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Poop Jokes and the Art of Connecting: John Gonzalez, NEORSD

• Guest: John Gonzalez • Episode 49

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Northeast Ohio can be proud of its sewer district, not only for the skill with which it manages our wastewater and protects our water resources but also for the skill with which it connects with the public, especially its Twitter followers. How did the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District amass more than 60,000 die-hard Twitter followers here in Cleveland and across the globe? In this episode, we speak with Communications Director John Gonzalez about how he uses humor, humanity, sports memes, and more to help people care about the infrastructure beneath their feet and the employees working to protect our environment and health 24-7. Stay with us and hear why poop jokes never get old, about Project Clean Lake, career opportunities, what not to flush, and how a holiday voicemail had everybody crying. The NEORSD isn't just about the business of wastewater treatment; it's about building community through our shared experiences. 

Guest:
John Gonzalez, Communications Director, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Resources:
Hear the Holiday Message - (216) 361 6772
NEORSD Educational Resources
Clean Water Works Podcast
Project Clean Lake
Careers at NEORSD

Twitter Account @neorsd
How Did a Sewer District Grow a National Twitter following?
What Science Communicators Can Learn from Sewer Twitter?


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https://www.instagram.com/ecospeakscle

Contact us:
hello@ecospeakscle.com


Diane Bickett:

You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, where the EcoCurious explore the unique and thriving environmental community here in Northeast Ohio. My name is Diane Pickett and my producer is Greg Rotuno. Together, we bring you inspiring stories from local sustainability leaders and invite you to connect, learn and live with our community and planet in mind.

Greg Rotuno:

This episode of EcoSpeak CLE is sponsored by Good Nature Organic Lawn Care. Lawns need care, not chemicals. Enjoy safer, chemical-free lawns and landscapes and peace of mind when you choose Good Nature Organic Lawn Care.

Diane Bickett:

Hello friends, today we have a local social media legend joining us. Let me give you a hint sewer humor. Yes, speaking with us is the one and only John Gonzalez, and, if you're not familiar, he is the man behind the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's famous Twitter account. John is a communications director for the Sewer District and we wanted to talk with him because we're curious about how our favorite local utility has amassed so many die-hard fans and followers, not only here in Cleveland but across the globe. Stay with us to hear about that and more, like what not to flush and how the work of the Sewer District is so vital to keeping our great lake. Great Welcome, john.

John Gonzalez:

Thank you very much, diane, good to be here.

Diane Bickett:

So I can't tell you how many times people have confused my former employer, the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District two public agencies working to explain what they do, and oftentimes more often than not I had to start my presentations by saying we're not the poop people.

John Gonzalez:

We are great partners with the Solid Waste District. It's good to work with them, and I understand the confusion at times. That can be a confusing topic when it comes to keeping our water safe, and so that's natural to be, confused, but I'm glad to be able to speak with you today about our work.

Diane Bickett:

Yeah, I get the confusion too. Eventually we changed our name to Cuyahoga Recycles to kind of differentiate ourselves. But the one thing we have in common is that all people produce waste, and whether it's the kind you put on the curb or the kind you put in the sewer. So, john, you are the poop people, so we are certainly. I hope you don't take offense at that. No, not at all.

John Gonzalez:

No, it's part of our business. So we are the sewer and stormwater people and have been for more than 50 years now in the region and the work is extensive, it's expensive and it takes a lot of time to talk about and learn about. So we're fortunate to have this type of podcast opportunity and any conversation with our customers to help to explain and explore our work more deeply.

Diane Bickett:

Great. So tell us about how many employees you have, the miles of infrastructure that you manage.

John Gonzalez:

A little bit more about what you do, sure so as a sewer and stormwater utility, we have a team of more than 700 employees. We manage a sewer network of more than 300 miles, a stream network of nearly 500 miles, and our responsibility is to make sure things flow properly and receive the treatment they need. So, whether that's treating sewage 90 billion gallons of sewage a year and treating that and creating clean water from that, transforming it to clean water every single year, that's a big part of our work Managing those miles of streams, making sure we are able to manage and address those problems like flooding, erosion and water quality that come along with very common stream problems and stormwater related problems across the region. Those are all things we've been doing for a long time and it all comes down to a very dedicated team, very dedicated partners across the region and communities who we work very closely with and are committed to treating both of those networks with the care and concern they need to ensure that people in our environment are protected.

Diane Bickett:

And the sewer district is recognized as one of the most efficient and effective utilities in the country. You service what 62 communities did you already? Say that 63, 63 communities in our service area, yeah, and the ultimate goal is to clean up water, wastewater, sewage before it goes into the lake, before it's discharged into the lake.

