August 12, 2021
TROPICS UPDATE
The center of Fred emerged from Haiti last night and is passing between the southeastern Bahamas and eastern Cuba this morning. Strong thunderstorm activity is displaced from the center, but as Fred moves toward the Florida Straits, more organized storm activity should begin to concentrate again near the center and allow it to slowly strengthen.

There is a near 25% or 1 in 4 chance of tropical storm force winds for the Florida Keys and coastal areas along the Florida West Coast and Big Bend, with about a 10% or 1 in 10 chance in Southeast Florida and across inland areas. The earliest reasonable arrival time of tropical storm force winds in South Florida is Friday evening, but are most likely to begin late Friday night through Saturday. Winds arrive on Saturday night/Sunday elsewhere. For the latest in information on Fred's path, click here.

EPA Wastewater Utility Emergency Response Plan (ERP) Template and Instructions
Develop or Update a Wastewater Utility Emergency Response Plan

Emergency Response Plan Template and Instructions 

This template and instructions will assist wastewater utilities with developing an Emergency Response Plan (ERP). An ERP describes your utility’s strategies, resources, plans, and procedures to prepare for and respond to an incident, natural or man-made, that threatens life, property, or the environment. Incidents can range from small main breaks or localized flooding to large scale hurricanes, earthquakes, or system contamination, among other examples. 

The ERP Template and Instructions PDF document features an embedded blank ERP template in Word format that can be easily accessed and modified by utility personnel to meet their own wastewater utility needs. 
The EPA welcomes comments on the ERP Template and Instructions. Based on feedback, the EPA may revise the document in the future. Please email dwresilience@epa.gov to provide feedback.

NOTE: This PDF file uses Javascript. In order to access the Word template that is imbedded within the PDF, please download the PDF file to your computer and open the PDF file with a PDF reader. If you are still having problems with accessing the Word template, email dwresilience@epa.gov.   
You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more. 

NATIONAL NEWS
Senate Votes to Expedite $550 Billion Infrastructure Bill On Saturday, the Senate voted 67-27 to end debate on the bipartisan compromise measure. more

EPA Starts Revisions to CCR Rule Congress mandated EPA to revise their Consumer Confidence Reports (CRR) rule under the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018. more

NRWA Comments on EPA’s Latest Review of Revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule “We appreciate the many opportunities the Agency has provided to all stakeholders to participate in the crafting of revisions to LCR. more

Senate Infrastructure Bill Likely to Include Provision to Allow State and Local Governments to Use Up to 30 Percent of Their Unspent COVID-19 Relief Funds on Infrastructure Pending enactment into law, the provision will allow up to 30 percent or $10 million, whichever amount is greater, of a state or locality’s unspent COVID-19 funds to be available for infrastructure projects.  more

EPA Begins Revisions to the Trump WOTUS Rule: The Biden Administration said last week that it’ll take a two-step approach to decide revisions to the current Trump Administration rule. more

Senate passes $1 trillion infrastructure bill after months of intense talks | NBC-2 The United States Senate has passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan package on Tuesday that is aimed at repairing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure with funding for priorities like roads, bridges, rail, transit and the electric grid. more

EPA and Army Announce Public Meetings and Request Recommendations on WOTUS On August 4, EPA and the Army published a “Notice of Public Meetings Regarding ‘‘Waters of the United States (WOTUS)’’; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Recommendations” in the Federal Register. more

EPA Establishes CCR Working Group under the National Drinking Water Advisory Council EPA is planning a consultation later this year with the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) to seek recommendations on proposed revisions to the Consumer Confidence Report (CRR) rule that are required under the America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018. more

STATE NEWS
Conservation trend good for water users of east Alachua County, report finds | Gainesville Sun In a yearly report from the St. Johns River Water Management district, researchers have found that in 2020 there was a 1% decease in total water use among its customers. more

'Used' drinking water in the Jacksonville pipeline after push from the Governor and legislature A new mandate requires Florida utilities to transform sewage into drinking water without triggering the public's gag reflex. more

Tropical Storm Fred forms, all of Florida remains in cone Tropical Storm Fred spun around Puerta Rico and is preparing to take a swing at Dominican Republic and Haiti Wednesday morning threatening heavy rain, mudslides and flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center. more

Public invited to water and sewer project groundbreaking | Destin Log At 10 a.m. Aug. 17, the Walton County Department of Administration, in conjunction with the city of DeFuniak Springs and the Walton County Economic Development Alliance, will be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Highway 331 Water and Sewer Installation Project. more

City of Titusville Rescinds Boil Water Notice After Finding No E.Coli Present in Recent Samples Taken | Space Coast Daily The city of Titusville ended its boil-water notice Saturday evening two days after declaring it following the discovery of E. coli bacteria in municipal water samples. more

Florida Department of Environmental Protection reports wastewater leak in Haines City | The Ledger Nearly 1,700 gallons of raw wastewater leaked in Haines City on Thursday morning, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported. more

Fort Lauderdale has plan to keep sewage out of streets. It’s just going to take a while. | Sun Sentinel After a series of epic sewage spills, Fort Lauderdale residents are braced for the next one — it’s just a question of when and where. more
This Week in Water History
Street Cleaning Bacteriology
August 8, 1908: Engineering Record article. A Bacteriological Method of Determining the Efficiency of Street Cleaning. “The Department of Street Cleaning of the City of New York is at present experimenting with a combined street flushing and cleaning machine in the Borough of Manhattan, and in order to determine its efficiency, series of bacteriological experiments have been made to learn the condition of the pavement, both before and after cleaning. The machine, which was described in The Engineering Record of June 27, 1908, is called the “Squeegee” and consists of a water tank with sprinkling pipes, back of which is a revolving drum, wound with stiff strips of rubber. The work of the machine has been under careful observation by an officer of the department since the beginning of June, but besides his report as to its efficiency, it was desired to know by some other means just what the machine was doing. The department, therefore, decided to expose bacterial cultures in the street both before and after the machine had done its work.”

Commentary: Public health experts were finding lots of new ways to exploit the growing field of bacteriology so that they could measure the efficiencies of their methods.

To enjoy more opportunities to take a look at the past in water history, go to this link.
FLORIDA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION | http://www.frwa.net
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