GWRS Bottled Water Tour Receives Two Recent Honors

The GWRS bottled water campaign to educate Californians about the taste and high-quality of advanced purified water is on a roll, receiving two additional honors following its grand prize for Environmental Communications by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

The two newest awards are a Ragan’s 2017 PR Daily Honorable Mention in the Press Event or Media Tour category for the GWRS bottled water launch and a Platinum Hermes Creative Award in the category of Public Relations/Communications/Strategic Programs/PR Campaign for the year-long GWRS bottled water tour.

The Orange County Water District (OCWD) and Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) worked together to co-sponsor a new state law, with the Water Research Association, to permit advanced purified water to be bottled in limited quantities and be given away for free as an educational tool by water districts, and then they were the first to do so. Staff from both agencies attended more than 20 events on college campuses, at large festivals and more. They distributed nearly 16,000 commemorative bottles and conversed with exponentially more people over a year, culminating in a community celebration of the GWRS 10^th anniversary in February 2018 and setting of the Guinness World Records™ title for “the most wastewater recycled to drinking water in 24 hours.”

The Ragan Award celebrates the greatest campaigns, initiatives and one-offs in the communication, PR, marketing, and media industries and recognizes those who pave the way in PR and communications, who create and innovate best practices and who are best practitioners.

Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media. Hermes Creative Awards recognizes outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals. They are administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.