Stafford County Utilities noticed an uptick in clogged sewer pipes and sanitary sewer overflows. So the staff created a superhero mascot to communicate those issues.
That led to a campaign to teach the public not to put FOG (fats, oils and grease) down the drain. Captain Clog is now well known around the county through billboards, a comic book series and social media.
The utility, based in Stafford, Virginia, operates the Aquia and Little Falls Run wastewater treatment plants, which are part of a network with more than 500 miles of sewer lines. The plants treat a total of 10 mgd for some 40,000 homes and businesses.
A superhero is born
Captain Clog was the brainchild of the Community Engagement Team, which also created the comic book series. The team included Jessica Burger, community engagement officer; Melissa Markow, graphic designer; Shannon Eubanks, community engagement manager; Maggie Spivey, digital media specialist; and Andrew Spence, chief information officer.
“Building the brand was a group effort with our brainstorming,” says Markow. “It also allowed me to be open to creating the Captain Clog character graphically and that was a lot of fun.”
The team specifically wanted to target youth and so created the comic books to enrich educational outreach to schools. Funded and designed totally in-house, the books are printed and are also available in digital form for science coordinators at grade schools.
Once the idea was conceived, the Community Engagement Team worked with other staff members in the Utilities Department to write the stories. The comics are handed out from exhibits at community and Earth Day events and at the treatment plants during school tours. There are also Captain Clog baseball cards.
Different themes
The first Captain Clog comic book was distributed at a 2023 Earth Day event hosted for elementary schools; it featured the water and wastewater systems and treatment processes. Superheroes tell how Stafford County’s wastewater is cleaned at its two treatment plants.
The second edition, focused on water conservation, was created for the 2024 Earth Day event and for schools to use in grades K-3 curricula. It shares water-saving tips such as how kids can save 200 gallons of water per month by not running the faucet continuously when washing hands or brushing teeth. It also advises taking showers over baths, using dishwashers and doing laundry in full rather than partial loads.
The third book was created for grades 4-6 curriculums and features prevention of FOG and wipes in the sewer system, which the county spends $1.6 million per year to remove. The book introduces three villains to represent FOG: Greaseball, Biggie Berg and Oil McSlick.
Each comic book took two months to create, design and print. As of last spring, 5,000 books had been distributed, not counting downloading of the digital versions. Besides the educational content, the books include pictures for kids to color and a maze puzzle in the shape of a toilet. Stafford County plans to continue the series with different water and wastewater themes.
Awarding a hero
“The comic books and Captain Clog have been incredibly well received by educators, students and the public,” Burger observes. “We’ll continue creating comic books featuring subjects the public needs to be educated on. That will help us fulfill our mission of conserving water and protecting the county’s wastewater system.”
Captain Clog also appears on T-shirts given out to the staff for group pictures at the department celebration for Virginia’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Professionals Appreciation Day.
The comic books and the Captain Clog brand have won awards from the National Association of Counties, the Virginia Association of Counties and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.
The comic books are available on the utility’s website, utilities.staffordcountyva.gov.
