Around the Water Cooler
New How-To Guide for Protecting Drinking Water
Across America, undeveloped lands that protect regional and local drinking water supplies are threatened by population growth and sprawling development. A critical tool for protecting the quality of the nation's drinking water is land conservation, according to a new handbook released by the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA).
The Source Protection Handbook: Using Land Conservation to Protect Local Drinking Water Supplies provides local governments, water suppliers and agencies, and community drinking water advocates with the tools to identify source water conservation opportunities, implement funded source water conservation programs, and acquire and protect the lands that will help keep our drinking water clean.
"With all we know about the essential need for a clean and safe drink of water, it is important that our communities protect the sources of that water -- from origin to the tap," said Will Rogers, president of TPL. "The conservation of watershed and recharge lands for our drinking water sources puts American communities in the enviable position of lowering treatment costs and protecting public health, often in addition to conserving a beautiful open space for the community to enjoy."
While modern drinking water treatment can reduce most source water contaminants to acceptable levels before water is delivered to consumers, protecting drinking watersheds and recharge lands is emerging as a critical drinking water protection strategy, in part due to often-high costs of treatment.
"Protecting our precious source waters is critical to maintaining a safe and secure drinking water supply," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of AWWA. "Land conservation can be an important component in a water supplier's plan for resource management."
The handbook provides resources to help a community both make the case for land conservation and also go about actually conserving those lands. How-to sections include:
- Understanding your watershed
- Prioritizing land for protection
- Building strong partnerships
- Designing a comprehensive source protection plan
- Financing the conservation of land
- Protecting priority parcels
- Managing the land
This new publication also provides best practices and case studies from organizations such as TPL and communities across America.
In making the case for protecting drinking water sources, the report summarizes research about drinking water and public health, the costs of not protecting water sources, and the management of watersheds. The research is thoroughly detailed in a companion report released earlier this year, titled Protecting the Source.
Both The Source Protection Handbook and Protecting the Source can be ordered on the Web at www.tpl.org/publications.
Fall 2004 Small Flows Quarterly now available on the Web
Smelling something offensive? It may not be your failing septic system. Better yet, want to learn how to build your own constructed wetland? The fall 2004 edition of Small Flows Quarterly from the National Environmental Services Center (NESC) has all the information you need. It is now available for download on the Web at
www.nesc.wvu.edu/nsfc/nsfc_sfq.htm. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files.
This edition of the Small Flows Quarterly features a juried article titled "Cost and Affordability of Phosphorus Removal at Small Wastewater Treatment Plant" by Keith O. Keplinger, James B. Houser, Alex M. Tanter, Larry M. Hauck, and Larry Beran, PhD.
In the article, "Homeowner Cost Cutter: Build Your Own Constructed Wetland," NESC staff writer Caigan M. McKenzie explains the rapidly emerging bio-engineered technology for sites not suited for conventional onsite systems -- the constructed wetland. The article also gives a step-by-step guide and references to homeowners who are looking for a way to save money by doing the construction and maintenance themselves.
NESC staff writer Natalie Eddy, explains the Sheaffer System for wastewater reuse developed by John R. "Jack" Sheaffer, PhD, founder and chairman of Sheaffer International. Approximately 17 states and two European countries are using his reclamation and reuse system, which proves to be a cost-saving and non-polluting way of handling wastewater.
Also, in this 2004 fall edition of Small Flows Quarterly, look for regulators information from Professional Engineer Andrew Lake and the Question and Answer section handled by Professional Engineer Edward Winant, PhD.
Located in Morgantown, West Virginia, at West Virginia University, the wastewater division of the National Environmental Services Center is a nonprofit organization funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide free and low-cost information about small community wastewater treatment.
Severn Trent and RGF Environmental Form Strategic Partnership
Severn Trent Services has formed a strategic alliance with RGF Environmental Group to broaden each company's evaporation technology offering for the industrial wastewater treatment market. The partnership allows the Fort Washington, Pa.-based Severn Trent Services and the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based RGF Environmental to sell each other's evaporation technology.
Severn Trent Services offers the Samsco™ line of wastewater evaporators and vacuum distillation equipment. RGF Environmental Group manufactures the RGF Thermo-Oxidizer wastewater evaporator. The two companies have nearly forty years of combined experience in industrial wastewater treatment application and process engineering.
The Samsco line of equipment includes immersion-heated evaporators with an elevated serpentine heat exchanger that permits solids to accumulate below the heat exchanger. This evaporator configuration utilizes an open coil, round/tubular design, which allows solids to fall harmlessly past the heat exchanger. The RGF Thermo-Oxidizer wastewater evaporator features RGF's proprietary dry chamber flash evaporation technology. Thermo oxidation eliminates corrosion and sludge problems.
Prior to the development of evaporation, companies used disposal technologies that tied them to sewer discharge or forced them to have large volumes of wastewater hauled off-site. Both approaches increase a company's exposure to ever-tightening environmental regulations and their associated compliance costs.
Len Graziano, president and CEO of Severn Trent Services, said, "The Samsco line represents the industry standard for water evaporator design and manufacturing. RGF's flash evaporation technology is complementary to ours and enables us to offer alternative, quality evaporation solutions to our customers."
For more information, visit
www.severntrentservices.com
.
Stormwater Management Hires Director of Marketing
Stormwater Management Inc. of Portland, Ore. has promoted Judy Inmon to director of marketing. Stormwater Management is celebrating a decade of clean water, providing clean water solutions to municipalities nationwide since 1995.
Inmon's role is to build brand awareness and help develop growth strategies that sustain the integrity and technical commitment of the company. She joined Stormwater Management in early 2004 as marketing manager and was instrumental in developing marketing programs that helped the company achieve exponential growth. She has more than 15 years' experience in marketing.
For more information, visit www.stormwaterinc.com.
DeZurik Water Business Acquired by Minnesota-based Investment Group.
The water business division of DeZurik, a manufacturer of valves for water and wastewater applications based in Sartell, Minn., has been acquired by Granite Equity Partners, a private investment company based in St. Cloud, Minn. The purchase, from SPX Corp., includes all operations and products of the DeZurik water division, including its Sartell headquarters and manufacturing plant.
The new company, doing business as DeZurik Water Controls, is a descendent of the original DeZurik Corp. that has produced a variety of valve lines for more than 75 years. DeZurik Water Controls will continue to produce a full range of water industry products. Present production includes eccentric plug valves, a unique valve concept developed by DeZurik, as well as multi-port plug valves and AWWA butterfly valves.
Al Kremers, former DeZurik president, has been named chairman and CEO of the new company. Under his direction, a new management group has been formed including other experienced DeZurik personnel familiar with products and operations of the original company. According to Kremers, the new company will pursue a more active role in addressing present needs of the water markets and in providing enhanced products and expanded manufacturing capability to keep pace with changing industry requirements.
More information about the company and its products is available online at
www.dezurikwater.com.
This news item originally appeared in the March/April 2005 issue Water and Wastewater Products, Vol. 5, No. 2.
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.