Water. An interesting component to this Earth. But lately, it’s been a menace upon the concrete dent in our beach. Supposedly a pond yet there are about five tablespoons of water there. It’s time to get down to the bottom of this puddle.
Construction has been both a friend and a mystery here at Aspen High School. Many people constantly asked “when will this be done,” or “ how long will this take,” and finally the glorious, long-awaited beach was open only to discover what appeared to be an unfilled pond. This poses both a burden and an open opportunity for anything to fulfill such open space. The question is…What was it meant for?
Now before we get to the actual bottom of this, let’s talk about theories.

Theory number one:
Over the summer, the construction at Aspen High School went smoothly. A beautiful pond was built in the shape of a kidney bean with water filling every corner of its space. A beautiful sight to see and a pond was just what we needed for aesthetics. Until one night, a pack of deer met a sudden case of dehydration. One thing led to another and suddenly the water once in the pond became nothing more than a distant memory. In hopes of mitigating the impacts on top of lost water, the school district adapted and created a filtration system to clear out excess deer backwash.

Theory number two:
The swim team decided to move locations over the summer and thought it would be a good idea to swim in the pond. While practicing for the upcoming season, the number of waves and people surpassed carrying capacity, ultimately draining the ‘pool’ to what we see now. Needless to say, it never looked the same. The district once again adapted and created a filtration system to get rid of the leftover chlorine.

Theory number three:
Some students do not have time in the morning to finish getting ready so, in staying true to the tradition of outdoor ex-eds, students chose to bring a Nalgene and toothbrush to school, using the pond as their own personal sink. This could reasonably explain the small amount of water there.

The Truth:
Now let’s get down to what it really is. This year-long construction project is none other than a water filtration system. Science teacher, Haylen Gonzalez-Pita commented on her understanding regarding the newly finished project.

Referred to as the ‘kidney bean’, Haylen explained, “it is part of the sustainability initiative of Aspen School District. So as water moves through the system, it goes through a series of filtration layers in order to be clean on the other end.”

She went further into explaining bond project updates given out in June of 2022 and commented, “The district has a funding of 2.1 million dollars dedicated to what they’re calling ‘sustainability’,” which is ultimately what is seen through this system.

Overall the water filtration system can play an important role at Aspen High School yet, a dried up pond is also an interesting story.