From June 6-7th in Lynwood, Washington, operators from across Western Washington gathered for the annual short school and training. Each day, concurrent sessions were held each day for water and wastewater operators, engineers and managers covering treatment, maintenance, pumps, distribution & conveyance, odor control, sampling, energy conservation, I&C, water chemistry and more. We hope you enjoy this quantitative assessment of the conference, below! 

Registration for the 2017 PNCWA Annual Conference is now open! This year, the conference will be October 22–25 at the Hilton Vancouver in Vancouver, WA.

We’re already excited about this year’s conference, which has a great lineup of sessions, an awards banquet and—special to this year—an innovative technology track. You can view the entire session schedule here.

Every year, high school science students from around the country compete in WEF’s Stockholm Junior Water Prize, which aims to increase students’ interest in water-related issues and research and to raise awareness about global water challenges. The winners from around the country go on to compete in the national competition, which this year is June 16-17 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Students create projects aimed at improving of water quality, water resources management, water protection, and drinking water and wastewater treatment. PNCWA is thrilled to announce the regional winners: Bryan To (Oregon), Apoorv Khandelwal (Washington) and Ari Carter (Idaho).

Back by popular demand, the PNCWA Member Services Committee is creating a calendar for 2019 which we will distribute at the PNCWA Annual Conference this fall. 

• The types of photos we are looking for include PNW water professionals in the office or in the field, PNW water professionals participating in water-related community programs, wastewater facilities, pump/lift stations, stormwater infrastructure, collection systems, etc. Be creative, be silly, be yourself. This calendar is intended to be a celebration of our industry and the work we all do as professionals protecting our most important resource: water! 
• The photo must show water quality infrastructure and/or people from the Pacific Northwest. 
• Also, the photo must be owned with no copyrights attached or where permission can be granted to PNCWA.

• The photo must be digital and a printable quality of at least 300 dpi.

The Northern Idaho Section (NIOS) of PNCWA is gearing up to host the annual Idaho Operators Conference. Operators from all over the state—from Twin Falls up to Bonner’s Ferry (and even some from Eastern Washington)—will be arriving in Moscow, Idaho, on May 21st for three days of classes and activities. 

Calling all future mentors and protégés! PNCWA's mentoring program, which encourages members to connect with and learn from one another, wants you to join! PNCWA provides a mentoring guide and matches mentors and protégés based on shared interests, profession, and region. The program gives mentors an opportunity to pass on their wealth of knowledge and experience to help protégés develop professional skills and goals. 

The survey for the 2017 mentoring program survey closes May 1, 2017. We will begin pairing soon thereafter. After mentors and protégés are matched, they will confirm the selection, commit to their partnership, and then the mentoring can begin! Teams are encouraged to meet for at least an hour every other month. It is up to the mentor and protégé to determine what they would like to talk about and what they would like to develop (e.g., list of goals, career map). Mentor/protégé teams are encouraged to meet up at the 2017 PNCWA Annual Conference in October.

WEF, the Water Environment Federation, is seeking nominees for the following positions: WEF Vice President, WEF Treasurer, WEF Board of Trustees (two positions).

Here's what WEF says: 

WEF’s mission is to connect water professionals, enrich the expertise of water professionals, increase the awareness of the impact and value of water, and provide a platform for water sector innovation.  This mission is executed through the dedication and active involvement of WEF members. 

 

We encourage you to join WEF leadership in advancing our mission and vision by nominating WEF members who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the water environment profession, for WEF leadership positions.  WEF’s visibility in the global water sector continues to grow as do our contributions to advancing the profession and providing exceptional services to our diverse membership.   

 

To successfully continue on our path, WEF requires the leadership of dedicated and exceptional volunteers who are committed to moving our goals forward, consistent with our Strategic Plan! 

The Eastern Oregon Operators Section of PNCWA and the Eastern Oregon Subsection of AWWA held their annual Operators Conference in Pendleton April 3–5, 2017. This annual conference is in its 35th year and still going strong. There were 122 attendees, 36 vendors, 47 speakers and 65 different topics/classes in four tracks over the three days.

Join us at the May 11 Public Communications Camp: Tools to Engage, Motivate, and Reassure Your Community to gain valuable outreach and communication skills. Whether you are a project manager, engineer, treatment plant operator or public outreach professional, these easy-to-adopt tips will build trust and credibility with stakeholders to meet your organization’s goals.

1. You can gain tried and true outreach skills from your industry peers.
We’ve assembled a great team of communications professionals who have been in your shoes and know what they’re doing. We’ve got more than 25 years’ worth of tried-and-true outreach campaign planning and execution in the water, wastewater and environmental fields. Our experts range from  public and private sector marketing and community relations managers to digital media and school-education programming experts. They’ll show you how to connect with your core audience, evaluate your efforts and sustain momentum no matter the size is of your budget.

Thanks to a very generous offering and donation from UBOS (Umpqua Basin Operators Section), the PNCWA scholarship program has recently added two new funds that will award scholarships to applicants interested in the field of operations. PNCWA’s main scholarship fund, in existence since 2010, has always been open to applicants interested in pursuing studies in both the engineering and operations fields (and will continue to be), but the two newly established funds will accept only applications from candidates involved in studies related to operations. Scholarships are now open and applications are due June 23, 2017. Read more at our "Scholarships" page. 

