VIDEO: Watch this clean-water-loving bug build its own awesome rock armor for protection

Life as a caddisfly larva can't be easy.

Often found in fast-moving shallow streams with clean water and high levels of oxygen, much of their bodies as larvae are soft and unprotected, leaving them vulnerable to predators. To survive, they've evolved to secrete a waterproof glue that binds small rocks to their bodies to serve as camouflage and armor.

PBS Digital Studios gives us an up-close look at the amazing process.



What's it matter to us? Well, finding caddisfly larvae in streams is an indicator of good water quality. We conduct surveys in streams like the Cuyahoga River in the spring and summer to collect, count, and analyze them to make sure we are maintaining the best water quality possible.



Rock on, little caddisfly larva.

VIDEO: @Sewer_Chic's report from our Southerly plant shows there are no holidays off

Your toilet can't take an extended holiday. Which is one of many reasons our shift workers like Christen don't either.

Christen Wood is an Operator at our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant and she was working on Thanksgiving with a number of her colleagues. She sent us this video after dinner, not only thanking her own family and co-workers who live the shift life, but thanking you, our customers.

We're proud to serve you all year long, holidays, weekends and snow days included.

RELATED STORIES:

• WATCH: Check out all of our Quick Clips videos
• PERISCOPE: We periscoped 5 quick questions with Christen
• HOLIDAYS: Wastewater doesn't take a holiday

SCIENCE: Bro, do you even science? Meet (or remember) Mr. Wizard, the original Science Guy

Mr. Wizard was Bill Nye before Bill Nye was The Science Guy.

While preparing lab experiments and activities for our September 19 Open House (ahem, register today), a tweet came across our @WallyWaterdrop feed:

Meet the science guy who inspired Bill Nye: Mr. Wizard http://t.co/uF1tJZbwXy pic.twitter.com/oS6B3pvRRi

— At the Smithsonian (@AroundTheMall) September 8, 2015

As author of this blog, I'm a child of the 1980s, back when Mr. Wizard was a staple on Nickelodeon. But even well before that, Don "Mr. Wizard" Herbert was televising science experiments in the 1950s and '60s, showcasing the hands-on homemade wonders he created in his garage.

It turns out that The Science Guy Bill Nye was one of many kids captivated by Herbert's wizardry.

POTUS: 3 videos to celebrate President Obama's 54th birthday

What better way to commemorate President Barack Obama's 54th birthday today than with his three public service announcements that advocate clean water. Share accordingly.

WATCH: Oscar-nominated director's toilet paper commercials will make you laugh. And paranoid.

What do you get when the twice-Academy-Award-nominated director of "Capote" and "Moneyball" makes toilet paper commercials?

Masterpieces.

These creative spots for Quilted Northern toilet paper were directed by Bennett Miller, and his approach peers through the unblinking eyes of inanimate objects commonly found in bathrooms everywhere. What do they see? Everything.

WATCH: Explosion in NY sewer sends manhole cover flying

Even for sewer professionals who spend their careers underground, there are countless unknowns lurking in the sewer system. Dangers are just as common.

As a Buffalo, NY news crew covers an underground fire, an explosion underground sends a manhole cover flying. Weighing in at least 100 pounds, it gives you an idea of the strength of the blast and the risks maintenance personnel take when they work underground.

Thanks to Scott Broski for the link.

VIDEO: 3 water messages you won't hear from @BarackObama at @TheCityClub but should.

It's another amazing Cleveland day as President Barack Obama will be speaking at the City Club later this afternoon.

But it's unlikely he'll talk about his dog Bo's poop.

No worries! Since he's in Cleveland, we asked him* for his official polices on three key platforms. Here's what he had to say.

Obama says #DontFlushWipes



Obama says #DogsCantFlush



Obama says #PitchThosePills



Thanks to our own Wastewater Plant Operator Ryan Melton for his talents. Nice suit, too.

WATCH: Maryland man plows snow riding motorized toilet, via @AP

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

RELATED STORIES:

• LIST: 5 of our favorite toilet bowl myths and legends
• HISTORY: Thank you, Seth Wheeler, for inventing perforated toilet paper
• LOOK: China has a waterfall made of toilet bowls. Because of course it does.
• TECH: Bath to the Future? Tomorrow's bathrooms could feature smart fixtures

WATCH: Do you see what we see? Sewer maintenance and video inspections

How do we get a closer look at problems in our sewers? One way is using a video rig and camera like this. This is a demonstration set-up so our Open House visitors can see the camera and its maneuverability in action.

Lights. Camera. Action.

Video cameras are important tools of the trade when it comes to our Sewer System Maintenance & Operation team. They help locate problems and verify solutions in hard-to-reach areas underground.

In this video from our YouTube archives, our sewer maintenance crews clear a local sewer blockage and then use a remote-controlled video camera to inspect the job. Josiah tells us a little about it.

VIDEO: Follow the flow beyond the drain

We have a few "Where does it go?" videos of our own, but this one from The Value of Water Coalition might be a new fave of ours.



