On Target

The MMSD Web site aims to educate

By Ellen Hickok-Wall
Daily Reporter Staff

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District launched a communications initiative in 2001 to enhance the district's image as an efficient, well-run, waste-water treatment operation, said Todd Bragstad, district communications specialist.

A key to that effort is the district's technological front line at www.mmsd.com. So the district revamped its site to take advantage of the growing popularity of the Internet to help spread the word to a growing audience.

"Our Web site has value not only to our immediate community but people nationwide, even worldwide," Bragstad said. "I get messages from people all over the world on a pretty regular basis either seeking information or wishing to exchange information."

The home page of MMSD's Web site is designed, Bragstad said, to capture Internet surfers' interest.

"Let's face it, people hit your main page and they may only take seconds to decide: Am I in or am I moving on?" Bragstad said.

He said the district wants to keep browsers' attention long enough to make an impression and explain what the MMSD does.

"We're more than just a waste-water treatment operation," Bragstad said. "We're an environmental agency. In recent years, we've gotten more into flood management, and we've got our successful household hazardous-waste program. Now we're focusing on land-conservation programs."

The district's efforts are apparently working. Bragstad said hits on the Web site have increased from a few hundred to more than 5,200 per day.

"A lot of that has to do with the fact that we are an active agency that has a lot of significant programs that impact our immediate area," he said. "But we're also known nationally and worldwide for success we've had in areas such as our Milorganite operation as well as some of our flood-management projects."

Pressing issues

The Web site also offers a good way to keep track of district changes. Privatization of a component of the district's operations, for example, raised the curiosity of local taxpayers, Bragstad said.

"We brought in United Water Services, a private outside contractor, to oversee certain segments of our operations," he said.

UWS is a worldwide corporation that has a lot more resources than MMSD, and that increases the district's buying power, Bragstad said.

"That's saving taxpayers $140 million over the 10-year period of the contract," he said.

The Web site also has played a crucial role in providing information about the MMSD's rainwater-reduction education program, which is designed to reduce the amount of rain that enters the local sewer systems and contributes to basement backups and sewer overflows.

Bragstad said one of the primary objectives of the Web site is to create a destination that provides an online service to the community at minimal cost to the district.

The site plays a critical role, he said, in providing the public with information about district operations and programs, including the history of MMSD, treatment-plant and conveyance operations, annual operational and financial reports and employment opportunities.

"Employment is always active," Bragstad said.

MMSD staff routinely receives positive feedback from site visitors, who say how much they appreciate the site for its layout and design, up-to-date information and the ease in which information can be found, he said.

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