Earth Day isn’t just celebrated once a year.

The earth and its water are something Nadine and Markus Ruchter of Essen, Germany, have been studying for years and will host a presentation today at Community of Christ in Scottsbluff.

Nadine is executive board director of the Center of Water Environment at Duisburg-Essen University in Germany. The couple traveled with the Peace Mission of Germany to Iran and India, where they learned about culture and water systems.

“Iran has ancient ways of treating wastewater,” Nadine said. “They had an entire water system that ran underground from the mountains to deliver water to homes.”

Nadine, along with other members of the board, will also discuss issues the people in each country are now facing with pollution, drought, irrigation and wastewater.

Markus said the old cities also had water clocks, a bit like Nebraska’s irrigation system, that measured the use of water for each home. The owners were billed accordingly, much like today’s water user.

This week the couple is visiting Scottsbluff where Markus was a foreign exchange student when he was in high school. He stayed with Jerry and Jim Lewis of Gering and built a strong relationship with them.

The couple will give a presentation today at the Community of Christ, at 1623 Fourth Ave. in Scottsbluff. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a supper of ham and beans and cornbread followed by the presentation by the Ruchters at 6:45 p.m.

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