2022 Pure Water Soquel - High School Video Contest

Contest Details

Show off your filmmaking skills by creating a 60-90 second video to help build awareness of an exciting new project that will create a new, drought-proof, climate-change resilient, sustainable water supply: Pure Water Soquel. You can create an animation, commercial, reality show, newscast, or even a music video. Let your imagination go wild, and come up with a creative, engaging video explaining Pure Water Soquel, what it will do, and the value of using purified recycled water as part of our water supply.  

Contest theme

Pure Water Soquel: Transforming Water
A New, Reliable, Drought-Proof, and Climate-Change Resilient Water Supply

All entries must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on April 29, 2022.  

Eligibility

This contest is open to grades 9–12 at Soquel High School and Aptos High School. 

What is Pure Water Soquel?

Pure Water Soquel is a project by Soquel Creek Water District now under construction that will purify recycled wastewater to drinking water standards to replenish the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin. Purified water will be stored in the basin using seawater intrusion prevention wells to help raise underground water levels, create a barrier to keep saltwater contamination from moving further inland, and provide a drought-proof, climate-change resilient sustainable new supply of water to support our communities and protect our natural resources.  

Your primary source of information for producing your video will be www.soquelcreekwater.org/pws, but you may also want to do additional research at sites such as Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System (www.ocwd.com/gwrs), Pure Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment Project (www.purewatermonterey.org), and WateReuse (www.watereuse.org).  

Examples of some of the key message points that help explain Pure Water Soquel

• There is no “new” water on Earth — all the water is constantly being recycled through the natural water cycle.
• The groundwater basin — the District’s only source of drinking water — is critically overdrafted, with seawater contamination confirmed at multiple locations.  
• State-of-the-art technology will be used to treat and purify recycled water to drinking water standards. This technology is proven and used at other facilities around California, the United States, and around the world. 
• Purified water is a safe, clean way to reuse recycled wastewater. 
• By reusing recycled water, we also leave more fresh water in rivers and creeks for the protection of wildlife ecosystems and other habitats. 
• Recycling the treated wastewater for beneficial reuse by purifying it to replenish the groundwater basin reduces the amount of water that is discharged into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.