EVENTS: #SewerU May 17, special tech tour May 18 to mark Infrastructure Week

Infrastructure Week shines a spotlight on the often-overlooked systems that help make daily life function. Two special events in May will cast that light in two colors: Green and gray.

We are excited to host our fourth Sewer University #SewerU Wednesday, May 17 at the Cleveland Metroparks Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek, and our first-ever Tech Tour of our Westerly Wastewater Treatment Center in Cleveland Thursday, May 18.

Both events will be hosted during Infrastructure Week, a national education and awareness campaign, May 15-19, 2017.

Sewer University: Green infrastructure edition
Wednesday, May 17 | Register today
Cleveland Metroparks Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek

SewerU is an introductory-level two-hour course sharing the history and future of clean water in the Cleveland area. This session will shift the focus to green infrastructure and how the Sewer District is implementing and evaluating GI opportunities on recent, current, and upcoming projects.

Tech Tour: Westerly Wastewater Treatment Center
Thursday, May 18 | Register today
5800 West Memorial Shoreway, Cleveland

Public tours of our facilities are often bird's-eye-view glimpses at the work involved in keeping our Great Lake great. But this special Tech Tour event will be a behind-the-scenes down-and-dirty technical analysis of the treatment process. You'll see the gray infrastructure that keeps flow moving and the biological systems that ensure water is treated safely. You'll never look at your toilet the same way again. Space is limited to 12 participants!

RECAP: "It's kind of amazing what exists under a manhole cover." #FollowTheFlow

In a whirlwind of scents, sludge, and sights seen by few other eyes, Infrastructure Week last week allowed visitors and followers an underground behind-the-scenes look at the sewers that help make clean water possible.

"It's kind of amazing what exists under a manhole cover," as WCPN's Anne Glausser put it as she peered down the century-old depths of a brick-and-mortar sewer line. And those are the reactions our #FollowTheFlow events were designed to inspire.

PHOTO: This is why. / #InfrastructureWeek #FollowTheFlow

And this Instagram caption is exactly why #InfrastructureWeek is fascinating.

The interplay of everyday structures you see and systems you don't, including the unnamed professionals who create and maintain them, are intricate works of both art and function. Sometimes it's a new perspective that opens eyes to that unappreciated reality.

While most are fascinated by the visible, for me how things are made and the unseen that makes it all happen are more fascinating. I pay much more attention to how new MacBooks are put together than some of their features. Similarly I feel the looks of bridges get all the attention. The artistry that keeps them carrying the human load day after day isn't seen as much. I found myself under the Manahattan Bridge this weekend and it was fantastic to see the intricate details of this structure I have crossed over multiple times. It was under the bridge we congregated for an Instameet that was a unique experience. Thank you @leifography for inviting me, @superamit & @wesleyverhoeve #nypix #WWIM11NYC #wwim11 #VSCOcam #nyc #instagood #instameet #instadaily #instagramnyc #photooftheday

A photo posted by Follow My Blog: Om.co (@om) on Mar 23, 2015 at 4:38am PDT

#FollowTheFlow during #InfrastructureWeek as we tweet and Instagram @neorsd. You can also follow @RebuildRenew and @TheValueofWater

EVENT: Go underground and behind the scenes as we #FollowTheFlow during Infrastructure Week May 11

"Go with the flow" has a meaning of its own. "Follow the flow" is going to get a little more interesting.

May 11-15 marks the third year for Infrastructure Week, a national celebration of country’s infrastructure systems and the essential role they play in our economy. To celebrate Infrastructure Week 2015, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is planning a week-long series of behind-the-scenes tours for local media and elected officials, and you can #FollowTheFlow with the Sewer District all Infrastructure Week long and trace wastewater’s path from the sewer system to Lake Erie.

Here's what we're planning and we'll be covering it all week long on Twitter, Instagram and Periscope.