Our treatment process is very similar, but we provide a different method of disinfection. Still, Walter the Water Droplet and our own Wally Waterdrop's journeys have a lot in common.

LIST: Top 5 songs for saying goodbye to a 3,000,000-pound tunnel boring machine

Have we really come to the end of the road? Boyz II Men knows how we feel.

It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

Our tunnel boring machine Mackenzie has worked her way deep into our hearts as she nears the end of her 18,000-foot road: drilling the Euclid Creek Tunnel 200 feet below Cleveland in an effort to protect our Great Lake from millions of gallons of pollution. She's leaving an amazing legacy behind her as the project nears completion.

How can you really say goodbye to that? She's not done yet, and we'll keep tweeting and updating her status in the coming weeks. But we know it's only a matter of time until the two of us part ways.

VID: Not interested in stormwater management? Here are four kittens who dare you not to watch.

Picture yourself at the last public meeting, PowerPoint presentation, or course lecture you sat through. Don't yawn as you think back.

Now picture yourself at the same event holding a cute tiny baby kitty in your lap.

Makes everything cuter, doesn't it?

That's how we felt, too. A while back, we wanted to share this brief four-minute overview of our Stormwater Management Program because we knew customers would benefit. But something was missing. A few purrs later, now we have the video running on a loop in our office, just like you do at home. OK, maybe not to that degree, but it's a notable improvement, no?

Learn more about our program, your fees, and your credit opportunities. Or you can learn more about cats if you prefer.

VIDEO: Stunning footage! No seriously, it's footage of us stunning.

Those who fish for sport might consider this cheating. For us, it's science.

One of the exhibits we'll have on display at Earth Day Coalition's EarthFest 2013 at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds this Sunday will be our electrofishing boat. It's a craft we use to stun fish with a jolt of electricity:

Why? As we said, it's for science. We stun the fish in order to collect and study them. Their condition and the variety of species we find in the Cuyahoga River help us determine water quality improvements over time.

VIDEO: Dead fish near our treatment plant? It's nature and temperature, not pollution.

Are we poisoning fish by releasing polluted water into the Cuyahoga River? Contrary to the YouTube video's inaccurate captions above, we are not.

We were alerted to this video today, a clip that was posted to YouTube January 31 with the title, "NEORSD sewage kills fish in Cuyahoga River." The title and captions were incorrect, but the occurrence is worth a closer look to understand the issues and results.

The simple answer: This kind of fish die-off is a natural event at this time of year, not a result of sewage pollution in our effluent. It comes down to water temperature and temperature-sensitive fish.

LIST: Top 7-and-a-half ways wastewater treatment is like a romantic relationship

OK, it would be way too easy to make a J. Geils Band reference here when comparing romance to wastewater treatment, but there are far more similarities between cleaning sewage and finding that special someone than you may have expected.

Here are a few.

Don't be afraid to confront a dirty past.

This undated Cleveland Plain Dealer photo by Marv Greebe was taken sometime in the 1960s, showing former PD reporter Richard Ellers on a trip along the (to put it mildly) polluted Cuyahoga River.

VIDEO | Shed games: Cool animation explains why watersheds matter

Our friends at the Rocky River Watershed Council shared this video today, something that does a nice job explaining how water flows over the surface of our land and why it matters.

The points relate directly to our regional stormwater management program, too.

VIDEO: "OK, class, we have a film for you today."

Ah, the new school year is upon us. And it brings back memories of science-class filmstrips and the clickety-clack of the projector.

Here's a classic from 1967 called "Journey through a day," in which a young boy spends his day in the great outdoors, interacting with his environment and the many creatures around him. Did you ever spend days like this? Do your kids have days like this today?



Sewer District crews spend days along streamsides, too, mostly monitoring fish and aquatic life for water-quality tests, not diving in after frogs or putting turtles in their pockets like the lad in the video. But the level of enjoyment spending a day in the great outdoors may be comparable.

VIDEO: Flushable wipes maybe not so much

Are flushable wipes really flushable? Perhaps for convenience, but they are not without problems beyond the drain.

Our friends at the National Association of Clean Water Agencies posted a link on their Facebook page about a city in Canada facing significant wastewater-treatment process issues because flushable diapers and wipes are not breaking down. The only thing breaking down is their equipment.



I asked our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center maintenance manager and our assistant superintendent if this is a localized problem or if we experience the same problems in our processes. Kevin Zebrowski answered it's a little bit of both.

VIDEO: Students learn how our work affects the world around them

What does the Sewer District do? It's a question common to classrooms we visit, coming from teachers and parents as often as it comes from the students.

Our involvment with local schools at all levels gives students a chance to learn more about our clean-water work and understand its value to public health and the environment, and that lesson can benefit Northeast Ohioans of all ages. This video was created to showcase several of our growing student programs and explain how they are contributing to our region.

VIDEO: A journey of 18,000 feet begins with a 45-foot hole

This brief video shows the current construction underway at the Sewer District's Euclid Creek Tunnel Nine Mile Creek work site. This 45-foot-wide access shaft will be the starting point for a tunnel boring machine that will drill the 24-foot-diameter route for the 18,000-foot-long tunnel project.