RCAP's Drop of Knowledge: Article Roundup #4

Drop of Knowledge is a monthly digital article from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) The articles focus on topics like wastewater, drinking water, policy, and infrastructure in rural America. It contains how-to’s, tips, and guidance from more than 300 technical assistance providers (TAPs) across the country. Some featured articles are linked below:

• Resolving Inflow and Infiltration Issues in a Growing Community
• The Beginner’s Guide to Geospatial Asset Management
• How Smoke Testing Can Help Your Small Wastewater Collection System
• Red Cliff Wastewater Treatment Plant Compliant Treatment Process
• Meeting the October 2024 Deadline: A Quick Guide for Water Utilities Struggling to Get Started with Lead Service Line Inventory Compliance
• What is the Most Important Business in Your Community?

Looking for something else? Find more articles and subscribe to A Drop of Knowledge.

Water Treatment Resources for Water Operators

Water treatment is the umbrella term for the processes used to make water more acceptable for a desired end-use, including meeting regulatory requirements. Drinking water treatment includes but is not limited to: chemical disinfection, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, ultraviolet, ozone, membranes, and reverse osmosis. 

We have 1,772 resources (and counting) on Water Treatment in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for documents like a guidance manual for alternative disinfectants and oxidants, chlorination controls for small water systems, factsheets on bacteria in drinking water, and many other useful guides that will help you to deliver safe and clean water to utility customers. 

To access the wealth of knowledge on Water Treatment within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "Water Treatment." Once you make that selection, a second dropdown will appear where you can choose "HOST," “TYPE,” or “STATE” to narrow the search even further. If you have a specific search term in mind, use the “Keyword Filter” search bar on the right side of the screen.

This is part of our A-Z for Operators series.

Cybersecurity Threats: Lessons Learned from WaterISAC

In July of 2024, WaterISAC sent out an advisory to its members advising them to take caution when opening emails from seemingly "trusted" sources. This was sent after WaterISAC was made aware of a second phishing attempt against Maine water operators and well drillers that was disguised as an information verification form from Maine.gov. 

A screenshot of the attempted phishing email is shown below:

Now that phishing attempts are so common across the water sector, it is important to be vigilant when opening emails and clicking any links within. WaterISAC provided a list of lessons that can be learned from incidents like this, as well as resources to help water and wastewater systems get guidance on how to strengthen cybersecurity measures. These lessons and resources are shared below:

Lessons Learned

• Share Information on Threats. In these cases, state agencies quickly sent out a broadcast alert to targeted audiences warning of the phishing attempt.
• Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT).  There is a lot of information on the internet about our water systems. It is useful to know what public information is available. In some cases, detailed and sensitive information can be removed. In other cases, the information is intentionally part of the public record. Therefore, we need to be aware of this class of data so we are not fooled into trusting whoever has it because we believe only privileged sources have access to it.
• Practice Phishing Drills. Part of every utility’s cybersecurity awareness training should include regular phishing drills for staff. CISA has free resources to assist, such as, Teach Employees to Avoid Phishing.
• Not Sure, Call. If you are not sure that the source of an email is legitimate, call the supposed sender through previously established phone numbers to confirm the request’s validity.
• Fall for a Phish, Contact Your IT Department. If you realize after the fact that you fell for a phishing email, or you think you might have, call your information technology group to find out what to do. Everyone except the attacker, will be glad you did.

Additional Water and Wastewater Systems Sector Guidance Resources:

• Recognize and Report Phishing | CISA
• Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Water and Wastewater Utilities | WaterISAC
• Top Cyber Actions for Securing Water Systems | CISA
• Water and Wastewater Sector - Incident Response Guide | CISA
• CISA's Free Cyber Vulnerability Scanning for Water Utilities | CISA
• Water and Wastewater Cybersecurity | CISA

Water Security/ Emergency Response Guides

Water and wastewater utilities are responsible for taking action to protect their infrastructure, security practices should be incorporated into a utility's everyday business functions. Activities such as fence-cutting and lock-picking (often dismissed as harmless) may be indications of more serious threats to a water or wastewater system. Utilities must be prepared to respond to this type of threat, as well as a wide range of other emergencies, including natural disasters and cyberattacks. Improved security preparations provide for a more effective and efficient response from your utility.

We have 1,220 resources (and counting) on Water Security/ Emergency Response in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for documents like a Community Water System Emergency Response Plan template, U.S. EPA's Water Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (WCAT), and guides on hazard mitigation for natural disasters, and many other useful guides that will help you to deliver safe and clean water to utility customers. 

To access the wealth of knowledge on Water Security/ Emergency Response within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "Water Security/ Emergency Response." Once you make that selection, a second dropdown will appear where you can choose "HOST," “TYPE,” or “STATE” to narrow the search even further. If you have a specific search term in mind, use the “Keyword Filter” search bar on the right side of the screen.

This is part of our A-Z for Operators series.

Water Reuse for Sustainability

Water reuse is recycling treated wastewater for beneficial purposes such as agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing a ground water basin (aka ground water recharge.) Water recycling offers resource and financial savings, but there are concerns that some chemicals, like pharmaceuticals, may remain in treated water.

