Film Screening: Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong

Join us for a screening and discussion of Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong, Winner of the Audience Award at the 2025 Camden Film Festival. Nick Rico, superintendent of Wells Sanitary District, will join for a discussion following the screening.

Wastewater plants across the country are in need of resuscitation. Half a century after the Clean Water Act radically improved how we handle our sewage, our once modern facilities have aged beyond their intended lifespans. Pipes are cracking, and growing populations push plants to their limits. The threats are mounting, but the infrastructure hasn’t changed. And, just when it seems things couldn’t get any worse, a cancer-causing contaminant (PFAS) enters the scene and threatens to collapse the entire house of cards.

In response, one plant that can’t afford to ever shut down, must find clever solutions to an ever-growing mountain of problems. Over the course of one calendar year, this film follows the day-to-day operations of one wastewater facility and the funny, close-knit, and inventive individuals working to keep it all running. Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong is a buddy comedy about poop and the thankless pursuit of making a better world.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Wells Reserve at Laudholm