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.

Water and Wastewater Utility Management

The federal government and many states and national organizations put emphasis on training for water utility boards and other individuals and entities responsible for utility management. The water sector faces a number of challenges at an organizational level, including an aging workforce that’s getting ready to retire, aging infrastructure that’s approaching the end of its useful life, future (or current) water shortages in various areas of the country, and increasingly stringent U.S. EPA standards for both finished drinking water and wastewater effluent. By giving managers and board members a broader perspective on the water sector and the tools to manage well, state and federal agencies and TA organizations hope to prepare utilities for the challenges ahead.   

We have over 2,500 resources (and counting) on Utility Management in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for documents about best practices in building and evaluating managerial capacity, funding to develop a cybersecurity program, how to ensure your utility becomes more “climate ready," 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 Utility Management within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "Utility Management." 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 A Drop of Knowledge: Recent Article Roundup #2

A 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 recent featured articles are linked below:

• Effective Communication with the Community | RCAP
• System Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency Response Plans | RCAP
• Staff in Nebraska is Helping to Build a Sustainable, Resilient Utility Workforce | RCAP
• Administrative Professionals and Their Continuous Contributions to Water and Wastewater Systems | RCAP
• Assessing Your Collection System with a Pipeline Camera System  | RCAP
• Removing Arsenic from A Tribal School's Water System | RCAP

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

RCAP's A Drop of Knowledge: Recent Article Roundup #1

A 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 recent featured articles are linked below:

• Flushable Wipes Causing Pump Clogs? Pump Flow Tests Can Alert Operators Faster
• A Look Inside RCAP’s Fly-In: Meeting With the Team Behind the Fly-In
• “To Pump, or Not to Pump, that is the question…”
• Changing Temperatures Can Set Back Wastewater Lagoons
• How to Determine the True Cost of a System When Conducting a Rate Study
• Getting the Lead Out - Lead and Copper Compliance in New Jersey

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

EPA Mandates Cybersecurity Reporting for the Water Sector

Public water systems are increasingly at risk from cyberattacks that threaten public health. U.S. EPA has issued new guidance that states are required to evaluate and report on cybersecurity threats for systems that use industrial control systems or other operational technology.

“Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure facilities, including drinking water systems, are increasing, and public water systems are vulnerable," said EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox. “Cyberattacks have the potential to contaminate drinking water.”

This expectation is outlined in a memo that interprets sanitary survey requirements, accompanied by a detailed guidance document aimed at state programs and technical assistance providers. It was released as part of the Biden administration's updated National Cybersecurity Strategy. 

U.S. EPA offers resources that can help water systems understand and address cyber vulnerabilities including this video on basic cybersecurity concepts that can be used by water systems as a part of an annual cybersecurity training program. Our database on WaterOperator.org also has resources on this topic, including this 56-page guide from WaterISAC on cybersecurity best practices to reduce exploitable weaknesses and attacks.

RCAP’s Free Monthly Articles for Water and Wastewater Operators

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

• Small South Dakota City Leverages Funds to Complete Expensive Sewer System Upgrade 
• Cross Connection Control – A Holistic Approach
• Are Your Utilities Prepared for the Upcoming Winter?
• Water Utility Digital Transformation
• Ohio Site Visit Shows Wastewater Potential of Sand Bioreactors
• Understanding Onsite and Decentralized Wastewater in America

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

The State of California Drinking Water

California has long been an epicenter of water issues, but the current megadrought and chronic infrastructure underfunding has brought the crisis to a head. According to a recently published study, California's water systems are beginning to fail across the state. Medium and small-sized public water systems are especially vulnerable.

The report claims to be the first comprehensive analysis of how safe water is provided in California. The study sampled 2,779 public water systems and nearly half proved to be at some risk of failing to provide safe drinking water. Roughly one-third of state small water systems sampled in the study were found to potentially contain contaminants like nitrate and arsenic. 

The greatest takeaway from the findings was that more funding is needed and that investments should prioritize the most at-risk and underserved communities. However, in the short term, bottled water or home filtration systems could be provided to communities that need drinking water immediately, according to the report. Long-term solutions to these problems include enhancing water treatment, consolidating small and underperforming water systems, and recruiting experts that can advise communities on how to improve their systems.