John Gonzalez:

Correct. Yeah, we treat 90 billion gallons of water coming to our facilities every year. It's a big job and that's in addition to managing that stormwater, the stormwater challenges of stream erosion and debris matters that affect communities and neighborhoods across the region, and the combination of efforts. It takes a lot of time and effort.

Diane Bickett:

Yeah, and that's a big one with the increased rain events that we're seeing with climate change, and you're trying to manage that more with Project Clean Lake. Which is, when did you start that that? It was an effort right to get rid of those combined sewer overflows that were spilling out into the lake during rain events.

John Gonzalez:

That's exactly right. So Project Clean Lake is a 25-year program and we began that program in 2011. And you are correct that that is a combined sewer overflow control program. So what this is is in the Cleveland area, we are built on a combined sewer system and it's been that way from Cleveland's earliest days, and our responsibility as a sewer utility is to reduce how often those sewers will overflow to the environment. They were designed to manage both stormwater and sewage in the same pipe, but as the city has grown, as the region has was developed, they became overworked and overwhelmed by the amount of runoff that enters the system because of how many hard services there are in the region. So our responsibility is to eliminate how often those sewers will back up and overflow into the environment so that the most water can be treated properly and fully. And so Project Clean Lake is a 25-year program, to the price tag of about $3 billion, to reduce those overflows to as close to zero as possible. And so we are going to be reducing overflows by 98% compared to where we began.

Diane Bickett:

And you're doing that by building larger tunnels or rerouting them in other ways. Good, question.

John Gonzalez:

So it's a combination of three major areas of focus. One is large tunnels, and so that will be able to store more water, to be able to give that water full treatment at the proper time when the weather changes, we can give it full treatment over a longer period of time. That's one solution. Another solution is expanding our treatment capacity at our facilities.

John Gonzalez:

So we are undergoing expansion at all three of our treatment plants to make sure they can handle more flow coming to them as a result of the larger tunnels, and we're also finding ways to incorporate green infrastructure into our solutions so that we are keeping storm water out of the combined sewer system in the first place. The more we can manage that storm water onsite, it reduces how much is flowing into the combined system and reducing the contributions to the volume that leads to an overflow at the points across our network. So that combination of factors, as well as managing our storm water program in addition to Project Clean, like that combination of realities, are putting us in a good place to reduce those overflows over that time frame and we're making great progress as the program has not reached about the halfway point.

Diane Bickett:

Halfway point, okay. Well, it's an expensive project and you're not federally funded. So all this work to keep our lake clean and to meet US EPA guidelines is at the expense of the taxpayers, the utility payers. So that is one of the reasons why your work is so important, I think to communicate the complexity and how hard this work is and what's behind it.

John Gonzalez:

It takes a lot of effort and it requires a lot of attention, and we believe that communication is critical so that our customers understand where their money is going. You are exactly right that the customer is footing the bill for this investment. It's a necessary investment. It wasn't a problem that rose overnight. It was a problem that was many years and decades in the making. So the fact that our communities and our customers are very supportive largely of investing in infrastructure, we have the commitment of our trustees, the commitment of our leaders at the local levels to support the rates that enable us to solve this long-term problem.

John Gonzalez:

And, as I said, it takes a lot of collaboration and we believe the customers deserve to have a utility that communicates with them in a way that they can understand, a way that they can be responded to and addressed in ways that simply demonstrate what this work is all about. And so we take public relations, we take our communications efforts very seriously and we like to be available to customers where they are, so they have the resources they need to get information about the work that we do. It is complex, it can be confusing, but it's really as simple as making sure that the water goes where it's supposed to go. When you flush the toilet, you don't want to have to think about where that water is going.

John Gonzalez:

You don't want to have to worry about? Is it going to be clean the next time I turn my tap on the reliability of those utilities and our ability to take it for granted so often is because the utilities are largely doing a great job and it's because the leadership that we have, the team members who are in place doing this work, unseen and unrecognized, 24 hours a day, seven days a week that dedication is present and visible in the fact that the utilities that people use are so reliable.

Diane Bickett:

Well, all of us here in Northeast Ohio have an investment in this and we have an interest in this. We all don't want to have to think about what happens when we flush our toilets, but you're managing a largely invisible infrastructure under the ground. That is dangerous. It's dangerous work. It never stops, but we all have an investment in creating a clean region and a clean lake. I've heard County Executive Chris Roanen talk many times about his vision for Northeast Ohio being the freshwater capital of the world and, as a brand, trying to create a freshwater institute here, and all this goes, you know, with your partners. All this goes hand in hand with being stewards of our lake and our waterways.

