Words On Water

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Words On Water #173: A Scholarship for Operators Jan 21, 2021

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January 21, 2021

Jaime Eichenberger is the President-elect of the Water Environment Federation and an Associate Vice President at HDR and Sarah Reeves is vice-chair of the WEF scholarship subcommittee and a Vice President at Brown and Caldwell. In this episode Jaime and Sarah discuss WEF’s new scholarships for water and wastewater operators pursuing education, and training and for individuals pursuing certification to enter the water sector. The scholarship will reimburse expenses up to $5,000 and is available to individuals seeking an entry level operator’s license or licensed operators seeking professional development in municipal and industrial treatment, reuse, collection and distribution, and stormwater. The scholarship application deadline is April 1. For more information and to apply, click here.

Words On Water #172: Students Designing For the Real World Jan 11, 2021

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January 11, 2021

WEF’s Student Design Competition promotes real-world experience for students interested in pursuing an education and/or career in water/wastewater engineering and sciences. Individuals or teams of students are challenged to prepare a design to help solve a local water quality issue. Teams evaluate alternatives, perform calculations, and recommend the most practical solution based on experience, economics, and feasibility. This episode features conversations with Student Design Competition judges Bernadette Drouhard and Elias Katsoulas, as well as discussion with students from the winning teams from the University of Guelph and Colorado School of Mines. The University of Guelph team won the Environmental Design category with their project titled Innovative Stormwater Management in the City of Richmond Hill, Mill Pond. The Colorado School of Mines team won the Wastewater Design category with their project titled Nutrient Optimization for Municipal Wastewater Utilities in Colorado.

Episode #172
Hosted by Travis Loop

Words On Water #171: Impact of Coronavirus Relief Package on Water Sector Jan 05, 2021

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January 5, 2020

Steve Dye is Legislative Affairs Director for the Water Environment Federation and Jason Myers is a Partner with Barnes & Thornburg. In this episode Steve discusses how the recent coronavirus relief package passed by Congress impacts the water sector, including the $638 million it provides for a new program that will help low-income families cover the costs of their drinking water and wastewater utility bills, as well as $25 billion in rental assistance that can also be used to help offset utility payments. Jason talks about $275 billion for another round of Paycheck Protection Program funding and the extension of the deadline for using funding from the CARES Act. Steve also reviews the FY21 Omnibus Appropriations package that includes a myriad of key funding provisions for the Clean Water SRF, Drinking Water SRF, WIFIA, and stormwater and workforce programs.

Episode #171
Hosted by Travis Loop

Words On Water #170: How PFAS Can Raise Costs for Biosolids Programs Dec 14, 2020

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December 14, 2020

Janine Burke-Wells is Executive Director of the North East Biosolids & Residuals Association, Eric Spargimino is an Environmental Engineer and Project Manager at CDM Smith, and Chris Wilson is Chief of Processing Engineering and Research at Hampton Roads Sanitation District. In this episode they discuss how state limits on PFAS can impact biosolids programs and that a recent report found management costs for facilities increased by about 37 percent in response to regulations. Janine, Eric, and Chris also talk about case studies from the report, helpful technologies for PFAS treatment, and productive regulatory approaches by states.

Episode #170
Hosted by Travis Loop

Words On Water #169: Lynn Broaddus on Her Perspective and Priorities as WEF President Nov 16, 2020

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November 16, 2020

Lynn Broaddus is the new President of the Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation and the President of Broadview Collaborative. In this episode Lynn discusses her background in water, which includes experience as the Executive Director of Milwaukee Riverkeeper and as Director of the Environment Program at the Johnson Foundation, and how it led her to WEF. She talks about how WEF has responded to the challenges to operations and the water sector overall brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Lynn also shares her thoughts on WEF priorities for the coming year, including diversity, workforce, and its global role.

Episode #169
Hosted by Travis Loop

Words On Water #168: The InFLOW Experience Nov 10, 2020

Show notes

November 10, 2020

Moriah Brown, Nadine Robertson, and Kayson Smith-Bejgrowicz are participants in the Water Environment Federation’s InFLOW program, which stands for Introducing Future Leaders to Opportunities in Water and identifies promising students from underrepresented minority groups who are interested in professional careers in the water industry and provides them scholarships to attend WEFTEC. In this episode they discuss how little they knew about water careers before InFLOW and how it was encouraging to interact with water leaders that reflected diversity. They also explain how InFLOW changed their perceptions of the water sector and led them toward water careers, with Nadine now working as an operator in New Orleans and Kayson as an engineer in Honolulu.

This episode is part of a series of conversations on the Words On Water podcast about equity and the water sector. It is co-hosted by Travis Loop and Rahkia Nance.

WOW: Take It From The Top Series With… Claus Homann Oct 20, 2020

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October 20, 2020

Claus Homann is Chief Operating Officer for Aarhus Vand in Denmark and a past member of the Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation. In this episode Claus talks about the central place of water in the city of Aarhus and how that has resulted in clean water, a higher quality of life, and economic benefits. He explains how his water utility has shifted to activity based working, an approach that provides a variety of different physical work spaces that align with the type of work. Claus also discusses how he envisions the workplace will change post-pandemic, including continuation of flexible work schedules and locations and use of technology to bring people together.

WOW: Take It From The Top
Hosted by Tom Kunetz

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