INFOGRAPHIC: What the flush? Weirdest things ever flushed down the toilet.

Some strange items survive the long journey through the sewers and into our treatment plants. But some of the best "lost and found" stories are much closer to home.

Contractor Fails composed a great infographic featuring some of the not-so-flushable items and their tales that topped its list of favorites.

Courtesy of: Contractor Fails

NEWS: Technically speaking, CleanWaterWorks will be a new go-to magazine

We are proud to announce the publication of our new technical magazine, CleanWaterWorks.

This annual magazine will give our own subject-matter experts the opportunity to explain the Sewer District's work in greater detail. The inaugural 2013 issue focuses on beaches and features scientific articles written by our Analytical Services staff.

If you would like a copy when we distribute our first edition later this month, email us today: waterworks at neorsd dot org.

—Mike Uva

PIC: Just your normal everyday swarm of bugs so thick you can see it on radar

Courtesy Ryan Wichman, WTOL Toledo

This is not a thunderstorm warning. It's not a weather alert or special report.

It's just bugs. Lots and lots...and lots...of (harmless, but yes annoying) bugs over Lake Erie near Toledo.

PLACES: Watershed Stewardship Center is a new hydration, restoration, education destination

Image courtesy Cleveland Metroparks

Starting tomorrow, you can experience your watershed in a whole new way.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is proud to be a key stakeholder and partner with Cleveland Metroparks for the Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek. The Sewer District supported the Center with a $3 million contribution towards the construction costs. In addition to this initial outlay, the Sewer District has made an annual in-kind commitment and will have staff permanently housed at the Center.

“It has taken much time since my predecessor Erwin Odeal first began this journey, but I am delighted that this impressive regional asset has finally come to fruition,” said Julius Ciaccia, Executive Director, NEORSD. “As we open the doors to this world-class facility, we not only demonstrate our commitment to the Center, but our dedication to managing stormwater throughout our watersheds and our continued relationship with Cleveland Metroparks.”

Starting Friday, the Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek will host a series of Grand Opening events, including an Open House and Community Discovery Day.

In addition to the Watershed Stewardship Center at West Creek, the Sewer District is involved with other Cleveland Metroparks programs. The Sewer District sponsors Cleveland Metroparks Kids Club and Outdoor Odyssey event, as well as Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Summer Day Camp, Meet Your Best Friend event, and Dinosaurs! exhibit. Every Tuesday morning throughout the summer, Sewer District staff teaches zoo campers ages 5-12 about the urban water cycle and the importance of safeguarding our great freshwater resources.

BLOG: Midges vs. mayflies: Let's clear the air and the confusion

Midges, mayflies, muckelheads, this can all be very confusing. And all of them can be very annoying. We'd like to help clarify a bit of the current bug conundrum.

Let's start here: There are midges (also known as muckleheads), and there are mayflies. They are different, but they're both related to the quality of our Great Lake.

Midges and muckleheads

The shores of Lake Erie have been teeming with these little guys lately—muckleheads. Fox 8 meteorologist Scott Sabol has shared a few updates over the last week.

twitter.com/scottsabolfox8

We verified his total. He was off by three.

But what are these pesky buggers? These are known as muckleheads or midges. Or if you want to impress friends, call them Chironomidae.

WIkipedia

They hatch over Lake Erie in the spring and fall and make their way inland. They don't bite and they're not harmful, but they can still be a nuisance during a beach barbeque. According to our Senior Investigator Ron Maichle, they are organisms of interest because they have varying tolerance of pollution. The Sewer District does collect macroinvertebrates to study water quality, but we do not study the adult midge population.

VIDEO: Jake's dad is cool, and here are five reasons why in 20 seconds.

For Mothers Day, we celebrated some of the top momisms that might have revealed her inner wastewater professional. For Fathers Day, we find dad's got a bit of the same blood in his veins.

Jake and his dad were guests at a previous Open House of ours, and his honest answer to our simple question revealed a bit about the wastewater treatment process, and in our minds, about dads as well.

Happy Father's Day weekend to all dads and father figures out there.

BREAKING! Sewer District is more cutting edge than major music awards show

Just caught this story over on Mashable about the CMT Music Awards generating social media buzz by using decals above urinals.

That's sooo yesterday.

Livin on the edge rn #waittotweet twitpic.com/chsjig
— Calla Bonanno (@hellocalla) April 7, 2013

Our #WaitToTweet decals at the Cleveland International Film Festival and Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field in stalls and above urinals and hand dryers have been generating tweets for months now (despite our incessant warnings against it).

Shout out to Progressive Field for looking out for fans. #waittotweet #baseballroadtrip twitter.com/jessilespie/st…
— Jessica Gillespie (@jessilespie) June 2, 2013

Still, nice to see we set a bit of a trend.

HOLLYWOOD: Here's our pitch, 4 films, 4 genres, 1 common theme: Clean water. And us.

From superheroes to sports dramas, Hollywood has made Cleveland home this summer and we're loving it.

Sure, we offered a plant tour to Captain America and guests (the offer still stands, BTW), but it got us thinking, "Would Hollywood find our unsung work worthy of the silver screen?"

To get that conversation started, we wanted to pitch a few plot lines that were rooted in our clean-water work—but had touches of drama, or villainy, or romance that just may appeal to some key movie-going demographics.

So picture this...