State Drinking water programs are encouraged to attend this free ASDWA webinar that will share the findings of a recent study on “National Trends in Drinking Water Violations” and explore research priorities that might help with the development of new regulations and reduce violations in the future.
Webinar Presentations:
Alan Roberson, ASDWA’s Executive Director, will summarize some of his past drinking water policy research when working at the American Water Works Association and will pose some water policy research questions that might help with the development of new regulations and/or reduce violations.
Dr. Maura Allaire, with the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California at Irvine, will summarize her recent study on “National Trends in Drinking Water Violations” that evaluates spatial and temporal patterns in health-related violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act using a panel dataset of 17,900 community water systems over the period 1982–2015. The paper identifies vulnerability factors, increasing time trends, and violation hot spots, which can allow for public policies that target underperforming water systems and strategies for improving national drinking water quality.
This practical conference is a must for everyone with an interest in controlling risks from exposures to Legionella in water plumbing, cooling towers and pools and spas.
Many microorganisms regrow post drinking water treatment and colonize distribution, plumbing and cooling water systems. Among these are: Mycobacterium avium, Legionella pneumophila and non pneumophila strains, and Acanthamoeba polyphaga. They colonize biofilms where they can proliferate by being protected from disinfectant residuals. Legionella pneumophila, in particular, is a significant public health concern. Many disease outbreaks involving thousands of cases of Legionella-associated respiratory disease and at least hundreds of deaths have been reported in the U.S. and Europe since the first identified legionellosis outbreak in Philadelphia in 1976. Legionellosis became a CDC reportable disease in the U.S. in 2001. The most recent Centers for Disease Control Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR, Aug 14, 2015) for 2013-2014 demonstrates that water-related legionellosis is the most significant waterborne disease in the USA and probably also in all developed countries. The MMWR listed 431 cases of 10 microbial diseases. Twenty-one of the 32 reported outbreaks were caused by legionella resulting in 111 cases and 14 deaths, and it was the only cause of deaths among the reported waterborne outbreaks. Since the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act regulations in about 1980, there has been a general decline in reported traditional waterborne disease outbreaks, but an increase of those associated with water distribution rather than source water treatment.
Periodic reports of Legionella disease outbreaks associated with hospitals and cooling systems attract national publicity, but it is clear that the impacted community of water suppliers, building facilities, state regulators, health care, and plumbing officials are still lacking adequate information and advice on the physical plumbing water conditions, microbial monitoring and detection, and prevention and mitigation opportunities that can reduce risks to the public. Additional information, the outstanding program, and registration details are available at legionella2018.org
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Center for Environmental Excellence (CEE) and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) are pleased to announce a free webinar entitled, “How State Highway and Drinking Water Programs Can Work Together for Mutual Benefits and Reduce Impacts from Road Salt.” The webinar will include an introduction from AASHTO, a brief presentation about ASDWA’s new handout and web page on the “Intersection of Roads and Drinking Water,” and feature presentations from representatives for each of the state programs in New Hampshire and Maryland, who will share how they work together, along with a few examples and some more specific information on best practices for road salt applications and impacts to drinking water. State drinking water program and state highway program personnel are encouraged to attend, along with anyone else who is interested and would like to participate.
Webinar Presentations
New Hampshire’s Experience and Approaches to Reducing Salt Impacts Upon Drinking Water Resources:Pierce Rigrod, a Supervisor with the Drinking Water & Groundwater Bureau in the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) and Caleb Dobbins, the State Highway Maintenance Engineer for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT), will share how NHDES and NHDOT have been working together to protect drinking water for over 20 years through a mutually agreed upon set of source protection measures that apply to common road construction projects and have coordinated closely on major interstate projects to minimize salt impacts upon nearby community wells and reservoirs. The presentation will discuss the way the two agencies operate and coordinate on winter maintenance activities to minimize salt use and work to prevent salt impacts upon drinking water resources, and will focus on policy, project reviews, equipment, technology and design changes.
Managing Chloride in Maryland’s Surface Waters:Lee Currey, Director of the Water and Science Administration for the Maryland Department of Environment, will present how increasing chloride levels are leading to degraded water quality in Maryland’s drinking water reservoirs, and in its streams and rivers, with the potential to adversely impact drinking water systems and aquatic life. Available information and data show this increase is due to winter road salt application. The state is looking for approaches through its MS4 permits to reduce the usage of road salt and quantify the impacts of these efforts.
Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration Salt Management Best Practices:Russ Yurek, the Director of the Office of Maintenance for the State Highway Administration in the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), will provide an overview of MDOT SHA’s best practices used for winter resource management while balancing public safety and environmental stewardship.
Speaker Biographies
[author name=”” image=”” name_text_color=”#578fbf” background=”#578fbf”][/author] [author name=”Pierce Rigrod” image=”https://www.asdwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/PierceRigrod.png” name_text_color=”#ffffff” background=”#578fbf”]Pierce Rigrod is a supervisor within the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services in Concord, NH. He oversees drinking water source protection programs including the Local Source Water Protection Grants, Chemical Monitoring Waiver Program and the Groundwater Reclassification Program. He provides technical assistance to public water systems and municipalities concerning how to better protect local drinking water resources through land conservation, zoning, and better management of chemical substances that can affect public health and the environment. Pierce holds a master’s degree in regional and urban planning and has worked in NHDES’ Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau for the last 12 years.[/author] [author name=”Caleb Dobbins” image=”https://www.asdwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/calebdobbins.png” name_text_color=”#ffffff” background=”#578fbf”]Caleb Dobbins is the State Highway Maintenance Engineer for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) and has served in that role since 2006. His position has the responsibly for all aspects of the administration of the Bureau of Highway Maintenance, encompassing the Headquarters section based in Concord, NH as well as the operation of the six highway districts located throughout the state. Also included in the headquarters section is the management of over 90 fuel sites statewide, the issuance of all OS/OW travel permits and the salted well contamination section. Caleb is currently a member of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Maintenance, the AASHTO Region 1 Representative to the Snow and Ice Cooperative Program (SICOP) as well serving on several FHWA/NCHRP/TRB research projects and committees. He has also served on the FHWA Clear Roads Winter Maintenance Pooled Fund group from 2009 until 2016. Caleb is a licensed professional engineer and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.[/author] [author name=”Lee Currey” image=”https://www.asdwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/leecurrey.png” name_text_color=”#ffffff” background=”#578fbf”]Lee Currey is the Director of the Water and Science Administration at the Maryland Department of the Environment. He oversees both the States Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act Programs as well as serving as lead staff on the Governor’s Chesapeake Bay Cabinet supporting Chairman Grumbles. Lee’s administration is currently leading priority efforts to advance Chesapeake Bay Restoration, to provide a water quality certification for Conowingo Dam Relicensing, revise the next round of NPDES stormwater permits and test for lead in drinking water in schools, to name a few. Over Lee’s 17 years with the Department he has served in various roles ranging from engineer to director. Prior to MDE Lee worked as an engineer in the private sector. Lee has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on Water Resources and is a registered professional engineer.[/author] [author name=”Russ Yurek” image=”https://www.asdwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/russyurek.png” name_text_color=”#ffffff” background=”#578fbf”]Russ Yurek is in the 40th year of his career with the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration. He began his career as a Highway Maintenance Worker and worked at all the various levels within a maintenance shop, before becoming the Resident Maintenance Engineer for Harford County, the Assistant District Engineer of Maintenance for the Baltimore Metropolitan District, and then the Director of the Office of Maintenance, which he has been for the past 19 years. He previously served as the Chair of the Maintenance Management System Task Force, and Vice-Chair of the Sub-Committee of Maintenance for the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Russ is currently the Maryland delegate for the Sub-Committee of Maintenance within AASHTO and is serving a second stint as the Vice-Chair for the Subcommittee. Russ has had an active role in performance management, and in promoting efficiency within maintenance operations.[/author]
On Wednesday, February 21st from 1:00 to 2:00 pm (eastern), the US Water Alliance will hold the 4th webinar in its Seven Big Ideas series. This webinar is based on Big Idea 4 entitled, “Blend public and private expertise and investment to address water infrastructure needs,” and will provide information about how water utilities can work with private companies on planning, design, project delivery, operations, maintenance, and management for positive outcomes. For more information, view the One Water for America Policy Framework the P3 policy brief. Register for the webinar here.
