Dedicated to being an innovative regional utility for safe, clean waterways, Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (Louisville MSD) provides three key services - wastewater treatment, stormwater/drainage management, and flood protection - to the nearly 619,000 Louisville residents as well as the surrounding region. And it’s the job of 650 MSD employees to protect the community’s overall health and safety through these services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Louisville MSD values its employees and works hard to educate and empower them, and those in our future workforce - like the college students at the University of Louisville (UofL) Speed School of Engineering. Many of whom could be employed by Louisville MSD one day.


To demonstrate the organization’s commitment to education and advancement, Louisville MSD has worked alongside UofL to develop the freshman-level “Cornerstone” course. The curriculum has students take a deep-dive into MSD’s infrastructure and the role of the combined sewer system, wet-weather storage and wastewater treatment process.

To engage the first-year students, Louisville MSD developed a video that explains how wet weather storage solutions directly benefit water quality and community health and safety. The video further details how combined and separate sewer systems work, how they differ and the types of infrastructure projects being built as part of MSD's multi-billion-dollar Consent Decree investment to reduce combined sewer overflows. Through the video and classroom curriculum, up to 480 students per year design, build, program, and optimize a physical model using environmental and engineering principles they have learned.

In addition to its important classroom application, Louisville MSD is educating customers on the benefits of safe, clean waterways; developing new and innovative ways to comply with the Consent Decree commitments; and attracting a new, talented workforce at a time when finding quality engineering applicants is highly competitive.

With this unique model – classroom curriculum, video education, practical construction, and community awareness – Louisville MSD’s clean water workforce has a direct opportunity to forge purposeful connections and expand the organization’s reach in a holistic and meaningful way.

NACWA awarded Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District a 2023 National Environmental Achievement Award in the Public Information & Education: Video category for its creative and engaging video. Congratulations to everyone involved!