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. July 2, 2024 By Katelyn McLaughlin Asset Management, Capacity Development, Emergency Response, Financial Management, Operations and Maintenance, Small System O&M, Utility Management, Workforce communication, community development, emergency response, infrastructure, workforce 0 0 Comment Read More »
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. January 12, 2024 By Katelyn McLaughlin Asset Management, Financial Management, Small System O&M, Utility Management economic development, infrastructure, rcap, resources, rural america, technical assistance, wastewater treatment, water utility 0 0 Comment Read More »
Resources and Tools to Help Secure Your Utility's Infrastructure Infrastructure Security Month is held annually in November to promote the vital role of critical infrastructure and to remind us why it is important to strengthen the security and resilience of America's critical infrastructure. Below are some useful resources and tools to help your utility secure your infrastructure and increase resilience to natural disasters and malevolent acts that threaten the water sector. Water Contaminant Information Tool (WCIT) WCIT is a secure database containing information on priority contaminants of concern for drinking water and wastewater systems to help systems prepare for, respond to, and recover from contamination incidents. Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) CRWU initiative assists drinking water and wastewater utilities in building resilience to climate impacts. Resilient Strategies Guide for Water Utilities The Resilient Strategies Guide introduces drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities to the adaptation planning process. Utilities can use the Guide to identify their planning priorities, vulnerable assets, potential adaptation strategies and available funding sources. Incident Action Checklists for Water Utilities These 12 checklist templates help with emergency preparedness, response and recovery activities. Incidents include wildfires, flooding, power outages, cybersecurity, and more. Federal Funding for Water and Wastewater Utilities in National Disasters (Fed FUNDS) Fed FUNDS provides information tailored to water and wastewater utilities on federal disaster and mitigation funding programs from FEMA, USDA, EPA, HUD, SBA, and USBR. October 27, 2023 By Katelyn McLaughlin Security infrastructure, security, water security 0 0 Comment Read More »
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. August 15, 2023 By Katelyn McLaughlin Asset Management, Operations and Maintenance, Utility Management economic development, infrastructure, rcap, resources, rural america, technical assistance, wastewater treatment, water utitlity 0 0 Comment Read More »
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. February 20, 2023 By Katelyn McLaughlin Asset Management, Operations and Maintenance, Utility Management economic development, infrastructure, rcap, resource, rural america, technical assistance, wastewater treatment, water utility 0 0 Comment Read More »
Hiring an Engineer for Your Infrastructure Project Water and wastewater systems can be some of a community's largest investments, so it is really important to get it right—decisions made in the early stages of infrastructure planning can impact a community for generations to come. Community leaders are often tempted to let an outside consultant completely handle the project because they are worried they don't have the expertise to make the right decisions. However, it is important to stay actively involved so that the community’s voice is not lost and the project is appropriate, affordable, and supported by the public. Certainly one of the most critical early-stage decisions in this process is who to hire as your engineer, the person who will be involved in nearly every aspect of the project from evaluating financing options, completing designs, obtaining permits, bidding the project, and the actual construction. And make no mistake, this hiring process can be a challenging task. Luckily, WaterOperator.org has a collection of resources to help you through. For example, this RCAP guide explains the steps that communities can take to gain control of the project-development process. It is a very detailed how-to and includes many pitfalls to avoid. It discusses securing funding, how to stay organized, and, how to hire an engineer. RCAP recommends following a QBS (qualification-based selection) process in order to choose an engineer whose strengths, experience and skills match your system's needs. For more information regarding the QBS process, you can read this manual from Ohio Qualification Based Selection Coalition (while some of the information may be specific to Ohio, much of the process is similar regardless of the state). In addition, RCAP has a handy list of 10 tips to help communities hire an engineer. Other helpful resources in our library include Washington State DOH's guide for small public water systems on how to hire an engineer. Included in this guide are considerations regarding how to determine costs of services provided. Idaho's DEQ also has an engineer hiring guide that includes questions to ask during the interview. And this MAP guide emphasizes the importance of having a survey or analysis of the condition of your present system, as well as the problems a new project will address. This "Scope of Work", according to MAP, is perhaps the most important part of your Request for Proposals when searching for an engineer. A final, but valuable, piece of advice, repeated throughout these resources, is that selection should be based on demonstrated competence and qualifications and not on price for services rendered. In this way, you can ensure that the project will be a valued community asset for years to come. August 28, 2018 By Brenda Koenig Asset Management, Capacity Development asset management, capital improvement, construction, construction projects, engineering, featured document, financial management, hiring an engineer, infrastructure 0 0 Comment Read More »
