Elm Grove Village President Neil Palmer and Milwaukee Ald. Nik Kovac were pollutants, not politicians, for a day.

Both agreed to be dropped into a dunk tank Wednesday at Greenfield Park in West Allis so the splashes they made for media cameras might be seen by residents of the metropolitan area and persuade them to take a few simple steps to reduce pollution of local waterways.

Palmer and Kovac - representing pet waste, lawn fertilizer, grease, oil and other pollutants rinsed off streets, parking lots and lawns by rain and melting snow - faced former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jerry Augustine at a dunk tank set up next to Milwaukee County's Cool Waters Family Aquatic Park.

Recent studies found that contaminants coming off the landscape, known as urban and rural nonpoint sources, account for 90% of water pollution in the Milwaukee, Menomonee, Kinnickinnic and Root rivers, and in Oak Creek, said Jeff Martinka, executive director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, or Sweet Water.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District was not represented at the dunk tank because those studies determined that infrequent combined sanitary and storm sewer overflows - an average of 2.5 a year since 1994 - and routine sewage treatment plant discharges account for just 10% of the total bacteria load entering waterways each year.

Citizens underestimate role

Even so, a 2010 survey by the Public Policy Forum found that most residents of the metropolitan area believe that sewer overflows are the No. 1 water quality problem. In the same survey, 84% of respondents said their daily activities do not impact water quality while 76% said they had no role in protecting water resources.

Sweet Water is highlighting both the water quality study and the survey results in a new public education campaign it is calling The Real Water Park.

"Our lakes, rivers and streams constitute our real waterpark," Martinka said. "We fish, swim, boat, relax and enjoy a better quality of life because of our waterways. And it's up to communities and residents across the watershed to protect them from pollution."

Billboards showing pet waste in pools and grease and fertilizer on water slides will be displayed in the metropolitan area beginning next week as part of the campaign.

Brookfield Public Works Director Tom Grisa said that citizens have a role and responsibility in preventing contamination of waterways.

"It is much cheaper for us as citizens to keep the pollutants out of the waterways than for government to remove them once they get there," Grisa said.

State storm water management permits required Brookfield, Elm Grove and six other communities in the Menomonee River watershed to start public information activities this year.

With Sweet Water's help, the campaign was expanded to communities in the watersheds of the Milwaukee, Kinnickinnic and Root rivers as well as Oak Creek.

Though Augustine on Wednesday tossed many more balls than strikes at the tank's painted arm that triggers a dunk when hit, he eventually connected and the politicians playing the role of pollutants plunged into the cold water.

"We would never think of allowing pet waste, fertilizer or oils in a waterpark like the one we're at today," Martinka said. He spoke Wednesday next to the tank while families played at Cool Waters in the background.

"So, why is it acceptable for those pollutants to end up in our real waterpark?" Martinka asked.

Augustine and Martinka asked area residents to go to the campaign's website, www.realwaterpark.com, and sign the online pledge to protect waterways.

Among the actions the public could pledge to take: clean up pet waste so rain and melting snow doesn't wash it into streams; stop oil and other fluids from leaking from your vehicles; and direct downspouts into rain barrels or onto lawns and gardens instead of sewers or driveways.