Exploring the conveyor-belt myth -- a chronic problem in the water sector caused by the wayward habit of treating water as something only of secondary value, for conveying other things.

1. Breaking the Conveyor-Belt Myth
Brian Gongol
DJ Gongol & Associates, Inc.
June 27, 2022
Kirkwood Annual Water Conference
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2. Introduction: Why, why, why, why, why?

3. Who feels underpaid, overworked, or unappreciated?

4. Let's go on a walk through the Five Whys

5. I don't like what I see
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Too many unsafe practices
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Too much worn-out equipment
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Too little funding for water sector

6. Why? (#1)
Under-investment is tolerated

7. Why? (#2)
Nobody wants to spend money
on what they don't value,
and they don't really value water

8. Why? (#3)
Water is taken for granted

9. Why? (#4)
Water proponents almost never
"sell" water on its own merits

10. Why? (#5)
We almost always treat water as
secondary to something else

11. Something else: "Economic development"

12. Something else: "Infrastructure jobs"

13. Something else: "The environment"

14. Source water quality is behavior-dependent

15. Have you had to justify a rate hike to cranky customers?

16. Contaminants: PFAS

17. Contaminants: Microplastics

18. Contaminants: Nitrates

19. Contaminants: Nutrients

20. People freak out over PFAS, but...
Some of them still pour paint down the drain

21. Behavior is guided by perceptions

22. To change source water quality, change perceptions

23. Huge problem: Water is perceived as a conveyor belt

24. Wastewater pros: Do you fight with "flushable" wipes?

25. The conveyor-belt myth blocks resources

26. What is the conveyor-belt myth?
The popular perception that
water is a tool for
conveying other things

27. Consider the so-called "garbage disposal"

28. A tool for macerating food waste so it conveys easily

29. But the kitchen sink is no place for a word like "garbage"

30. Or consider the TV trope of "flushing the evidence"

31. Or consider so-called "flushable wipes"

32. A toilet is not a trash can

33. What's wrong with these examples?
In each of these cases,
water is treated like a conveyor belt --
good only as a means of
taking bad things away

34. The resulting ignorance is toxic

35. That's why we need "Drains to Waterways" on storm inlets

36. Safe drinking water is a colossal human success

37. Who has a prescription take-back day?

38. If you don't, get with your local police and start one

39. Prescription drugs and the conveyor-belt problem

40. People flush without thinking

41. Fish end up with antidepressants in them

42. Water is the #1 prescription drug in America

43. Your phone may be addictive - water is life-or-death

44. You can detox from Facebook for 72 hours

45. You can't stay away from water that long

46. With enough energy, we can take almost anything out of water

47. Reverse osmosis

48. Distillation

49. Ultra-filtration

50. But for now, energy still costs money

51. Desalination plants installed at enormous expense

52. Some people still dump motor oil down the drain

53. Better to stop people from contaminating source water

54. Reduce, reuse, recycle - right?

55. Perceptions have to change, and that starts with us

56. When was the last time public ignorance got to you?
(Or indifference. Same problem.)

57. Water is indispensable to public health

58. Conveyor belt equals afterthought

59. Water only coincidentally happens to be good for conveyance

60. Water should be equal in status to a blood donation

61. Like donated blood, it's essential for life

62. Like donated blood, it's critical to public health

63. And we must take measures to avoid contamination

64. Hold your head high and insist on due respect

65. Are you next to police and fire in a parade?

66. "Water's worth it" is bland and uninspiring
(Sorry, WEF)

67. "Water saves your life"
Now you're talking!

68. Water has to get priority treatment
When water is secondary
to another priority,
it gets treated like dirt
(or worse)

69. Water sector is too self-effacing
Out of sight,
out of mind

70. Water sector is too prone to gross humor
We all do it, and we all should stop it

71. Who else needs to earn continuing education?
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Doctors
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Lawyers
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Teachers

72. Respect for water means respect for water work

73. Do you applaud batting practice?

74. We applaud the home run that wins the game

75. We don't cheer for the time doctors spend in school

76. We applaud actual lives saved

77. Very few people praise abstractions
Even fewer want to pay for them

78. "Protecting the environment" is way too abstract

79. Drinking Water Source protection signs make it real

80. Iowa DNR effort to label streams makes it real, too

81. "We save lives every day" is the real mission

82. A conveyor belt isn't a life-saver

83. Changing perceptions will improve water work

84. In summary
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Source water quality is behavior-dependent
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Water is too often perceived as a conveyor belt
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Safe drinking water is an incredible success
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Perceptions won't change without our help
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Water is good in its own right and we should say so
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Respect for water begets respect for water work

85. Questions?
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Thank you for your time
and attention!
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This presentation is
archived at
gongol.net/presentations
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Contact us anytime for
help or with questions

Brian Gongol
DJ Gongol & Associates
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brian@gongol.net
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515-223-4144

@djgongol on LinkedIn,
Facebook, and Twitter

86. Source material
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Iowa DNR news release on stream signs:
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https://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/DNR-News-
Releases/ArticleID/1394/Iowans-creating-
connections-with-creeks-with-signs