Featured Videos: Invisible Heroes, Minnesota's Drinking Water Providers This week's featured videos are part of a new series produced by the Minnesota Department of Health showcasing the "invisible heroes" of Minnesota's drinking water supply. In these 3-minute videos, small town water system heroes face and overcome a variety of challenges including contamination, source water shortages and aging infrastructure in order to provide safe, reliable water for their communities. Three of the videos feature small or very small water systems and the innovative strategies and partnerships they have developed to overcome their challenges. The first video looks at how the tiny community of St. Martin (pop. 350) has become the first town in the state with a biologically active treatment plant in order to effectively respond to high levels of iron and ammonia in their water. The next video explains the unique wellhead protection program developed by the City of Worthington, MN (pop. 13,000). In order to protect the City's drinking water wells from contamination, the city, along with partner Pheasants Forever, created the Worthington Wells Wildlife Management Area. And finally, here is a video about how the small city of Fairmont, MN (pop. 10,000) sprang into action when faced with increasing nitrate levels. What do all three of these smaller systems have in common? They worked collaboratively with the Minnesota Department of Health to ensure their strategies would meet with success! February 23, 2018 By Brenda Koenig Small System O&M, Water Treatment compliance, contamination, infrastructure, iron, monitoring, nitrates, regulations, sdwa, small system o & m, source water protection, water treatment, wellhead protection 0 0 Comment Read More »
WaterOperator.org Staff Interviews Illinois Small Systems This past year, WaterOperator.org program director Steve Wilson and his staff were out and about in rural Illinois talking to water and wastewater operators about their struggles as well as their strategies. The interviews were part of a ISAWWA Small Systems Committee (SCC) initiative to bring to light the significant challenges encountered by small systems across the state. The results of these interviews were published as a series of eight articles entitled "Putting the Focus on Small Systems" in the Fall 2017 edition of ISAWWA's Splash magazine. Each article describes the unique challenges encountered by a specific system. In the small town of Monticello, for instance, water works manager Scott Bailey (shown above with WaterOperator staff member Alison Meanor) describes how he manages an aging distribution system while tackling arsenic compliance issues. And in the small communities of Beason and Chestnut, Chair of the Water District Board Mark Carlin shares how the board proactively reached out to RCAP staff for help with funding much-needed infrastructure improvements. Many thanks to the operators, board members, technical assistance providers and government officials who agreed to meet with us and talk about their systems! February 12, 2018 By Brenda Koenig Asset Management, Capacity Development, Distribution, Funding, Regulations, Small System O&M, WaterOperator.org arsenic, capacity development, compliance, funding, infrastructure, regulations, rural systems, small system o & m, Small systems, standards 0 0 Comment Read More »
Pipe Wars Did you know there's a battle going on under our feet? A recent New York Times article unearths the lobbying war between two powerful industries, plastic and iron, over the estimated $300 billion that local governments will spend on water and sewer pipes over the next decade. To be sure, pipe material selection can be a complex process. Piping material choices can be influenced by a whole host of factors such as geography, soil characteristics, flow capacity needed, system pressures and more. Some utilities use a single type of piping, while others may use a wide variety depending on specific sites and needs. Moreover, municipal and utility leaders must then navigate through budget constraints and marketing hype as manufacturers fight for a piece of the infrastructure pie. It is no wonder that operators may need more information before making piping decisions. This webinar video from the Water Research Foundation about the State of the Science of Plastic Pipe provides case studies of how different utilities choose piping materials. The researchers involved in this report found that one of the most important considerations when choosing piping material is overall life cycle cost. Don't forget that there may be unique considerations to include in the decision-making process. For example, last month Bruce Macler from USEPA Region 9 wrote to us to let us know that "an interesting outcome of the recent California wildfires was that plastic water & sewer lines melted in some areas." Who would have thought? Interested in a no-nonsense listing of pros and cons of available piping materials? Check out this article. January 1, 2018 By Brenda Koenig Asset Management, Capacity Development, Small System O&M asset management, distribution, distribution o & m, distribution operation & maintenance, distribution operation and maintenance, distribution systems, financial management, infrastructure, pipe replacement, pipes, piping, piping materials, service mains, water mains 0 0 Comment Read More »
Raise your profile with AWWA’s Drinking Water Week This week marks the American Water Works Association’s drinking water awareness week, and they are offering a suite of free materials for water operators and utilities to raise you profile in your local communities. “This year’s Drinking Water Week will motivate water consumers to be actively aware of how they personally connect with water,” said AWWA Chief Executive Officer David LaFrance. “We should all know how to find and fix leaks, care for our home’s pipes and support our utility’s investment in water infrastructure.” The materials – which include artwork, public service announcements, press and social media posts and more – provide an introduction four key steps AWWA is highlighting for water users this year: Drinking Water Week Introduction – AWWA encourages getting to know and love tap water. Get the Lead Out – Replace lead-based water pipes and plumbing. Check and Fix Leaks – Conserve water by checking and fixing leaks inside and outside the home. Caring For Pipes – Stop clogs before they happen by learning more about what can and can’t be flushed. Water Infrastructure Investment – Protect your water supply by advocating for investment in the repair and replacement of infrastructure. Help celebrate the rest of Drinking Water Week, and bookmark their materials for the next time your program wants to promote these issues. May 10, 2017 By User Public Education education, leaks , media, outreach, infrastructure, lead, pipes 0 0 Comment Read More »