Archive | December, 2015

December 2015 Digest

December 31, 2015

Comments Off on December 2015 Digest

Featured Other News Operations Challenge Goes Global German competition motivates and trains operators  During WEFTEC® 2015, 44 teams tested their skills during the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Operations Challenge competition. Two of these teams traveled from Germany to compete. The teams’ journey to WEFTEC 2015 began after water sector leaders from Germany were […]

Continue reading...

In Memoriam – Terry Regan, Founding Member of ABC and Proponent of Operators and Engineers

December 30, 2015

Comments Off on In Memoriam – Terry Regan, Founding Member of ABC and Proponent of Operators and Engineers

Terry Regan Featured

Terry M. Regan, founder of T.M. Regan Inc. (Lexington, Ky.) and a member of both the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) and Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association (WEA) since 1963, died Oct. 1 at the age of 80. Regan, a WEF life member, served as president of the Kentucky-Tennessee WEA in 1971. He received numerous […]

Continue reading...

WEFTEC 2015 Service Project Exceeds Size and Scope of Projects Past

December 29, 2015

Comments Off on WEFTEC 2015 Service Project Exceeds Size and Scope of Projects Past

2015 Service Project Plants

When the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Students and Young Professionals committee (SYPC) planned the first WEFTEC® service project in 2008, no one predicted the ripple effect these projects would have on their surrounding communities. Each year the annual event has grown in number of volunteers, physical size of the project, or amount of […]

Continue reading...

WEF Joins Water Associations in Advocating for WIFIA Fix in Highway Bill

December 28, 2015

Comments Off on WEF Joins Water Associations in Advocating for WIFIA Fix in Highway Bill

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) and other water associations are advocating for a change in a federal surface transportation reauthorization bill. The change would remove a funding restriction in the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. A 2014 law forbids using tax-exempt financing as part of water infrastructure projects that use […]

Continue reading...

WERF Receives Self-Sustaining Funding

December 25, 2015

Comments Off on WERF Receives Self-Sustaining Funding

On Sept. 29, the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF; Alexandria, Va.), Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD; Virginia Beach, Va.), and DC Water (Washington, D.C.) entered into an agreement that will provide self-sustaining funding for WERF research. The restricted fund, known as the WERF Research Fund, will be built from revenue generated from licensing a novel […]

Continue reading...

WEF Committee Releases Infiltration and Inflow Fact Sheet

December 24, 2015

Comments Off on WEF Committee Releases Infiltration and Inflow Fact Sheet

Private Property Infiltration and Inflow Fact Sheet

In September, the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Collection Systems Committee released a fact sheet on reducing private property infiltration and inflow (PPII). Infiltration and inflow of stormwater and groundwater into sanitary sewers can overwhelm the sewers’ capacity and cause overflows. Sewer laterals, which connect buildings on private property to sewer mains, can be […]

Continue reading...

DOE, NSF, and U.S. EPA Seek Transformation to Water Resource Recovery Facility

December 23, 2015

Comments Off on DOE, NSF, and U.S. EPA Seek Transformation to Water Resource Recovery Facility

This graphic from the Energy-Positive Water Resource Recovery Workshop Report shows how energy efficient operations at water resource recovery facilities can produce water and other products. Photo courtesy of the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015.

A Nov. 3 report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes a change in terminology that was first publicly championed by the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.). It uses the term water resource recovery facility (WRRF) instead of wastewater treatment plant “at the behest of the water treatment community to reflect a shift […]

Continue reading...

Operations Challenge Goes Global

December 23, 2015

Comments Off on Operations Challenge Goes Global

The two German teams celebrate receiving Operations Challenge spirit awards. Team Düsseldorf won the awards for Team Congeniality and Best Fan Support and the All Star Team won the spirit award for Team with Best Effort. Photo courtesy of Oscar & Associates.

German competition motivates and trains operators   During WEFTEC® 2015, 44 teams tested their skills during the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Operations Challenge competition. Two of these teams traveled from Germany to compete. The teams’ journey to WEFTEC 2015 began after water sector leaders from Germany were inspired to develop their own Operations […]

Continue reading...