JUST IN: Wally reinstated as official spokesdrop, Austin returns to back-up role

"Wally has shown he's ready for this. We're ready to move on and get back to work."

That was the official statement from the Sewer District this morning as their official spokesdrop Wally Waterdrop was reinstated as starting spokesdrop for the foreseeable future.

"Austin did what he could this past weekend. He showed guts," said CEO Julius Ciaccia Monday of Austin Waterdrop's promotion to the starting outreach line-up in the midst of the waterdrop controversy. "But Wally is our starter and we are excited to see him back in the starting role."

Wally was benched last week when photos surfaced showing him in the middle of what appeared to be a party, but it was unclear whether it was an outreach event and what year the photos were taken.

"I'm not looking back, I'm looking ahead," Wally said.

NEWS: Back-up spokesdrop Austin named starter, Wally benched after party photos surface

NEORSD spokesdrop Wally Waterdrop at an event with fans.

Backup Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District spokesdrop Austin Waterdrop has been named starting spokesdrop for an "indefinite period of time" after photos of official spokesdrop Wally Waterdrop surfaced this week.

"Austin has been a great member of our team," said an anonymous NEORSD colleague. "We want to see how he does carrying our message of clean water and we're comfortable that he gives us the greatest chance to convey trust and reach customers."

Very excited about the new opportunities @neorsd has given me. I support @WallyWaterdrop & look forward to carrying our message to our fans!

— Austin Waterdrop (@AustinWaterdrop) December 2, 2015

When asked about the photos, Wally said he "did not remember" the photograph, but admitted that he "enjoys interacting with fans" at community events "regularly" throughout the year. Since the revelations, some have questioned the date of the photographs and if they could be from "some time ago," but that hasn't stopped the Sewer District from taking action.

"I've talked to Wally," our source said, "and he said he understands the situation. All we can do now is move on. The decision is made and we're excited to move forward."

NEORSD expects Wally to retain his Official Spokesdrop title but did not offer a specific timeframe for his return.

RADIO, part II: "That's a significant drop." Yes, he is.

So when a caller to the WMMS 100.7 Alan Cox Show during Wednesday drivetime reacted to the hosts' conversation about Lake Erie's poor beachwater quality, he rightfully touched on the Sewer District's multi-billion-dollar program to fix some of the problems plaguing the lakefront.

We heard about the call yesterday morning, and our own Jean Chapman sent Alan Cox an email to clarify a few points the caller made. Why not, right? With that, we also used her email as a blog post, embedded a clip from the show's podcast, and added a few points for good measure. In good fun, our spokesdrop Wally tweeted @alancoxshow to let him know he gave us good material and an opportunity to share information.

Then came Thursday's show. Check it out.

PHOTOS: Where's Wally? Austria. Sort of.

Former Sewer District summer student Robert Nedrich sent us a few photos of his time in Vienna, Austria. A true validation of the impact we had on Robert, he was quick to see the resemblance between a Vienna water treatment facility mascot and our own Wally Waterdrop, our official spokesdrop.

Here is an example of one of the information panels they had on display:

The panel illustrates one step in the treatment process, the likely equivalent of aeration tanks like these at our Easterly plant in Cleveland where good bacteria feed on germs in the wastewater. The text, translated from German via Google, reads:

This pool is called a revival pool. Quite a lot of bacteria live here and these need lots of air to breathe. Therefore, air is constantly blown. Bacteria purify the water and eat the dirt.

"Revival pool." Great term.