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) has published the dates and topics for its series of webinars through August 2018 that should be of interest to state drinking water programs and water utilities. Each of the webinars will take place from 1:00 to 2:30 pm (eastern time) based on the following schedule. Please check the individual links for more information and to register.
February 7, 2018 –Leading Business Practices in Asset Management Webinar: This webinar will feature case studies from three utilities covering different elements of asset management (e.g., capital planning, maintenance optimization, risk management).
February 28, 2018 – Addressing Affordability Webinar: This webinar is an introduction to several models and approaches utilities are currently using to assist low-income customers and the tools the utilities are using to effectively reach low-income communities.
March 7, 2018 –Concentrating on the Brine: Membrane Research on Resource Recovery and Emerging Contaminants Webinar: This webinar will offer viewers a wide perspective of the issues and opportunities involved in concentrate management. It will include case studies from government, academia, and industry focused on how membrane technology plays a role in balancing treatment objectives and also waste management.
Apr 4, 2018 – Leverage Private Capital to Protect Source Waters Webinar: This webinar will explain how healthy forests can reduce costs to municipalities, utilities, and water-dependent companies by ensuring clean and abundant water supplies and by reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires and floods. Attendees will learn how source watershed protection efforts can leverage private capital through innovative performance-based tools.
In 2014 – 2015 the Washington State Department of Health conducted the Disinfection Data Integrity Project. The yearlong study investigated disinfection measurement, recording and reporting practices in 33 surface water treatment plants located in the Northwest Region of Washington State. Deficiencies were identified in all 33 treatment facilities that affect the accuracy of the calculated pathogen inactivation achieved by the disinfection processes. Pathogen inactivation level errors of over 100% were identified when more accurate data was used.
Accurately determining chlorine disinfection inactivation levels is complex. Three water quality (WQ) parameters: chlorine residual, pH, and temperature are used along with the time the disinfectant is in contact with water before the first customer (contact time) to determine disinfection efficiency. Contact time is dependent upon three more parameters: the volume of the contact vessel, the baffling efficiency of the contact vessel, and the water flow rate. Each one of these components (three WQ parameters, contact vessel size, efficiency, and flow rate) can and do affect data integrity and impact the accuracy of calculated disinfection inactivation levels used to ensure public health protection.
An average of eight issues that affect data accuracy were found at each utility suggesting that water monitoring data integrity is not robust. This presentation will share study findings and explore ways to improve practices at your utility.
Our Presenters:
Nancy is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience with the Washington State drinking water program, where she coordinates statewide implementation of surface water treatment rules. Three years living among the Mossi people in the Sahel region of West Africa sparked a lifelong interest in safe drinking water. She received her MS degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University and her BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Steve is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience in water and sanitation issues. He works for the Washington State drinking water program and is a consultant for Water 1st International, a non-profit water and sanitation development organization. His experience encompasses a myriad of settings, from the Kurdish refugee camps in Northern Iraq to post-war rehabilitation in Bosnia Herzegovina, and from simple pipe systems in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to development efforts on onsite non-potable water systems for urban buildings in the USA. He received his MS degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington and his BS in civil engineering from Marquette University.
Turbidity measurements are the single most important parameter used to determine that surface water treatment plants are working correctly and that the filters are removing potential pathogenic organisms from the source water. The accuracy of the turbidimeter data generated, recorded and reported to utilities and oversight agencies is affected by a surprising number of factors that include instrument settings, sampling locations, electronic data manipulation, operational practices and human actions. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) conducted a study of turbidity monitoring, recording and reporting practices in 25 rapid sand filter plants located in the Northwest Region of Washington State and found deficiencies in all 25 plants that could or did affect the accuracy of the turbidity data reported to the DOH. For instance, 100% of the surveyed plants had turbidimeters set to incorrectly hold and send the last shown turbidity value to SCADA when communication with the sensor is lost. With this setting treatment plant staff and alarm systems do not know that the sensor is no longer operational.
Our Presenters:
Nancy is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience with the Washington State drinking water program, where she coordinates statewide implementation of surface water treatment rules. Three years living among the Mossi people in the Sahel region of West Africa sparked a lifelong interest in safe drinking water. She received her MS degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University and her BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Steve is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience in water and sanitation issues. He works for the Washington State drinking water program and is a consultant for Water 1st International, a non-profit water and sanitation development organization. His experience encompasses a myriad of settings, from the Kurdish refugee camps in Northern Iraq to post-war rehabilitation in Bosnia Herzegovina, and from simple pipe systems in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to development efforts on onsite non-potable water systems for urban buildings in the USA. He received his MS degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington and his BS in civil engineering from Marquette University.
