Paul Fryzel, supervisor of plant and industrial engineering at the Flint Metal Center, talks with Dillon students about what waste can be recycled, re-used or reduced.

For the last eight years, UAW and GM representatives from the Flint Metal Center have visited Dillon Elementary School to talk about how students there can do their part to protect the environment.

A couple weeks ago, the Flint Metal Center team, which included some personnel from Flint Engine South and Flint Assembly, walked three third-grade classes through the process of how we separate oil from water before sending the water on to the city of Flint for further treatment.

Sitting wide-eyed before a centrifuge, the students watched as the murky, oily water appeared to magically transform as Rebecca McPherson, assistant site utilities manager in Flint, added three ingredients necessary to break the bond between the oil and water. Within minutes, the students witnessed the oil pool at the top of the beaker where, in real life, it would be skimmed and recycled.

Rebecca McPherson, assistant site utilities manager in Flint, adds chemicals that will allow the oil to separate from waste water.

Third graders from Dillon Elementary School, file past the beaker of waste water and oil, after the separation has occurred.