Where Does the Water Go? Making Waves with a Public Engagement Video

Objectives The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) provides nearly 40 percent of Michigan's population with water, as well as effective and efficient wastewater services to nearly 30 percent of the state. A total of 2.9 million customers are served by a combined sewer system that consists of large interceptor sewers, pumps stations, remote combined sewer overflow treatment facilities and a 1,700 MGD wastewater resource recovery facility. The system operates continuously to deliver and treat dry and weather sewer flows in accordance with required regulations. Some of the larger sewer pipes can be more than 17 feet in diameter and extends more than 191 miles. Large storm events in recent years have resulted in flooding to areas of the system. GLWA conducts routine outreach activities to discuss and educate stakeholders on the design, capacity and operational characteristics of their system. The purpose of this GLWA public outreach project was to develop an educational document that helps member partners and residents understand the limits and the complexity of the regional system and how it works in dry and wet weather conditions. This presentation will focus on the process used to develop the outreach material describing the team of specialists, process for identifying messaging and talking points, development of scripts and graphics, and final production of a mini-documentary. Status The mini-documentary required the creation of figures, audio, video, interviews and animation graphics. Engineering data was developed to compare and scale the hydraulic, flow, volume and power requirements that are required to operate the large sewer and wastewater treatment system. The final educational material consisting of a 12-min video (https://www.glwater.org/where-does-the-water-go-video/) was developed with form and content that stakeholders as young as a 5-year-old individual can understand. A sample of the content is presented in Figure 1. The content of the engagement media includes background on the GLWA organization and system, details of how residential plumbing is connected to the sewer system, and understanding of how flow is conveyed through local streets to the interceptors, and understanding of the regional collection system and treatment facilities operate, and an understanding of how residents can help the system work better. Methodology The process to assemble the mini-documentary was implemented over an 8 month period. GLWA contracted with an engineering consultant, Wade Trim, to work with a Detroit based documentary firm, FirstFight, to collaborate on the development of the outreach deliverable. A team was assembled that included a combination of engineers, public outreach specialists, documentary film makers, script writers, voice specialists, graphic and animation artists, production staff, and experts at GLWA in various aspects of the system. An interactive team consisting of representatives of GLWA and a consulting team met routinely over an 8 month period to present ideas, gain feedback and iteratively prepare a script, storyboards and final outreach production materials. Research was conducted on existing public outreach materials, interviews with key GLWA staff and visits to sewer and treatment plant facilities to understand better the nature and characteristics of the sewer system. The concept for the production focused on identifying the story that was being told & introducing the characters and history, discussing the problem and then presenting solutions and possibilities. The audience was identified as wide ranging and included residents, business owners and community representatives with the ability for people as young as 5-years old to understand the concepts. The tone of the production (serious, conversational, light-hearted, etc.) was also a key driving aspect along with the intent to deploy on social media and websites. Script development began with four general areas and required the development of messaging and talking points that told a story about the sewer system. An initial concept was identified by GLWA and messaging was developed by the project team. Major outcomes were for residents to residents to understand how sewer system works, realize that storm occur that can flood the system and that the system is not designed to handle all storms, and to convey to residents what they can do to help. Once the script was developed, a storyboard was developed to identify visual elements that would support the narrative. Videos were taken of major elements of the sewer system that could be used as features or background graphics in the production. Focus was on interviews of key staff on location at facilities. The engineering team worked with animation specialists and graphic artists to convert sewer maps and facility concepts into visuals that were simple and readily understood by residents. Professional voice specialists further enhanced the narration portions of the story. Final production brought all of the elements together into a single 12 minute video that could be easily posted online on the GLWA website for use with public meetings and access to all residents. Findings The engagement media has been presented at numerous stakeholder meetings and discussions on how the sewer system operates and is currently posted on the GLWA website. The process determined that an effective outreach media could be developed and deployed in a short period of time. The purpose of this presentation will be to discuss the approach used to develop an award winning public outreach video on the GLWA wastewater collection system and operations and share lessons learned.