“Conservation Funding & Drinking Water Utilities: Partnering for Success”
Identifying and securing a source of funding and the right partners is often the biggest challenge to implementing source water protection. This webinar will showcase efforts of drinking water utilities and conservation groups who are partnering with farming operations and landowners to protect their water supplies through the US Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
This webinar was broadcast on Thursday, January 11th, 2018
Moderator Adam Carpenter, Environmental and Policy Manager American Water Works Association (AWWA)
Speakers: Jimmy Bramblett, Deputy Chief of Programs, US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Tariq Baloch, Water Utility Plant Manager, Cedar Rapids, IA
Sandi Formica, Executive Director, Watershed Conservation Resource Center
On Thursday, January 11th, 2018, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm (eastern) the Source Water Collaborative (SWC) will host a webinar as part of its Learning Exchange Webinar Series entitled, “Conservation Grant Funding & Drinking Water Utilities: Partnering for Success.” During the webinar, participants will learn about the efforts of drinking water utilities and conservation groups to partner with farming operations and landowners to protect their water supplies through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The webinar will be moderated by Adam Carpenter of AWWA and speakers will include:
Jimmy Bramblett, Deputy Chief of Programs, USDA NRCS
Tariq Baloch, Water Utility Plant Manager, Cedar Rapids. Iowa
Sandi Formica, Executive Director, Watershed Conservation Resource Center
ASDWA will be hosting a series of three webinars with the State of Washington on Drinking Water Data Integrity in January and February 2018. The webinar speakers are Nancy Feagin and Steve Deem with the Washington Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water. The webinars are free and the first two are open to anyone who is interested and would like to attend. The third webinar will be for states only and ASDWA will send a separate registration link to our members via email. Please see the following dates, times, topics, and descriptions of the webinars, along with the registration links for the first two webinars, along with the speaker biographies.
Webinar Title: Unlocking the Black Box – Exploring Turbidity Data Integrity at Water Treatment Plants
Date: Monday, January 8, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm (eastern)
Description: This webinar will review project findings, recommend instrument settings, and identify best practices to ensure that the turbidity data is correct, and that the filtration plant is providing effective treatment. This information will be based on Washington’s study of turbidity monitoring, recording and reporting practices in 25 rapid sand filter plants located in the Northwest Region of Washington where deficiencies were found in all 25 plants that could or did affect the accuracy of the turbidity data reported to the state.
Webinar Title: Opening Pandora’s Box – Disinfection Data Accuracy for Water Systems
Date: Monday, January, 22, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:30pm (eastern)
Description: This webinar will share study findings and explore ways to improve utility practices. This information will be based on Washington’s Disinfection Data Integrity Project that investigated disinfection measurement, recording and reporting practices in 33 surface water treatment plants located in the Northwest Region of the state.
Webinar Title: Shining the Light on Data Integrity: a State Perspective
Date: Monday, February 5, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm (eastern)
REGISTRATION – will be forthcoming in an email to ASDWA Members
Description: This webinar is for states only and will include a brief recap of findings from the first two webinars and focus on implementation issues from a state regulatory agency perspective. Topics will include lessons learned, dealing with limited resources, follow up activities and potential compliance / public health issues that can arise during a research effort.
Speaker Biographies:
Nancy Feagin is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience with the Washington State drinking water program, where she coordinates statewide implementation of surface water treatment rules. Three years living among the Mossi people in the Sahel region of West Africa sparked a lifelong interest in safe drinking water. She received her MS degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University and her BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Steve Deem is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience in water and sanitation issues. He works for the Washington State drinking water program and is a consultant for Water 1st International, a non-profit water and sanitation development organization. His experience encompasses a myriad of settings, from the Kurdish refugee camps in Northern Iraq to post-war rehabilitation in Bosnia Herzegovina, and from simple pipe systems in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to development efforts on onsite non-potable water systems for urban buildings in the USA. He received his MS degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington and his BS in civil engineering from Marquette University.
Learning Exchange Webinar Series