John Gonzalez:

We embrace clean water stewardship on all levels. We have a lot of great partners across the region who are all working to draw attention to the great resource that Lake Erie is, our responsibility for keeping it protected and keeping it clean, and the opportunities and responsibility that each of us, as individuals and contributors to its protection the responsibility and opportunity we have to ensure that there's generations that are yet to come are able to enjoy the resource for what it is. It can be sustained for generations to come.

Diane Bickett:

Yeah, and we all have a role to play. Individuals, it's not like, okay, you deal with this. I mean we all have a role to play in terms of, you know, clearing out the storm drains on our streets so they can flow properly, not putting stuff that we shouldn't down the storm sewers that go right to the lake, motor oil and stuff like that, being careful about what we put on our lawns, which is a good segue to thanking our sponsor, good Nature Organic Long Care. We're fortunate to have them step up and supporting us for the next few episodes with the work they're doing. Since 1999, they're converting the chemical lawns to organic lawns and it bugs me when I walk around the neighborhood with my dog and I see the chemical lawn signs.

Diane Bickett:

But more and more I'm seeing the good nature organic lawn care signs and I know that many of my neighbors know that you don't need harmful chemicals to have a beautiful yard, just high quality soil, building materials to build a healthy lawn that fights weeds naturally. Good nature organic lawn care is offering EcoSpeaks listeners a $50 discount on an early spring lawn treatment or an organic lawn tick mosquito tree and shrub or home pest suppression program. That was a mouthful, but if you call them up and tell them you heard about them from EcoSpeak CLE, they will give you a discount and you can have a yard you can feel good about this summer and take care of our fellow creatures and our lake.

John Gonzalez:

As you were saying, personal responsibility goes a long way when it comes to protecting Lake Erie and all of our water resources. Whether it's what you put on your lawn, whether it is making sure that you pick up after your dog when walking your dog, picking up after your dog on those walks, or what you flush down the drain, or what you keep out of your drain when you are cleaning your sinks and toilets at home, all those simple, individual choices add up and so the more we can be aware of the choices we're making. You'd be surprised to hear the stories that I've heard in our communications department about people saying I never realized this was a problem. I never realized I could make this simple change, and it's actually doing something more than just helping me in my home, helping to protect my plumbing. It's actually having a benefit down the line where we work or in the neighborhood that I live in. So those simple changes do and can go a long way.

Diane Bickett:

So I wanna talk about your social media account, specifically your Twitter account, because what you try to do is explain some of those connections that people may not have connected the dots between their individual habits and protecting the environment. So you maintain that sewers are the original social media network. Do poop jokes ever get old?

John Gonzalez:

No, I've been laughing at poop jokes since I was a kid. My kids still laugh at them, so I think it's a constant that draws us all together.

Diane Bickett:

When I used to tell people we're not the poop people at the Icai Hoga Recycles, they would always laugh. It was a great icebreaker for any presentation I gave, so thank you for that. So what is your challenge with communicating your work and why is it so important for people to know what you do?

John Gonzalez:

Well, I think the challenge in communicating the work of our utility is the same challenge that anybody has when they're trying to communicate a topic is how do you make someone interested in the topic that many people will assume is not interesting? The reality is that we believe our topic is interesting, but you have to find where the relationship is, where that connection is between your topic of interest and your audience's level of interest in whatever they are focused on. You have to make the connection between their interest and yours, and we've been fortunate to use our social media in a way that demonstrates that there's it's a shorter gap between their interests and ours if we can be creative in how we bring those two together, and social media has allowed us to do that. Twitter, specifically, or X it is now referred to. It's given us those opportunities and opened those doors to stories and engagements that perhaps wouldn't have existed in past platforms.

Diane Bickett:

I will say that so you definitely are creative with your Twitter account and it's funny because Greg was the one who told me about your Twitter account and he's like we got to interview these people. This was long before we even had a podcast.

Greg Rotuno:

This is like the beginning. Yeah, Very, very early stages. Long time follower, long time fan.

Diane Bickett:

So I am now. I think you're one of three accounts I follow on X because I'm not a Twitter person, but I had a laugh because you have a disclaimer. It says, and I'll read it If you're new here, please expect the following content at any time Infrastructure is important. Stormwater management Warriors blew a three to one lead. Not sure what that reference is. Wipes are not flushable. Critical service announcements, cle, sports memes, pop culture, poop culture and bad TikToks. Well, I'm sure there is even more. I've seen some poetry on there. I've seen some weather reports on there all the things.

Speaker 4:

Sorry, we might have to cut the part about you not knowing about the Warriors blowing a three to one lead, because no one will believe we're up Cleveland podcast.

John Gonzalez:

Yeah, that surprises me.

Diane Bickett:

But I mean but we, they're not sports people. No, I'm not a sports person.

