! Anything that isn’t supposed to be in the water will stick to the dirt, leaving the water nice and clean.

It’s this clean water that wells try to reach. To build a well, you dig a long tube into the ground until it reaches the level where the water has settled underground. That’s called the water table.

The well goes below the water table, to where the soil is filled with groundwater. Then, something amazing happens. The well starts to fill with water.

Just water — no dirt! [Squeaks squeaks in amazement]. It is incredible, Squeaks, and the most amazing part is that the water is moving all on its own. Groundwater is trapped between hard rock and very heavy soil, which means it’s being squeezed pretty hard, kind of like when you squeeze a wet sponge with your hands.

And when you dig a well, suddenly there’s an empty space where the water can go! It’s like the heavy dirt is squeezing the water into the well. Once the water is in the well, we can use pipes to pull it out.

Some towns and cities have a whole bunch of wells that they use to pull lots of water out of the ground at once. Then they send the w ater to people who need it through pipes, instead of everybody having their own well. But people who don’t live close to big towns usually have their own personal wells for their houses, since it’s easier than building pipes to bring water from very far away.

That’s what we have at the Fort! [Squeaks squeaks]. Would you like to share my glass of water, Squeaks? [Squeaks squeaks]. I’ve never met a robot who loved water as much as you.

Thanks for joining us! If you want to keep learning and having fun with Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button, and we’ll see you next time here at the Fort! [ OUTRO ].