As far as D.C.-based public information videos go, D.C. Water’s new Wendy the Waterdrop clip is already near the top of the heap. (At the very least, Wendy is a vast improvement over WMATA’s Second Lifers, whose dialog is on par with a low budget Italian horror flick dubbed with late 80s speech software.) Today, Wendy has a hard-hitting chat with Rich Giani, D.C. Water’s Water Quality Manager, in which Giani explains why D.C.’s water sometimes appears discolored coming out of the tap.

If anything, future videos need more of Wendy — I think its pretty obvious that more people will be interested in public water issues if they are presented by a silent (yet surprisingly svelte) mascot. Also, high marks to D.C. Water General Manager George Hawkins for not losing it while shaking hands and asking a large, anthropomorphized waterdrop to go talk with his customers.