John Gonzalez:

But we put that out there. We have a lot of great banter on Cleveland sports, and so that particular topic is one that we will readily and anxiously get back to as often as possible. It's a lot of fun, but sports gives us a great connection with our followers. Certainly, and that type of an outline we like people who know what to expect. We are going to be responsive, we're going to be real in the moment, and there's nothing more real when it comes to emotion and connections with our followers than sports. Many times, Okay so.

John Gonzalez:

Especially in this town.

Diane Bickett:

Greg, you want to grow this podcast, you'll have to put in the sports references. Okay, get on that. So right before Christmas you had you put out something on Twitter and it was just a kind of a very simple message. It said just a phone number, a voicemail, and a whole lot of emotions, and the phone number was 216-361-6772. And that was. I called it and I got a voicemail and you left the voicemail or you were speaking and I think a normal government agency you'd be like have a happy holiday, we're happy to hear to serve you. Blah, blah, blah. But you took it so much deeper. You talked about the connections that you have with the community. You talked about how this might be a difficult time of the year for some people and that you're not alone, and there was so much more. I encourage everyone to call the number because it's still up.

John Gonzalez:

It is still.

Diane Bickett:

But it resonated with people all over the place and you got how many thousands of messages back.

John Gonzalez:

Well, we had over 4,000 calls that have come back into that line. I have gone through and listened to everyone who left the voicemail. Many people just simply hung up after they heard the beep, because they didn't need to leave a voicemail, but because I left it open and said hey, if you wanna leave a message to our team members, I'll be happy to share with them your appreciation or your words, whatever they might be. It was really open-ended, but I had compiled more than 600 voicemails of substance that customers and callers from around the world had left for our employees and close to four hours worth of voicemail recordings in this project, and it wasn't meant to be something that was going to shock people. It was simply meant to be what it was advertised, as we had a message to share with you.

John Gonzalez:

What I have liked to do over the years I've worked on these accounts is to simply find ways to connect with people, and that human connection is where everything starts For us as a utility for me as a social media manager.

John Gonzalez:

I want to connect with people and find what is important to them and have them realize there's a lot more that we have in common, that we have in disagreement and our interest in serving you starts by recognizing that you deserve respect and time and understanding and acknowledgement that we're all coming from different places in life and there are different phases in life where challenges are very real.

John Gonzalez:

And what this voicemail has shown me was that people don't receive that type of acknowledgement as often as they should, and I learned a lot by hearing every single one of those voicemails. Between the tears and the laughter and the surprise that some callers had, even the calls that did end with just simply someone hanging up. It's an acknowledgement that every person who took the time to call that number was looking for something or was curious about something related to our work or related to our message, and those are all opportunities for us to connect about our work. But that connection began with recognizing you're a person who has value and the connection that we have there is the best place to start. Anything that comes after that is a bonus that we benefit from, certainly as a utility, helping understand you better as a customer. But the relationships that we've built on social is unique and I don't take that for granted.

Diane Bickett:

And it wasn't. Was it something that you thought long about? It's like I'm gonna plan this, I'm gonna, or did you just sit down and just riff?

John Gonzalez:

We have done. We did something similar a couple years back during the pandemic. We posted that same hotline number, but really at that time in 2021, I believe it was really a matter of putting a personal face to our Twitter account. So people knew hey, when I'm interacting on Twitter, this is the person I'm engaging with. So it was more of a greeting from me to the people who called us because of the connection we had built on Twitter.

John Gonzalez:

When I wanted to revisit it this year, I recognized that this year has just simply felt different for a lot of reasons, because people they may not be as connected as they felt they once were in person recognize a lot of people at least the people I spoke to.

John Gonzalez:

They felt the holidays differently this year. They didn't feel the same sense of seasonal joy that they may have felt, whatever they're celebrating or not celebrating, they were something different, and so I was simply trying to relate to that reality that I'm sure that many of our customers, followers have experienced and acknowledged that. So it was not a real deep planning conversation. I really reached out to our IT team. So they can I still use the voicemail box? Do I still have the same access I need? And they said yes, and the relationship we have in our department where they are able to trust me to simply use the platforms as they exist. It was something where we just I recorded the message, put it out there and knew that we'd get some calls. I knew that people would want to share something with our employees because they have that respect for the work that goes on. But to have the emotional response, but to have the emotional response that we got was what surprised me and I was grateful for it.

Diane Bickett:

And you were, you just blown away with the emotion behind some of the voicemails. And I'm sure, it was great to share with your staff.

John Gonzalez:

Yeah, the people who we've been fortunate to have. As I said, the creative freedom and the support to try to relate to people where they are, meet people where they are is how we like to see our social media, and the fact that we had people calling from all over the world, but many, many from across the region, and the stories they would share. That helped us understand why the message resonated as it did. It was impactful, it was moving. It was emotional to hear what stories they were sharing, personal things, that they were simply leaving a voicemail on an open-ended voicemail box and they were sharing things about their experience. I said why was this year?

