About the Community Water Scene Investigations Program

Arizona Project WET is a program of the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Arizona Cooperative Extension, and the Water Resources Research Center.

The Water Scene Investigation (WSI) is a program developed by Arizona Project WET originally developed for classrooms in-person around the state. We now offer the WSI in a format that is free and open to anyone in the the community.

Thanks to our sponsors, we are able to offer free resources to teachers and the public. This an exciting opportunity for anyone in the community like you to participate in a citizen science project and create a positive change in your home. Get started on your water investigation today!

Frequently Asked Questions

A faucet aerator is a water saving device that attaches to the end of your faucet. It adds air into the water to reduce the amount of water that flows out when the faucet is turned on. Many modern faucets already have an aerator, but over time they break down and need to be replaced.

APW can mail you up to 4 free aerators if you are within the Tucson and Casa Grande areas (Request HERE), thanks to our sponsors in those regions. If you are not in those service areas, we still highly recommend purchasing the aerators and following the steps in the community action tab.

We ask that if you are able to install the new aerator, please let us know how much water you saved.

Click HERE to report your savings.

Most residential faucets have standard sized aerators. The aerator we’ll send you is dual-threaded, which means it is meant to fit faucets with two different sizes, one with threads on the outside and one with threads on the inside. While we cannot guarantee that it will fit, you do not have to return the aerator if it does not fit. You can pass it on to someone who might want to use it! 

For participating regions, we are only able to provide the standard sized chrome aerators because this a free program for the public. If you are interested in a different color or size, the best bet is to remove the existing aerator, take it to a hardware store, and find a matching replacement at your own cost. We recommend looking for one that is labeled "1 gallon per minute or less" for your bathroom faucet. Aerators are typically inexpensive and can benefit you by lowering your water usage. 

Although aerators do exist for kitchen sinks, the 1 gallon per minute (gpm) aerator we recommend is ideal for faucets used mainly for washing hands, brushing teeth, etc. An aerator with this rating may not be effective in a kitchen sink where you do more tasks that require more water, such as filling pots fast. We recommend a 1.5 to 2 gpm aerator for the kitchen faucet.

Arizona Project WET is an extension program run through the University of Arizona and does not collect personally identifiable information from participants. We ask only for first name and first letter of the last name so that you can compare your water savings to others in your county or class.  Only gallons of water saved by county or classroom is reported to our sponsors to gauge the efficacy and impact of the Water Scene Investigations (WSI) program.