Florida Rural Water Association
2970 Wellington Circle
Tallahassee FL 32309
850.668.2746
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Always leave your footprints in the sand.
Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving! FRWA Board and Staff The FRWA office will be closed for the Holiday on November 26 and 27. |
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Doing more with less is the reality for today's water and waste water utilities. Amid increasing regulations, increasing public expectations, and an ever-increasing list of emerging contaminants, public utilities are working to maintain their affordable services while protecting public health and the environment with very little financial wiggle room. To meet these challenges, the Florida Rural Water Association has partnered with Raftelis to offer the systems of Florida a free online tool called RevPlan.
 RevPlan that is designed to enhance the asset and financial management for small water utilities. The idea behind RevPlan is to provide an online tool for small water utilities to achieve financial resiliency and to maintain their utility assets for long-term sustainability. RevPlan will assist users in identifying the various utility funding requirements over a five-year planning window. These funding requirements include capital funding, operating costs, and debt repayment. RevPlan allows the user to identify any rate adjustments necessary to meet the utility funding requirements and the impact rate increases may have on ratepayers. Numerous Florida Rural Water Association members have used RevPlan for their utility financial planning and asset management integration.
We hope that you will take advantage of this no cost opportunity to enhance the financial management for your utility.
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USDA Launches AskUSDA to Improve and Streamline Customer Experience
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2020 - Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the official launch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) AskUSDA Contact Center program. The AskUSDA Contact Center will serve as the "one front door" for phone, chat, and web inquires, transforming how the public interacts with USDA and providing an enhanced experience for the public.
"Part of our work here at USDA to be the most efficient, effective, and customer-focused agency in the federal government is to ensure our customers and Americans across the country can easily get support from our Department and answers to their questions," said Secretary Perdue. "The AskUSDA Contact Center will act as one, centralized front door, ensuring good customer service is given to everyone who interacts with USDA."
The public can contact AskUSDA by phone at (833) ONE-USDA with representatives available 9:00am-5:30pm EST weekdays. The website (https://ask.usda.gov/) is available 24/7 and includes live chat agents available 10:00am-6:00pm EST on weekdays. Inquiries can also be sent via email at any time to [email protected]. more
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Grease blockage triggers huge sewer overflow, releasing 432,000 gallons in Arlington creek
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 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - An estimated 432,000 gallons of sewage overflowed from an Arlington utility line that had been blocked by a mix of grease and debris, JEA reported Wednesday.
Much of the discharge - equivalent to nearly half of the sewage reported lost to overflows in all of 2019 - is thought to have entered Jones Creek, which passes under Interstate 295 near Monument Road before emptying into the St. Johns River.
JEA is testing water samples from the creek to track the spill's impact, and crews were building a temporary road Wednesday to help vacuum trucks reach the tainted area for cleanup, said Simone Garvey-Ewan, a spokeswoman for the city-owned utility.
JEA posted signage near the creek to warn people about the overflow.
Utility employees checking an area near Atrium Way northeast of the Regency Square mall on Tuesday discovered a "massive fatberg" of coagulated grease and non-disposable items that had blocked a sewer line, Garvey-Ewan said.
The blockage may have been causing wastewater to overflow since Nov. 2, the spokeswoman said.
Pipe obstructions happen more frequently during cooler weather when fats congeal more, and they're a chronic headache to utility crews who have to clean up for their customers. more |
FEMA Opens $660 Million Grant Application Process The application period for our hazard mitigation grants program is now open through Jan 29, 2021. $660 million is available for eligible states and communities for flood assistance and disaster resilience preparedness. more
Congress Working to Complete $1.4 Trillion Final Appropriations Bill by End of Year With support from the White House, congressional negotiators are continuing to negotiate the details of a final bill for FY 2021. more
Coalition of Water-Sector Interests Laid Out Its Priorities for a Lame-Duck Deal in Letter to Speaker Pelosi and Leader McConnell "'The coming weeks will provide the best opportunity for Congress to deliver meaningful COVID19 relief before the end of the year, and we are eager to continue to work with you to develop legislation that helps the nation - and its drinking water, wastewater, and water recycling systems and ratepayers - recover from this pandemic,' more
EPA Offices to Remain Closed to Protect Workers "No EPA workers have yet been ordered to return to any offices in the U.S." more
Rural Water System Trains Dog Named Puddles to Detect Leaks Puddles is learning to detect water leaks 12 to 24 inches underground for Davidson Water customers. more
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Opinion: City lacks transparency on sewage spills, issues | Tallahassee Democrat On December 17, 2017, residents of Centerville Road woke to the nauseating smell of a large force-main sewage connector line being temporarily repaired. After several months, a quarter mile section was repaired with traffic delays. more
Tropical Storm Eta Pounded Pinellas Beaches, Fears Aired Over Future Storms | WUSF Tropical Storm Eta caused considerable beach erosion on the Gulf Coast. It may mean our coastline is in danger from a future storm. more
Disaster Mitigation - Why Now? Mitigating disaster impacts is a natural next step after completing the risk assessments and emergency response plans required under the America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018. more
Over $500M in utility improvements are coming to Sarasota County | Herald Tribune In the next five years, Sarasota County is slated to spend more than $500 million to update its aging water and utility infrastructure system. more
Water restored at Town N' Country mobile home park after residents contact 8 On Your Side | WFLA Robinson DeJesus says the past week has literally been hell. more
Wastewater leak into Biscayne Bay causes no-swim advisory | Local 10 About 120,000 gallons of wastewater poured into Biscayne Bay prompting a no-swim advisory, the Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Department announced on Friday. more
The City of Sarasota looks at next steps to keep properties safe from flooding during storms | WTSP Sarasota's City Engineer says the city plans to build on top of the protective berm that the U.S. Army Corps is building. more
Marco Island to request $425,000 in state funds for San Marco Road water project | Naples Daily News The city of Marco Island will request $425,000 in state funds for the San Marco Road tide leveling and flushing project as city leaders prepare to meet with state legislators in December. more
International company submits unsolicited bid to help relocate Fort Pierce wastewater plant | TCPalm For years, Fort Pierce Utilities Authority and the city have been trying to relocate the aging wastewater-treatment plant off the Indian River Lagoon. more |
This Week in Water History
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Operations of Sewage Plants
 November 19, 1914: Operation of Sewage Disposal Plants. By Francis E. Daniels. "A man in charge of a sewage disposal plant should know what each unit of his works is doing every day. A skilled observer may detect faults and short-comings with some degree of certainty by mere inspection; and if the output is bad and a heavy pollution is occurring or a local nuisance is resulting, it is not at all difficult to recognize the trouble. If the break-down has been sudden and due to a wash-out, a broken bed or wall or some other equally obvious cause, an expert is not needed to diagnose the case. But suppose the output of a plant or of some of its units is gradually falling below the requirements. In that case the gradual decline cannot be detected by observation and in order that one may know what is actually happening, tests are made....Careful attention paid to tank effluents will delay for years the expenditure of thousands of dollars for the removal, washing and replacing of the stone in contact beds. Poor effluents discharged upon sand beds cause clogging quickly, which results in undue expense for frequent cleaning and often the sand filter effluent is seriously impaired. more
For more articles on what went on this week in water history, click here.
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