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A new crew of superheroes, the Lake Erie League, is turning the hidden systems under our feet into comic-book stories for kids and teachers to use in the classroom. Across eight origin tales, these Northeast Ohio characters mirror very real aspects of the Sewer District's work, from massive tunneling machines whose creations tame storm overflows, to a miniaturized lab technician who can detect toxins no human eye could witness.

We start with Mackenzie, inspired by the tunnel boring machine behind Project Clean Lake, who illustrates how big civil infrastructure projects matter when big rainstorms hit. Spectra brings lab science to life with tests that our students can replicate in class, while Rover and Dr. Tao tackle tunnel inspections and the microscopic world of wastewater treatment. Botanica's story is rooted in Green Infrastructure, and Viz and Overwatch round out the Lake Erie League with "sewer CSI" adventures.

Teachers can request print copies of the new comic book for their classrooms and access the stories and activity sheets at neorsd.org/league.

Meet the Lake Erie League creators:

Joe Sieracki, writer

Miguel Hernandez, illustrator

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Art meets infrastructure! The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District partnered with the nonprofit creative-writing center Literary Cleveland to host a reading of "Odes to Infrastructure," a newly-published zine, right in the heart of our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant. It was a celebration of our essential-yet-often-unseen water systems and, of course, Lake Erie.

Standing in the concrete tunnels where our treatment-plant workers normally move about, the Literary Cleveland writers delivered readings of poetry and short stories inspired by our infrastructure and its relationship to a cleaner Lake Erie. The echoing chamber amplified both their voices and the central message: connection. As one writer eloquently put it, "Stories and sewers bind us. They reveal our interconnectedness, our mutual dependence."

By bringing writers into treatment plants for tours and workshops Literary Cleveland created a new forum for highlighting our critical work.

Here's some photos from the event!

Visit Literary Cleveland for more info about workshops and tours.

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Technology continues to transform how the Sewer District manages wastewater and stormwater.

Process Analyst Ron Maichle explains how the District's drone program evolved from emergency-response support to an essential tool for project planning and monitoring. Engineer Joe Reese demystifies the elaborate control systems that allow operators to monitor and manage entire treatment facilities from centralized locations.

What technological solution will transform water management next?