Night of the Open Door is an annual open house hosted at Arizona State University, where members of the Phoenix community visit the campus, learn about ongoing research, and participate in a myriad of activities. Recruitment of volunteers and visitors was done through campus and city-wide posters and email blasts, website announcements, and social media. Visitors range from preK-12, college students, teachers, parents, grandparents, and working professionals. The School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment hosts several hands-on activities related to water science and technology to inform the general public about sources of drinking water, water and wastewater treatment, and novel (nano)technologies that are being researched in our labs. Given the venue, activities must impart key lessons in under 5 minutes. Four activities were created in progression to walk exhibit-viewers through fundamentals and recent advancements in water treatment: 1) Sources of drinking water and water reuse, 2) Conventional water filtration, 3) Nano-blocks activity, and 4) Lab demo of nano-sorbents removing dye from water. Activities were created as a collaboration of environmental engineering graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and research scientists. Scientists prepared to communicate complex water topics by asking each other general and probing questions related to the activities, as well as water topics outside of those exhibited (e.g. desalination, Brita filters). The event enables the general public to learn and discuss topics that are not of usual conversation. For example, the water reuse activity begins by asking the visitor if they know the source of their drinking water. Scientists use this as a lead to discuss the canals that transport Colorado River water across the state and other states who share the river. The activity shows that a percentage of Phoenix’s drinking water contains effluent from upstream cities such as Las Vegas. Visitors are challenged to think about their perceptions regarding de-facto water reuse, indirect and direct potable reuse. Scientists are challenged to discuss water reuse in an engaging matter and advocate for advanced drinking water treatment. Through this annual event, hundreds of scientist have one-on-one interactions with the public in a venue for communication about a subject that is part of our everyday lives that we don’t know too much about!

Let’s talk about water: How to engage with the general public about fundamentals and recent advancements in water treatment

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.