The two new funds are:

On March 21, 2017, PNCWA Government Affairs committee members Bob Baumgartner, John Beacham, Mike Ollivant flew into Washington, D.C. for the annual WaterWeek Fly-In, where water representatives from all over the country gather to talk water infrastructure and funding. In “WaterWeek Part 1: PNCWA Members Report on National Policy,” we reported on national policy discussed.

Next, John, Bob, and Mike split up to meet with representatives from each of our states—Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  Our message was threefold:

The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Envision rating system as been around for about five years and is gaining traction as the premier sustainability rating system for the wastewater industry. ISI was founded by the American Public Works Association (APWA), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and operates under their oversight. ISI collaborated with the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design to develop Envision. 

Envision is a rating system for sustainable infrastructure. It measures a project’s impact on the surrounding community and environment plus technical considerations regarding materials and processes while providing a framework for discussing sustainability decisions with project stakeholders and community.  Not only is it a planning and design tool, it also is a means of evaluating completed infrastructure projects. 

On March 21, 2017, Bob Baumgartner, John Beacham, Mike Ollivant of the PNCWA Government Affairs committee flew into Washington, D.C. for the annual WaterWeek Fly-In, where water representatives from all over the country gather to talk water infrastructure and funding.

This year felt different than most. Capitol Hill was abuzz with the American Health Care Act in the House and the confirmation hearings for Judge Gorsuch as a Supreme Court Justice. Closely behind was the release of the president’s “skinny” budget— a proposed budget consisting of top-level line items for federal programs but without specific details. Of interest to PNCWA was a proposed 31% cut to the EPA budget, which did not include any cut to SRF funding, and the removal of the line item for USDA Rural Development funding, which is often used to finance infrastructure projects for smaller municipalities.

The PNCWA Odor & Air Quality committee is presenting a two-hour webinar on May 3rd, 2017 on several topics. The webinar is no-cost to PNCWA members. Scroll down for a complete webinar schedule. Click here to register for the webinar today! .2 CEU's requested. 

The webinar will cover three areas:

This year’s national Residual and Biosolids Conference is taking place in Seattle, Washington, from April 8-11. Many members from the PNCWA Residuals & Biosolids Committee are attending and involved as conference organizers, presenters, and moderators.

“The committee is taking advantage of this opportunity to participate more than we could at a more distant conference,” says Susan Hildreth, PNCWA Residuals & Biosolids Committee Chair. “We’re having an unusually good turnout at a national conference because it’s local.” PNCWA is also cohosting a Friends of Biosolids Reception at the Museum of Pop Culture (pictured left) on opening night of the conference—and tickets are still available! 

Water Sector Unites to Elevate Water as a National Priority; PNCWA  Government Affairs Committee members participate in Congressional meetings.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of approximately $1 billion in credit assistance for water infrastructure projects under the new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.

EPA’s WIFIA program will provide long-term, low-cost credit assistance in the form of direct loans and loan guarantees to creditworthy water projects. WIFIA provides another option for financing large infrastructure projects – generally at least $20 million – in addition to the State Revolving Funds and bond market. WIFIA is available to state, local, and tribal governments; private entities; partnerships; and State Revolving Fund programs. EPA estimates that funds appropriated to the WIFIA program can be leveraged at a ratio greater than 50 to one, which means the $17 million program budget could allow EPA to make approximately $1 billion in loans and stimulate about $2 billion in total infrastructure investment.

Struvite recovery webinar presentations are now available!

• Case Studies—Struvite Recovery for Phosphorus Removal and Recovery at Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Struvite Recovery at Durham and Rock Creek Wastewater Treatment Facilities (WWTF), OR  (PDF) by Peter Schauer, Clean Water Services, OR.  The presentation will discuss the history of the first struvite recovery facility in United States that was opened at the Durham WWTF in 2009, and the struvite recovery facility that opened in 2012 at the Rock Creek WWTF. Updates on the recent operations will be provided.
• Struvite Recovery at West Boise WWTF, ID (PDF) by William Benko and Ron Gearhart, City of Boise, ID The presentation will highlight the latest operational requirements and optimization of the struvite production facility and the impacts from the 2015 startup of the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) improvements constructed at the West Boise WWTF, as well as from Launder Street WWTF’s 2015 conversion from a chemical phosphorus removal plant to an EBPR plant.
• Recording of complete webinar (PNCWA YouTube Channel)

#MyWaterLegacy (from the Coeur d'Alene Press)

After 30 years with the city of Coeur d’Alene, Wastewater Superintendent Sid Fredrickson will retire at the end of 2016. The city will host a public open house in honor of Fredrickson from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at the city of Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room, 702 E. Front Ave. Fredrickson joined the city in November 1986 as the street department superintendent and began his tenure with the city's Wastewater Department in 1991.

WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched its fifth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge, a competition for college and university students to design innovative solutions for our nation’s water infrastructure. Using their campuses as labs, teams develop green infrastructure systems to reduce stormwater pollution and build resilience to climate change. Since 2012, more than 420 student teams have participated in the challenge.