WEF Highlights

A hundred miles north of New York City, not far from the origin of the 107-year-old Catskills Aqueduct that supplies 40% of the Big Apple’s water, a new generation of professionals is being trained to protect the region’s coveted water resources. All are students of SUNY Ulster Community College (Stone Ridge, N.Y.). SUNY Ulster launched […]

While known for top-rated university science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs that are educating the next generation of water professionals, the state of Indiana has a problem: convincing graduating students to stay. Half of the 2014-to-2016 bachelor’s-level STEM graduates of Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.), for example, found employment out of state, according to […]

When it rains, it doesn’t always pour — at least not at the City of Columbia (S.C.) Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant. Even after a historic 1,000-year flood in 2015 and the wettest December on record 3 years later, the 227-ML/d (60-mgd) facility remained well within its regulatory limits every day, according to superintendent David Wiman. […]

Faced with the challenge of staffing three new water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD; Virginia Beach, Va.) launched its wastewater apprenticeship program in 1979. HRSD has grown to operate 13 award-winning WRRFs that provide service to 1.7 million residents across 18 cities and counties. Its apprenticeship program has grown in tandem, […]

Blending science with poetry may seem like an odd combination, but it is one of Art Stewart’s favorite activities. The professional limnologist, who studies inland waters, performed ecology and ecotoxicology research at Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory for 17 years. In 2018, he joined the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) after taking a job […]

Florida outreach campaign centers around spoof horror-movie trailer The horrors of fatbergs — those accumulations of grease, baby wipes, paper towels, and other trash that combine to block wastewater pipes — are very real for water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). JEA, a public utility in Jacksonville, Fla., decided to have a little fun bringing these […]

On March 22, four Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) staff members strapped on their helmets and pedaled their way around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to celebrate water resource recovery facility (WRRF) operators. Jessica Rozek, Steve Harrison, Megan Livak, and Brad Lovett celebrated World Water Day by biking to three local WRRFs. The group […]

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) has released its first children’s storybook, Why Water’s Worth It. This highly anticipated book came from the positive response to the public service announcement video that was released last October as part of the WATER’S WORTH IT® campaign relaunch. Similar to the video, this fun and engaging educational […]