SAN DIEGO, Nov. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today presented its Huell Howser Best in Blue Award to the Orange County Water District (OCWD) for its highly successful Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) Bottled Water Outreach Program, which employed a variety of creative and engaging programs and events to further increase public acceptance of indirect potable reuse as an accepted drinking water source.
OCWD partnered with the Orange County Sanitation District to create and implement the campaign, which included a bottled recycled water launch event, a media and social media challenge tagged as #GetOverIt!, a community celebration for the 10th anniversary of GWRS, and a successful Guinness World Records attempt to convert the most wastewater into recycled drinking water in 24 hours.
The award was presented during the 2018 ACWA Fall Conference & Exhibition in San Diego, where nearly 2,000 water professionals are gathered through Friday for programs and panel discussions on California’s critical water issues. OCWD was among five finalists for the award that honors exceptional communications and outreach programs developed and run by California water agencies.
“It’s important that California water agencies continue to educate and inform their customers about the significant value and benefit of investing in high-quality, local drinking water sources,” said Brent Hastey, ACWA Board President. “The success of OCWD’s bottled water outreach program in gaining widespread support for recycled water as an accepted drinking water source is a testament to how persuasive and effective our industry can be when we use collaborative and creative means to engage water users.”
Other finalists for this year’s award were:
- Eastern Municipal Water District for its “Tap Into” Water Bottle Fill Station program, which developed a long-term education outreach campaign that would convey the value of tap water.
- Irvine Ranch Water District for its innovative and humorous outreach campaign “See it From Your Lawn’s Perspective,” that encouraged customers to continue saving water despite the end of mandatory statewide water use restrictions.
- Mojave Water Agency for its Innovators High Desert Water Summit program, which challenged the next generation of water leaders throughout its service area to help solve real water problems facing California water.
- SCV Water for its “Your SCV Water” outreach program, a comprehensive re-branding, outreach, and education campaign related to the merging of three local water agencies into one new agency, SCV Water.
CONTACT: Contact: Heather Engel, Director of Communications | (916) 441-4545 | C (760) 217-0627