We have 328 resources (and counting) on Water Reuse in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for documents on constructed wetlands for greywater recycling and reuse, a list of common terms used when discussing water reuse, potable reuse to diversify water supplies, and many other useful guides that will help you to provide excellent service to utility customers.

To access the wealth of knowledge on Water Reuse within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "Water Reuse." Once you make that selection, a second dropdown will appear where you can choose "HOST," “TYPE,” or “STATE” to narrow the search even further. If you have a specific search term in mind, use the “Keyword Filter” search bar on the right side of the screen.

This is part of our A-Z for Operators series.

Available Resources on Wastewater Treatment

Domestic wastewater treatment, or sewage treatment, is the removal of contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff (effluents) and domestic. It includes the physical, chemical, and biological processes used to remove physical, chemical, and biological contaminants. The objective is to produce an environmentally safe fluid waste stream (or treated effluent) and a solid waste (or treated sludge) suitable for disposal or reuse as farm fertilizer. 

We have 2,279 resources (and counting) on Wastewater Treatment in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for documents on monitoring and data management, no-cost and low-cost operational upgrades for existing wastewater treatment plants, design challenges with liquid effluent collection, and many other useful guides that will help you to provide excellent service to utility customers. 

To access the wealth of knowledge on Wastewater Treatment within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "Wastewater Treatment." Once you make that selection, a second dropdown will appear where you can choose "HOST," “TYPE,” or “STATE” to narrow the search even further. If you have a specific search term in mind, use the “Keyword Filter” search bar on the right side of the screen.

This is part of our A-Z for Operators series.

RCAP's Drop of Knowledge: Article Roundup #3

Drop of Knowledge is a monthly digital article from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) The articles focus on topics like wastewater, drinking water, policy, and infrastructure in rural America. It contains how-to’s, tips, and guidance from more than 300 technical assistance providers (TAPs) across the country. Some featured articles are linked below:

• Assessing Your Collection System with a Pipeline Camera System
• Water System Achieves Compliance In One Year With Communities Unlimited’s Assistance
• Administrative Professionals and Their Continuous Contributions to Water and Wastewater Systems
• Staff in Nebraska is Helping to Build a Sustainable, Resilient Utility Workforce
• System Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency Response Plans
• Effective Communication with the Community

Looking for something else? Find more articles and subscribe to A Drop of Knowledge.

Source Water Protection for Communities with Decentralized Wastewater | Recorded on May 28, 2024

In this recording of our recent live webinar "Source Water Protection for Communities with Decentralized Wastewater" viewers will discover some of the most helpful source water protection resources and learn how to use our search tools at WaterOperator.org to find additional resources and training events. 

This webinar series from WaterOperator.org covers topics relevant to wastewater operators, including funding, asset management, compliance, and water quality. Certificates of attendance will be delivered upon request to live attendees, but are not available for watching this replay. 

Water Rights for Cash in Nevada

Many landowners all over the state of Nevada are choosing to surrender their water rights​ in exchange for cash payments. The constant drought conditions combined with over pumping have depleted the groundwater that communities depend on, and many landowners have made the decision to sell their water rights rather than drilling a new well or extending an existing well. 

The Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program​ was allocated $25 million in funding and was created to purchase groundwater rights from private landowners in over-pumped, over-appropriated basins in several Nevada communities. The Central Nevada Regional Water Authority​ is an agency that proactively addresses water resource issues in this region, and they report that there are "25 over-appropriated groundwater basins, eight of which are also over-pumped."

As of May 2024, the program has "received commitments to retire more than 25,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually...which is about the average amount of water in both the Boca Reservoir and Donner Lake any given year." Water regulators have until September 2024 to enter into contracts and acquire water rights.

Most of the funding will likely go to Diamond Valley, NV which is the state's only "critical management area." This means that "the valley’s groundwater levels are rapidly declining, and groundwater rights holders in the area are required to create a plan to address over-pumping or risk losing their rights...If all sales go through, the state expects to retire about 30% of the annual groundwater yield in Diamond Valley," said Jeff Fontaine, Executive Director of the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority and the Humboldt River Basin Water Authority.

Due to the success of this limited program, water managers and conservation groups in the state have expressed the need to make Voluntary Water Rights Retirement a permanent, statewide program. 

Wastewater Discharge/ Effluent

This category is in reference to wastewater discharge, either treated or untreated, that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. The documents within this category generally refer to wastes discharged into surface waters.

We have 893 resources (and counting) on Wastewater Discharge/ Effluent in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for documents like "how to" guides for wastewater management of rural, underserved communities, case studies that shine a light on how to develop solutions to meet regulatory constraints, and many other useful guides that will help you to deliver safe and clean water to utility customers. 

To access the wealth of knowledge on Wastewater Discharge/ Effluent within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "WasteWater Discharge/ Effluent." Once you make that selection, a second dropdown will appear where you can choose "HOST," “TYPE,” or “STATE” to narrow the search even further. If you have a specific search term in mind, use the “Keyword Filter” search bar on the right side of the screen.

This is part of our A-Z for Operators series.