Member Spotlight

The City of Des Moines, Iowa is a leader in the development, planning, and execution of efforts to improve water quality and flood management both within city limits and outside of its jurisdictional boundaries.

The children’s book, Anatomy of Wastewater, is an in-house production developed by the Department of Environmental Services and the City and County of Honolulu’s Design and Print Center at the Department of Customer Services.

The Great Lakes Water Authority’s (GLWA) collaborative relationship with its member partners and other stakeholders is the bedrock of its operating philosophy, strengthened through development of various common projects and initiatives. . A key example of this collaboration is in the development of public education materials and videos to educate the public on clean water good practices.

In a typical year, Lynchburg Water Resources (LWR) education and outreach staff visits schools, leads field trips, hosts water plant and wastewater plant tours, and participates in large-scale events. Due to COVID-19, these events were no longer safe to continue. As a solution to continue to raise awareness, the education and outreach staff began filming a series of short 3-5-minute-long videos entitled “Water Wonders.”

South Platte Renew (SPR) is a resource recovery facility that serves approximately 300,000 customers in the South Denver region and treats an average of 18 million gallons per day.

Public education and engagement are top goals in the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority’s (BJWSA) strategic plan. So, in October 2019, BJWSA debuted its flagship plant tour program, Trick or Treatment, which also became virtual due to the pandemic.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) has taken an innovative approach to reducing water pollution from sewer overflows when large storms threaten their area by creating a text alert system for its ratepayers, the Water Drop Alert™.

Since 2016, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has worked to demystify the world of wastewater for its community through tours of its Main Wastewater Treatment Plant located in Oakland, CA. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, EBMUD quickly mobilized to replace its in-person tours with virtual tours, allowing community members to visit the plant from the safety and comfort of home.

Capital Region Water (CRW) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and two upstream neighboring municipalities, Lower Paxton Township (LPT) and Susquehanna Township (ST), joined forces as the Paxton Creek Cooperative, committed to working together on a Joint Pollutant Reduction Plan (PRP) to reduce sediment from stormwater discharges and stream bank erosion and improve the health of Paxton Creek, Beaver Creek, Spring Creek, and the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2013, Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew), the wastewater treatment provider in Alexandria, Virginia, established a partnership with Urban Alliance (UA), a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting underserved youth through paid, professional internships, workplace readiness training, and mentorship. Building on its role as a resource to the community it serves, AlexRenew saw this partnership as an opportunity to bridge the gap of workforce development needs, while preparing Alexandria’s most vulnerable young people for professional success.