John Gonzalez:

This year was tough for me because I lost someone. I haven't seen my family. I can't talk to them about this, but I wanted to share this information with you. It was something that revealed the human connection that we can often take for granted and the reality that people were sharing these stories with me and they were understanding I was going to be sharing these with our employees.

John Gonzalez:

It's because they've built a level of trust with our account, but, more importantly, we believe they trust the organization, they trust the work that we're doing and they trust that someone is actually listening to their concerns, and we like to say that our social is a reflection of the commitment that we have across all of our outreach efforts.

John Gonzalez:

But, more importantly, the commitment that we have to our customers is reflected in the social media commitment that we have, and so it takes its shape by how we understand our customers, how we want to meet our customers where they are and how we want to do our best to serve them and understand where they're coming from, Because the work that we do touches them every single day and most of them never have to think about it unless they're paying the bill. But when they do, now they know where their money's going and it gives them a sense of trust that says I know this organization has my best interest or they understand something about me and now I don't hate paying the bill as much. It's still a bill you've got to pay, but it's something where they now understand where the money's going and recognize the people power that it takes to make that work happen and the concern that we have along the way.

Diane Bickett:

Wow, well done, john, for this moment and for all the passion and humaneness you bring to your work. It's unusual, I think, for a government agency to have this level of communications and I'm just in awe. I mean I just love what you're doing because I have experience. I mean I was a communicator for a government agency and it's hard work and you found a way in to get to people and to get them to care.

John Gonzalez:

But it can't be tough because it's a broad brush that we often paint with to say that.

Diane Bickett:

All government is boring.

John Gonzalez:

Well, all government is boring all government doesn't care about me, because I'm guessing every single person you've engaged with at your organization there's a large number of them who care about the work they do. They're personally invested. They will go out of their way to help a customer or to help someone, a neighbor, who needs assistance on something that's related to the work that you do. Like those personal realities of commitment and examples of public service, they are abounding. They're all over the place. Oh, no doubt.

Diane Bickett:

But you are cutting through the stereotypes, which is the great thing. So how did Twitter, your Twitter account, come to be and tell us a little bit about yourself how long you've been with the sewer district and what other things you do at work.

John Gonzalez:

Well, I've been with the sewer district now since 2000,. So we're going on year 24. And I have always worked in the communication capacity in the department, whether it's in print production or employee communication. Right now, managing social media and managing our internal employee communications is where I spend most of my time, and the reality of our social media presence began around the year 2010,. Plus or minus, we had several different experiences leading up to that year. We had several different programs that were going to be taking shape, including Project Clean Lake, including stormwater management. Those were going to be taking shape in the years to follow and we began to recognize the value in public outreach.

John Gonzalez:

We began to value investing in a presence in the community that went beyond customers paying their bill, that went beyond the typical project meetings that are very common when it comes to kicking off a construction project. Those things are still critical, but we began to say how else can we meet customers where they are, how can we be responsive so they understand who we are, what we do, why it's important and where their money's going when they pay their bill? And so our commitment took shape on social media, to simply add to our collection of commitments that we had made. We began to experiment with it. We used the newspaper Clevelandcom and plain dealer chat boards that were part of every article the comments sections. We began to establish a personal presence there to respond to customers and readers in real time, giving them additional context about news stories that we're posting. We did the same thing on several news stations, whenever they would have the comments open on their articles. We began to engage there to demonstrate we want to have a conversation with you, even if the topic might be a difficult or a complex topic. Let's go a little bit farther than what you might just see in the media story.

John Gonzalez:

So we began to use our social media account as a way of simply sharing information about projects, being able to share information about meetings that were going on and other aspects of our work. It was a great place to start, but what we began to see over time was the platforms began to shift and people's expectations were different. The expectations between Facebook and X and Instagram and LinkedIn and YouTube, the expectations of the audience all varied slightly and we found that Twitter became a place where we could have a bit more humor and have a bit more responsiveness in real time. That was unique and we were given some flexibility to simply try that approach Be more human, have more of a personality on our account, be less about the press release and more about the people, and that reality began to get us some added attention. 2015 or 2016, took a slightly different approach to how we had been going about things in the years prior, and it really was just a different way to connect, a different way to use the platform that we found some success in.

Diane Bickett:

And you have 60,000 plus followers now.

John Gonzalez:

At this point. Yeah, on X specifically.

Diane Bickett:

And worldwide. I heard.

John Gonzalez:

Yeah, the accounts are all over and so we know that three quarters of them are from the region, for the most part, and the fact that we can use it as a way to connect with customers. But sharing infrastructure news and being able to relate to customers in this region is great, but being able to make connections to people who live outside the region still have value. That reality is that people can value infrastructure and better understand the systems that they are connected to.

