Tualatin Valley Water District
Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD) provides safe drinking water for more than 220,000 residents in Beaverton, Hillsboro and unincorporated Washington County.
In 2022, Sheepscot partnered with Brown and Caldwell, the largest engineering consulting firm in America focused exclusively on the environmental sector, to develop a communication plan and toolkit for TVWD.
To meet the federal government’s new Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), TVWD would be excavating and testing nearly a thousand randomly selected service lines (the pipes that connect water mains to homes and businesses) in the coming year. We designed and developed a campaign and a host of informational materials to help the drinking water utility communicate with ratepayers and local businesses about the project.
Photography documenting TVWD employees at work in the field helps put a human face to the water utility.
CAMPAIGN NAMING
Washington County’s construction history and years of past inspections indicated that no lead would be found, but the public’s anxiety about lead pollution is rightfully high, so we framed the inspection work as part of a larger communication effort designed to raise awareness about the tasks TVWD employees complete every day to keep drinking water safe. After all, the lead inspections were only one small part of their ongoing efforts.
Accordingly, we named the project the “Service Line Inventory,” which clearly and accurately describes the work without unnecessarily drawing attention to a problem that doesn’t exist locally.
CAMPAIGN MATERIALS AND COMMUNICATION PLAN
The suite of printable campaign materials developed for English- and Spanish-speaking audiences includes communication guidelines, FAQs, fact sheets, a microsite and videos, among other print and digital materials.
KEEPINGWATERSAFE.ORG
We built a microsite as a hub to convey key information to property owners. Currently, it highlights two large projects: the Service Line Inventory and the Willamette Water Supply Project; other special projects and initiatives will be added in the future. Accessible from TVWD’s homepage and via QR codes on print materials, KeepingWaterSafe.org uses custom illustrations, original photography, and carefully crafted messaging to raise awareness among customers about how TVWD delivers clean, safe water to their homes and businesses.
Mobile and screen-reader friendly, the site is designed with accessibility in mind. Users can toggle to a professionally translated Spanish-language version of the site with a click of a button.
The KeepingWaterSafe.org microsite includes maps, diagrams and other resources available in both English and Spanish.
SUPPORTING VIDEO CONTENT
We Are TVWD
The Welcome video we created for TVWD introduces the work of the utility and celebrates the dedication and expertise it takes to deliver clean water to ratepayers. A second version was produced with Spanish-language narration.
TVWD Service Line Inventory: What To Expect
To prepare for the Service Line Inventory, TVWD had to contact and inform nearly a thousand property owners about the upcoming inspections. We followed TVWD crews to a resident’s home and filmed the entire inspection process from start to finish. (See the door hanger at 1:07? We designed that, too.) Bilingual captions ensure that both English and Spanish property owners understand the process and its purpose.