Maintaining Customer Satisfaction

Maintaining customer satisfaction can go overlooked when operators are busy tending to the daily needs of their facility, however good customer relationships are an important component to any well run utility. Community trust improves cooperation under emergencies and helps customers to do their part in caring for their system. When changes to the utility are made such as a new infrastructure project or a long awaited rate adjustments, customers will more easily hop on board. Not to mention, an unhappy customer can lead to unnecessary public relations (PR) challenges.

In Hartsville, South Carolina one business owner watched for a month as a sinkhole slowly took over her car lot. The owner first called her Water and Sewer Authority in September reaching out about her growing concerns. She made five additional calls into October until finally contacting her local news channel for help. Swiftly after the news channel reached out to the Authority, workers were sent to fix the sinkhole.

In Darlington, South Carolina a pair of homeowners brought their sewer system into the public eye under equally pressing conditions. The city received unprecedented rainstorms in October leading to excess stormwater runoff. Under these conditions, many homeowners experienced sewage backups. Despite the city's ongoing efforts to manage overflows, the backups brought the system into an unwanted spot light. A Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Plan can help for incidents such as these.

While we can do our best to avoid these incidents, accidents happen. When they do, good communication and listening skills can make a difficult situation much easier. How to Keep Customers Happy in Solution H2O encourages utilities to establish a good public presence prior to these events. When services are disrupted, the article encourages utility leaders to step forward and reassure customers that their complaints are being addressed. We also recommend the supervisor follow up with impacted customers after the issue has been resolved. Many of the negative articles we see published in local news can be avoided by following the tips suggested in the American Water Works Association's publication Trending in an Instant. 

Florida Security Incident Highlights Need for Cybersecurity Precautions

Oldsmar, Florida made national headlines after experiencing a remote breach of their chemical control system earlier this year.

The hacker, whose identity and intent has not yet been identified, increased the sodium hydroxide feed by more than 100-fold, but the change was quickly overridden by the operator who saw the breach occur. The operator then disabled remote access and contacted local authorities.

This technical brief from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (shared via Michigan WEA) provides an in-depth overview of incident as well as potential broader impacts, including attacks inspired by the methods used in Oldsmar.

This is just the most recent example of hackers exploiting utility cybersecurity vulnerabilities and undoubtedly you may be wondering if your system is doing enough to prevent this type of intrusion or has the safeguards in place to respond in the event of a breach.

The U.S. EPA released a new Cybersecurity Best Practices page and we recommend the Cybersecurity Incident Action Checklist as the best place to begin your own self-assessment.

Featured Video: Infusing Innovation into the DNA of Our Culture

There are many factors that drive the current utility model for wastewater operations. With traditional values in play, we have reached difficult economic and operational challenges. In order to address these challenges, we must adapt a new mindset and new utility model to push affordability for water customers, better equipment management, and increased compliancy.

Adapting a more innovative approach and mindset:
Our current utility practices suggest that our societal and business values coincide with "extraction, use, and waste disposal". This creates a motivation that is, at bare minimum, driven by public engagement, capital investment, and operations & maintenance. As a result our current water resources are being utilized inefficiently and ultimately running low. We must instead adapt a Resource Recovery business model for a circular economy. Focus must be shifted from regulatory compliance, utility impact, and traditional utility models to pivot toward ecological uplift, collective impact, and a transformative entrepreneurial business model. This new business model should include focus on resource recovery and watershed health as well as pump, plant, and pipe health.

The start of a new, innovative, and effective approach might be slow but can grow exponentially. Water organizations must start with efficiency and work their way to optimization, which will lead into investments for bigger ideas and new intellectual property such as smart meters, efficient pumps, proper monitoring equipment, better facilities, and so forth. Collective cooperation and corresponding mindsets will keep the industry on the same track with the addition of new water personnel and management turnover.

In this week’s featured video by the Water Research Foundation, Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, Deputy General Manager at Clean Water Services, presents a case study for how her organization is improving utility functionality through a culture of innovation.