Diane Bickett:

That also has value that we don't really need and they want to know what you're going to post next. They do, and you replied to all the comments, right?

John Gonzalez:

I try to respond as much as I can to the engagements that are posted, even comments of people questioning why we're doing this, or question or upset customers. Those are all people who deserve a response and so, as much as I can, I do like to respond, and that responsiveness has helped us to gain both more trust and followers over that time.

Diane Bickett:

Would you ever put your phone down and just say I need a break, I can't be funny today?

John Gonzalez:

I've got a great colleague who manages our Instagram and our Facebook account, and so the ability for her to respond in real time is helpful. But we have recognized that a lot of the value that we have gained and the traction we gained on our ex-account was because we were in real time outside of normal business hours, and so I personally enjoy interacting outside of those normal business hours because that's when people are most active on their phones and they're more willing to have a fun conversation on certain topics. But yeah, I do put my phone down, I do turn it off at times. I do have it actively close by when I'm on vacation and such, but there are times I do have to just simply turn it off and let people know if this comes up.

Diane Bickett:

It's in your hands for now. So what do you have to say to ODOT? I know you did a tweet about ODOT and this whole US Highway Administration rule that they're not allowed to be funny anymore. It's a wrong direction.

John Gonzalez:

That was a fun one. Now again, those signs, the creativity that ODOT's using there to share their messages. I personally love it. Me too. Organizationally. We think that humor has a place In the back and forth some of the banter and what we had posted recently. Those signs are not new, but the legislation was not legislation but the recommendations and that's all they are from. My understanding is the recommendations are to be careful and to be careful with your pop culture references Don't be too edgy.

John Gonzalez:

Yeah well, pop culture changes and not everybody knows. The Warriors blew a three to one lead, and so the reality is that you have to recognize that there's certain topics that are not going to hit or resonate the same way with your audience.

Diane Bickett:

So we can't edit any of that warriors thing. You've got to keep it now, not, you've got to keep it now. Thanks a lot.

John Gonzalez:

But when it comes down to recognizing that humor has a place, certain topics you can go ahead and have fun with it. Certainly, just be careful with that thing. The way we interpret that is that it's all about recommendations, but that's really ODOT's area of focus. We're happy to engage with other utilities and other infrastructure oriented accounts in a fun way and ODOT's one of them who will take that and we'll run with it.

Diane Bickett:

Yeah Well, I want to get into some miscellaneous questions now, because people are always doing the wrong thing, sometimes with recycling, so I'm sure that happens in your line of work as well. So what are some of the worst things people put down their toilets?

John Gonzalez:

We have a list of probably about 15 items that are just typically flush, that people don't realize shouldn't be flushed.

John Gonzalez:

Anything that says flushable is not flushable probably there may be some gradients, but we typically say look, if you're going to flush anything, it should either be bodily waste or toilet paper. Anything else is going to be increasing your risk of local plumbing problems or contributing to a buildup somewhere else that you might not see, but it's going to have a problem somewhere. And so the most common items are again any type of disposable wipe, whether they are disinfecting wipes, flushable wipes, baby wipes. Any of those products are best not to go down your toilet. Put them in the trash, where they belong.

John Gonzalez:

People often will flush balls of hair when they're cleaning out their combs. I mean, that's something that people were surprised to say. I didn't know, I shouldn't flush that. But you don't flush hairballs. You don't flush paper towels. You don't flush cotton swabs. Those are things that people just don't think about. Or facial tissues, kleenex you don't want to flush that down the drain. If you've ever had a Kleenex or something or a ball of tissues in your pocket, when you throw something in the wash, you know that stuff kind of wads up. It doesn't break down the same way toilet paper does. So those products are things that are just commonly discarded down the drain or with a quick flush because it goes away. You don't have to think about it in most circumstances. But the reality is nothing will break down like bodily waste or toilet paper. So if it's not one of those products, you're best to keep it out of the toilet, put it in your trash bin and let the proper authorities take care of it where it belongs.

Diane Bickett:

I think the rule is pretty clear here.

John Gonzalez:

Yep, bodily waste toilet paper, anything else you're asking for trouble.

Diane Bickett:

Yeah, and not even goldfish.

John Gonzalez:

Again, we recognize the loss of a family. A family will have a loss, a child will have a loss when a pet, like a goldfish, dies. I will say you should not release goldfish into the wild, because that is a totally separate but very important lesson to learn. Goldfish are considered to be a non-native species and they are challenging. They are invasive in the local environment here, and so if you are releasing them into a space where they can live and thrive, you're actually are endangering the native habitat and the creatures that live there. So it's best to definitely not release anything. Live into the wild like a goldfish.

