The nation’s wastewater infrastructure desperately needs attention. Experienced plant managers and operators are nearing retirement, and the treatment profession needs new blood. There is a growing need to recycle both end products of treatment: biosolids and clean water.
A key to meeting all these challenges is communication with the treatment industry’s publics. Nearly all industry associations make communication a priority, but few do so with the vigor shown by the Florida Water Environment Association.
The FWEA Public Communications and Outreach Committee has been widely recognized for its efforts, most of which focus on helping member organizations do a better job of getting key constituencies on their side.
Last October, the FWEA received a Water Environment Feder-ation Public Education Award for supporting WEF public education programs and for local community involvement.
In particular, the Florida group earned the recognition for
hosting the 2008 National Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition, organizing local involvement in World Water Monitoring Day, developing a biosolids outreach program that includes a comprehensive teacher’s guide, conducting public education workshops, and committing to host WEFTeach 2009 at next October’s WEFTEC conference in Orlando.
John Giachino, former chair of the FWEA outreach committee, shared his thoughts with Treatment Plant Operator on communication in a recent interview. Among his many other credits in communication, he has chaired the California WEA Public Education Committee and the WEF Public Communications and Outreach Committee. He is now vice president of FWEA and works as senior business development director for Parsons Water & Infrastructure.
TPO Why does your association make public education such a priority?
Giachino: It’s essential to our mission. Our mission statement says: “FWEA serves and unites water-quality professionals responsible for protecting a clean-water envi-ronment through education programs, professional development and promotion of sound public policy.” Public education is a very key element of all three of those facets of our organization’s mission.
TPO As a practical matter, what makes public education so essential?
Giachino: First, the key to successfully protecting the water environment and the health of the people we serve is to engage them at the grassroots level, so that they understand and support our mission. If they support our mission, then local utilities and the state government are empowered to provide appropriate funding
for our operations.
Second, our industry is faced with a body of professionals who are nearing retirement, and we need to engage young people and spark their interest in pursuing careers in this area. We need to promote the fine work our water professionals do, and so encourage youngsters to enroll in environmental science and related course curriculums, so that ultimately they take positions from operations and maintenance to engineering and on up to utilities management.
We also need to make the public aware who wastewater treatment professionals are and what they do on a day-to-day basis. Our operators work very hard, and they maintain a high level of education for certification. We need to show why they deserve fair and decent wages and benefits for their contributions.
TPO Toward building public support, Penn State Public Broadcasting has released the “Liquid Assets” program, dramatizing the need to invest in water infrastructure. How does that program figure in FWEA outreach?
Giachino: We’ve made our members aware of the program through our Web site and directly through e-mails, and we’ve encouraged them to obtain copies. We’ve purchased copies for loan to our members through our public education materials library. We also encourage members to purchase copies for themselves if they can afford to.
Finally, one element of our committee’s program is science teacher education, which includes attendance each year at the Florida Association of Science Teachers annual conference. In 2009, we may focus our presentation there on the availability of high-quality programs like “Liquid Assets.”
TPO What are some of the keys to effective communication at the community level?
Giachino: Utilities need to make sure they budget for continual public outreach. Many larger utilities are already on the cutting edge with fabulous programs, but outreach remains a challenge for smaller agencies.
My preferred approach to this issue is to work at the grassroots level. Everyone from utility managers down to operations and maintenance staff needs to talk frequently with public officials about why public education is so important and why it needs to be part of the budget.
Invite members of your elected or appointed board to tour the treatment plant. Show them what you’re doing. Take them out into the environment and show them how the natural resources are being protected. Show how processes like wastewater reclamation and beneficial use of biosolids help the environment. Get them engaged on a one-to-one basis. More and more managers are doing this today. And as a result we see much less resistance to investments in public education.
TPO Wastewater professionals are busy people who often wear many hats. What can they do on an individual level to contribute to public understanding?
Giachino: I believe we need to be passionate professionals. We are all passionate about what we do. We work hard. We get results. But the most passionate among us are also engaged in talking to our friends, our families, our acquaintances and other professionals about the need for continued focus on the water environment.
There are many ways for an individual to engage the community. Don’t just join your state or local association. Get active. Join a committee. Staff a booth at a local environment fair or civic event. Beyond that, join a speaker’s bureau. Judge a science fair. Speak on Career Day at a school. Join a watershed improvement organization. Organize a beach cleanup or a storm drain stenciling project.
TPO Technical people in the wastewater profession don’t sign up for these kinds of public roles — getting out in front of people can be hard for them. Why should they do it?
Giachino: It’s legitimate to ask, “What’s in it for me?” And what’s in it for them lies in what I call the “P Words.” The respect of your peers and the profession. The power and prestige you attain by becoming more involved. And the pride that comes with your achievements in the public arena.
Sometimes it’s difficult for plant operators to find the time for public education. But often, the public is invited to special events like Clean Water Days where the plant is open for tours. That’s a great way for operators to engage the public in what they do.
TPO Where do you see needs for improvement in public outreach and education?
Giachino: People need to understand more about the value of recycling and reusing treated effluent, especially in water-scarce areas like Florida, Southern California and Las Vegas. Many communities are now building additional capacity for producing and distributing reclaimed water. At the same time, we need to do more to promote efficient use of water, such as natural landscaping and drought-resistant plantings.
In Florida, 40 to 50 percent of the water we use goes to water yards and lawns. We need continuous efforts to educate the public and elected officials on the importance of using reclaimed water. Critical work also needs to be done in the area of biosolids. In Florida, for example, one of our challenges is to work with the regulatory agencies and water management districts to enable beneficial reuse of high-quality, Class A products.
TPO Now that your committee has earned high-profile recognition, what will you do next?
Giachino: We will continue to focus on educating the general public about wastewater and other water-quality issues, with an emphasis on reaching elementary, middle school and high school students and public- and private-school science teachers. We will also remain a resource for our members’ public education efforts.
One of our best achievements is an infusion learning unit on biosolids that we hope to introduce into at least one school this year. Infusion learning means taking a topic, in this case biosolids, and infusing it into the classroom so that it touches on all aspects of the student’s education — math, science, computers, English, social studies.
The program is based on a book, Residuals, Biosolids, Sludge: What’s in a Name?, written by Dr. Phil Kane of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. It won a first place U.S. EPA Clean Water Act Recognition Award in 2006 and a Florida DEP special achievement award in that same year. We offer it at low cost to teachers to use as a guide to the basics of biosolids and the benefits of reuse.
In the WEFTeach program we’ll be hosting at the 2009 WEFTEC conference, we’ll include a full-day train-the-trainers workshop where teachers from around the state will learn innovative ways to engage youth in real-life water problems and solutions. We’ll tailor the content to the specific water challenges of our member communities.
We have a committee of very passionate professionals who are really engaged in efforts to raise awareness of water-quality issues and their importance to our society.
