Florida Rural Water Association
2970 Wellington Circle
Tallahassee FL 32309
850.668.2746
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 Focus on Change for 2020 kicks off next week in Pompano Beach and Punta Gorda. DEP and FRWA have teamed up for thirty years to bring you these sessions to keep water and wastewater facility staff up to date on the latest regulatory changes.
We have over 1100 attendees signed up thus far at various locations throughout the state. If you are not able to attend next week, you can take advantage of a one of the more convenient locations below in the next few weeks. Just click on the location nearest you to register.
Don't miss this opportunity to take care of your CEUs early and avoid the rush! We hope to see you soon at a location near you.
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FRWA Apprenticeship
Program Kickoff
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Mark Hallett
FRWA Energy Efficiency Technician
Florida Rural Water Association kicked off its new Apprenticeship Program last week! This program aims to offer training to new and less experienced operators in water and wastewater treatment. This program ensures that apprentices receive the training and work experience necessary for receiving the Class C license. However, apprentices are encouraged to not stop there! Toward the end of the two year program, additional material is covered that allows apprentices to test for higher level licenses if they have the required work experience.
The program start
ed
with five apprentices, all working toward their water licenses, with various levels of experience. These apprent
ices look forward to learning with hands on experience at both the job site and in class. FRWA has partnered with member systems and local vendors to receive cut away models of pumps and motors to teach maintenance hands on. The equipment doesn't stop there though, FRWA has also obtained Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help train apprentices. Safety is a major concern in our industry and this program stresses the proper way to utilize PPE at work as well as safe workplace practices. "It's one thing to know about PPE," said Mark Hallett, Program Coordinator, "it's another to get to wear it and practice with it." PPE and safe working practices will continue to feature in the program's 288 hours of classroom training.
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SEARCH AND DESTROY
PFAs could be zapped via a plasma reactor
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A group of researchers at Clarkson University in New York is developing a way to destroy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water.
In collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, the team is using machines called plasma reactors to sever the chemicals' carbon-fluorine bonds.
An important distinction to make is that the technology applies only to PFAS in groundwater. The researche
 rs are in the process of working on a separate project to remove PFAS from soil, however. This technology could also be more cost-efficient.
Researchers built a 20 foot long mobile trailer, which holds two plasma reactors. For two weeks inSeptember, PFAS contaminated groundwater was pumped from the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio into the reactors.
Argon gas at the bottom of the reactors carries the PFAS molecules to the surface, then high-voltage electrodes are used to generate plasma. The plasma zaps the water's surface, where it spreads, hitting PFAS molecules and splitting them, according to Business Insider. Once the carbon and fluorine molecules have been separated, the PFAS compound is destroyed.
The Clarkson team's plasma reactor reduces PFAS concentrations in water well below the EPA's 70 parts per trillion (ppt) limit.
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Speaker Pelosi Announces Plans to Release Billion Dollar Infrastructure Plan Next Week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Jan. 16 announced Democrats will unveil infrastructure legislation when the chamber returns from its Martin Luther King Jr. Day recess the week of Jan. 27. more
EPA Allows Denver a Variance for Lead and Copper Rule Compliance; What Does it Mean for Small Communities In 2012, Denver Water exceeded the federal lead action level of 15 mg/L. more
President Tweets Criticism of Flint's Use of $390 Million in Water Emergency Funds to Pay for Economic Development, Trump retweeted a story by The Daily Caller that examines how nearly $390 million was spent, focusing on a federally-funded program that gives people exposed to contaminated Flint water more
Microwaving sewage waste may make it safe to use as fertilizer on crops My team has discovered another use for microwave ovens that will surprise you. more
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New water quality bill, imposing new regulations on polluters, clears Florida Senate panel | Pensacola News Journal A wide-ranging water quality bill that was praised by both enviromental activists and industry cleared a Florida Senate committee Wednesday. more
Senate bill addresses nutrient pollution | Okeechobee News The Florida Legislature is expected to address the nutrient pollution that feeds algae blooms during their 2020 session. more
Lawmakers analyze Florida septic tanks to prevent nutrient pollution | WINK Taking care of our water means thinking of everything that affects its quality. Right now, state lawmakers are taking a closer look at septic tanks. more
Century Spending $60K To Apply For $644K Grant For Wastewater Improvements | North Escambia The Town of Century is applying for a $644,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to make needed improvements to a small portion of the town's trouble wastewater system. more
FEMA awards Port St. Lucie $1M for emergency communication systems | TCPalm The city will receive more than $1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve emergency communication systems between the city and the county. more
Florida creates task force on sea-level rise | Associated Press After years of mostly ignoring climate change, Florida lawmakers waded deeper into the matter on Tuesday , advancing a proposal that would create a statewide Office of Resiliency and establish a task force to begin looking into how best to protect the state's 1350 miles (2,173 kilometers) of coastline from rising oceans. more
State senator proposes bill that would tax water bottling companies | WINK You can see aisles with Nestlé water bottles in stores around the state. more
SJRWMD and CCUA partnering on septic-to-sewer conversions to benefit Doctors The St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board today approved an agreement with Clay County Utility Authority (CCUA) to convert up to 79 septic tanks to central sewer on properties adjacent to Doctors Lake. more
Mistake leads to huge water bills in Florida city | Trumbull Times A mistake by Miami-Dade County utility officials has let to sky-high water bills this month for many property owners in the South Florida city of Opa-locka. more
Boil water notice issued for Hampton residents following water service break | WCJB The boil water notice for the city of Hampton issued last Thursday has been rescinded. more
Palm Coast plans $20 million investment in wastewater plant | Palm Coast Observer With more people comes more wastewater, and Palm Coast wants to make sure it has the capacity to deal with its rising population. more
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This Week in Water History
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$225,000 Filtration Plant Completed
January 20, 1916:
Municipal Journalarticle-New Filtration Plant Completed. "Lowell, Mass.-The city's new $225,000 filtration plant is now in operation. The building is of concrete, with red tile roof, and is artistic in design. The filtration or purification plant is located on the north side of the boulevard, immediately opposite the lower pumping station. It consists of six coke prefilters, 10 feet in depth and two-fifths of an acre in total area; a settling basin, divided into two units, with a total capacity of 500,000 gallons; six sand filters, with a total area of one acre; and a filtered water reservoir of 1,000,000 gallons capacity. All of the operations involved are controlled in the building shown in the accompanying illustration, where are contained the main valves and recording apparatus. At the rate of 75 million gallons per acre per day through the prefilters. and a 10 million gallon rate through the sand filters the areas provided have a capacity of a 10-million gallon daily output. Allowing for cleaning and for the possible desirability of a lower rate through the coke, the plant is believed to be ample for an average daily supply of 7,500,000 to 8,500,000 gallons, or-if the past growth of the population holds in the future-sufficient for the needs of the city until 1935."
For more articles on what went on this week in water history, click here.
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