Diane Bickett:

So they can go down the toilet.

John Gonzalez:

A single goldfish will not harm the system, but if you have a whole tank that fails no, if you have a whole aquarium that has challenges, you have other problems.

Diane Bickett:

Well, I read, a billiard ball made it into the sewer. I mean, what are people thinking? How does that even happen?

John Gonzalez:

Those ads for certain brands with toilets that say that this model will flush a whole rack of billiard balls is just not a good idea. There's all sorts of challenges and tick tocks and things that are done for content purposes, so you never know how things initially get down there. Our sewer crews have found all sorts of things in sewers that have gotten down there either from street catch basins or from some other means, and so, yeah, you don't want to flush anything that doesn't belong there.

Diane Bickett:

So we used to always shake our heads at the solid waste district, because when you'd go visit a mirf you'd always run into bowling balls. They would have like one, and Dayton had their driveway lined with bowling balls. It's like what's the deal? People are putting bowling balls in their recycling. It's like that has never been a rule.

John Gonzalez:

I don't know what are people thinking I would not have imagined that. Yeah, we have had. We've had our sewer maintenance crews say that they have found a bowling ball and a sewer somewhere. Yeah, um, and bowling balls, all sorts of sports toys are our sewer. Our stream maintenance crews, our stormwater maintenance crews find all sorts of toys on stream banks. They get washed in there when things are too close to the edge in people's yards, so all sorts of things end up where they they don't belong.

Speaker 4:

I had personally have to apologize. I probably lost about 45 lures in the Rocky River. I, I, I, I lose one every four or five casts.

John Gonzalez:

I would say ouch. I will tell you I have not heard that from our stormwater crews. Now I have to ask them how often they see them and where they're most prevalent.

Greg Rotuno:

They're hooked into the bottom of on a rock.

John Gonzalez:

Yeah, I believe our our crews will now be looking for them. I'll.

Diane Bickett:

I'll show that information. There you go Um. What do you have to say about garbage disposals?

John Gonzalez:

That's interesting, one of the we talk a lot about our channels. The more solids you put into your sink drain, your, your, your home plumbing, the more solids is going to cause you challenges, and so we're not anti garbage disposal, but people need to realize that you have to watch what you're putting down your drain, and any, any additional solids that don't need to be there is going to potentially lead to a problem at some point. Um, anything people can do to compost and to be more sustainable, that's ideal. But if you are using a garbage disposal, you just got to be sure you don't want to put potato peels down there less. You don't want to start your products going down there. You've got to. You don't want coffee grounds going down there. You've got to make sure you are are being responsible with your water use as well, because garbage disposal will increase how much water you're using on a daily basis, and so all those factors go into how you use your systems at home.

John Gonzalez:

But the less solids the better. It's just a. It's a good rule of thumb.

Diane Bickett:

We don't have time to go through the entire wastewater treatment process, but you have an education program for that. You have your clean water fest right. We've had a lot of opportunities. Yeah, we have a lot of opportunities.

John Gonzalez:

Clean water fest is every September. Our upcoming clean water fest is in September of 2024, september 21st. It's an all day Saturday event where you can come out and see our facilities up close in person, meet the people who are doing this work, hear from a lot of our partners, uh and and get to understand how we're all working together trying to protect the environment and and protect public health. You can see our treatment plants up close, you can tour the facility to our laboratory, and, and so that is our, our number one event in the number two business, as we say. In addition to that, if you're looking for additional resources, we have a sewer university, a sewer you, uh set of videos sewer you as a set of videos we have on our YouTube page and you can get to that uh by going to neorSDorg slash sewer.

John Gonzalez:

You, and so we do have those resources available for uh individuals who want to know more about what the treatment process looks like and the history of the sewer system in our region and where it came from, what we're doing now and what the future looks like, from project clean lake to stormwater management, uh to the ongoing challenges that will remain even beyond that. So, uh, neorsdorg slash sewer, you will give you some of those virtual resources, in addition to uh cleanwaterfestcom, to learn more about our our fall event, cool.

Diane Bickett:

I've been to a number of the clean water fest but I took the tour this year and it was really cool to go through the plant and it was very well organized and I think I understood it a little bit. Don't add a little bit.

John Gonzalez:

That's the incentive I mean. The plant that people see at that fest is almost three, almost 300 acres in size. There's a lot to see. The way our, our operators and and shift managers and and tour guides can break it down for people is uh is a lot of fun, but it's also a great chance for them to showcase their knowledge and their personalities in a uh, in that fun, free, family friendly event.

