Advisory Panel on Emerging ContaminantsSeptember 27, 2012
Outreach and Education Subcommittee
Progress Report 2
Highlights
• Dr. Kelly Reynolds – Associate Professor UA College of Public Health
• Naegleria fowleri in the News
(GettyImages ) Feeding and attachment structures
Topics
• Deadly brain amoeba infects US tap water for the first time (Maggie Fox NBC News)
• Hexavalent Chromium
Audiences/Tactics
• Most FAQs from Customers:• What is the hardness of my water?• What is the fluoride level in my water?• Why is my drinking water cloudy or milky?• Why does my skin itch after I take a shower?• Why does my water smell like rotten eggs?
• Customers are not asking about emerging contaminants. They are asking about taste, odor, cloudiness, chlorine, hardness & fluoride.
Tactics• Create two sets of FAQs
– Water quality aesthetics– Emerging contaminants
• Compile uniform answers to address public concerns• Create all material in English & Spanish • Create “information nuggets” that are multiple
audience friendly from white paper and list of emerging microbes
Success
• Developed a 12 question survey to evaluate the success of a communications program.
• Survey reviewed and approved by subcommittee
• Survey sent out to utilities the last week of August
Consensus
• Recommend focusing on Naegleria fowleri as the emerging microbial contaminant in AZ
• Recommend focusing on hexavalent
chromium as the emerging chemical contaminant in AZ