Diane Bickett:

Mm, hmm, and I do want to also plug your podcast. Clean water works, um, it's really good. It's right up there with Eco speak CLE, and I've listened to many episodes the first one, I think, was probably my favorite, cause you. There was an interview um with a 43 year veteran.

John Gonzalez:

Frank Shushu.

Diane Bickett:

Yeah, and he was just very emotional about how much he um enjoys his work and how much is has given him Um, so I encourage everyone to take a listen, but um talk about why the sewer district is a great place to work.

John Gonzalez:

Uh we, we are, we love our work. Uh, our organization is committed to serving the region as best they can every single day, and it's the work that is here is all about uh purpose. Uh, you have people of passion who are doing this work. Uh, you, we have a mission that is people focused. It is environment focused. Uh, we are a place where you can come to work and realize you are doing something that will make a difference today, but it will also make a difference in future generations. And so, when you're looking for a, a career change, if you're looking for a new career, if you're looking for opportunities, I mean we have.

John Gonzalez:

We have more than two dozen openings right now because a lot of utilities, a lot of uh people in the public service industry have jobs to fill. There are people looking for for work and there are great opportunities in our organization to work with purpose, to work with conviction, to work with uh a mission that that matters. And you can learn all about those career opportunities and what those benefits look like. Uh, at workforcleanwatercom. It's one of our recruiting mechanisms that we use. Uh, workforcleanwatercom will give you a list of all of our open job opportunities but, more importantly, get a better understanding of what the benefits are and what the regional benefit is by having utility who serves as it does 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I think right now is probably when students are looking for internships.

Diane Bickett:

You started here as an intern, so uh, great way to get your foot in the door for all the you know students out there.

John Gonzalez:

I'll say the same thing Internships are a great opportunity to learn, and the internship program that we have at the sewer district here is unique because interns are going to come in and they're going to put them put their skills to work right away, and so the uh the dozen uh paraprofessional intern roles that we have open at any given summer or leading up to the summer uh are great chances to to see what it takes to do this work. Recognize that what you're going to do here during that time will have a direct impact on the projects we're doing, and be able to see that there's opportunities around you to be able to see uh opportunities to bid on jobs that may come up during your tenure as an intern. Uh, the opportunities are endless and we'd love to have students in to get some experience and and see where their future could be Awesome. I have two more questions for you.

Diane Bickett:

One is what um accounts Do you follow on Twitter that you think are super cool, that you want us to check out, and what is your? Why? Um? Why do you enjoy while you explain, I think, over the last 45 minutes, why you enjoy doing this work? But sometimes people have more, More they want to say about that.

John Gonzalez:

There's all sorts of inspirations that we have, and so if you do want to see some of the, the accounts that we are most often engaged with and have a lot of respect for, you can you'll find a list on our ex account If you were to go to go to X, find our account and look for the lists that we have created. Okay, there is one of our our social friends uh lists that you can find and see who we most engage with. Uh, yeah, oklahoma wildlife is a great uh, a great follow. Uh, they have a great balance of of wit and humor and and timeliness and relevance. Uh, on environmental issues that matter. Um, kansas city, missouri, water is a is one that we have long followed and had a lot of interactions with over the years. They're always a great resource for uh, for humor and and relevance in in times that matter. But, uh, there's a lot of connections that we have, so it's tough to call out specific ones, yeah, but the reality is that that we have a lot of good connections that that we respect.

John Gonzalez:

As it relates to what my why is art, as I said with it, with the history of this organization and being here as long as I have. Uh, it's become a part of my life and has been a part of my life for for more than two decades. So, uh, I've been fortunate to have opportunities here and been given some creative freedom and been able to earn trust over that time to simply use the skills that I have and to be able to be given the freedom to be creative and and have a sense of humor and have a sense of humility and some humanity. That's that's shown a light on the real work that goes on that people just don't don't see every day, uh, so being able to to do that and and have the trust of an organization over that time, uh, it doesn't. I don't think that lightly and I I appreciate that uh, more than people know, but the reality is that the work I do is is a reflection of the work the organization uh is trying to do across the region every single day.

Diane Bickett:

Well, life is funny and sewers are punny, so thank you so much for all you're doing, John.

John Gonzalez:

Well, thank you for the chance to talk about it.

Diane Bickett:

Great great talking with you.

Greg Rotuno:

Thank you. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of EcoSpeak's CLE. You can find our full catalog of episodes on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available the first and third Tuesday of each month. Please follow EcoSpeak's CLE on Facebook and Instagram and become part of the conversation. If you would like to send us feedback and suggestions, or if you'd like to become a sponsor of EcoSpeak's CLE, you can email us at hello at ecospeaksclecom. Stay tuned for more important and inspiring stories to come.

People on this episode

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Diane Bickett

Host
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Greg Rotuno

Co-host