Recently, the Florida Rural Water Association had an incident in which one of our employees felt that they were discriminated against while onsite at a system. This type of behavior is unacceptable. Employees of the Florida Rural Water Association are professionals and should be treated with respect when offering assistance to systems and their Representatives. Our employees travel as individuals and should not feel uncomfortable while providing assistance to water and wastewater systems across the State of Florida. |
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October 2022 is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month |
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Take Advantage of Resources
Available for Water Systems
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Free Cybersecurity Assessments and Technical Assistance |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering free, confidential, cybersecurity assessments and technical assistance to water and wastewater utilities. The assessment is a questionnaire completed with staff, and the technical assistance takes the results from the questionnaire to develop a cyber action plan focused on best practices to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a cyber incident. Adoption of these practices can reduce the likelihood that a cyber-attack will be successful and potentially enable your utility to recover from any cyber-attacks faster and at a lower cost. EPA is offering these assessments and technical assistance virtually, so no on-site visit is required.
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Conduct a Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise (TTX)
The TTX Tool for Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities provides users with the resources to conduct tabletop exercises. Use the tool to conduct a tabletop exercise with a cybersecurity scenario.
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Cybersecurity Incident Action Checklist
Water and wastewater utilities can use the Incident Action Checklist for Cybersecurity to identify and complete activities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a cyber incident.
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Cybersecurity in the workplace
Being cyber secure starts with simple steps to protect the workplace. Consider these tips to prioritize cybersecurity.
- Identify Your Most Important Systems – Utility information technology systems can include customer billing records and operational technology systems can include chemical feed equipment and SCADA systems.
- Protect Assets - Update all software and secure login methods.
- Monitor and Detect Suspicious Activity – Train employees to be aware, implement cybersecurity methods, and install intrusion detection.
- Have a Response Plan Ready – Include cybersecurity response in your emergency response plan and maintain multiple backups of the document in both physical and digital forms.
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New Apprenticeship Training Soon |
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The Florida Rural Water Association apprenticeship program for Water/Wastewater will be starting new programs early next year! Our apprenticeship program provides a prosperous future for operators in your community. New hires and current employees are eligible for the program. The apprentices will learn Related Technical Instructions (RTI) and On the Job Training (OJT) twice a month for two years. The apprentices will be ready for the Class C license in the first year and we prepare them for the Class B in the following as well as providing them with management courses. Our goal is to set the operators up for a successful future in this career. If you would like more information on the program, click here.
If you are interested in signing up your employee or have any questions, please contact our Apprenticeship Coordinator, Jodi Pearson at 352.460.9401 or email her at Jodi.Pearson@frwa.net.
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$16,000
100kW Caterpillar MEP007B Military Generator with 1098 hours run time. Military Serial Number Rz00394. 3306 Cat Engine on an Olive Drab green military trailer in good shape, the trailer has a pintle hook connections for towing the generator. The generator has a 91-gallon fuel, belly tank and 50” of 1 (one) awg conductor wire attached.
For more information, click on the links below:
For further information please email frwa@frwa.net or call 850.668.2746.
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$16,000
100kW Caterpillar MEP007B Military Generator with 1181 hours run time. Libby Co (serial number RZ01408). Brand new tandem axle trailer with 3500-pound axle and 2” ball. The generator is bolted down to the trailer with a 91-gallon fuel tank on the trailer as a belly tank below the generator.
For more information click on the links below:
For further information please email frwa@frwa.net or call 850.668.2746.
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NATIONAL NEWS
Water investigations said to test Biden racial equity pledge Federal investigations into public spending on the failing water system in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city are a test of President Joe Biden’s commitment to racial equity, one of his congressional allies told hundreds of people at a town hall meeting hosted by the NAACP. more
EPA Issues a Di Minimis Waiver for the Build America, Buy America Act Congress passed, and the President signed in November 2021 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included the Build America, Buy America Act. more
Equitable distribution a challenge for EPA water fund The Environmental Protection Agency uses the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to support water infrastructure projects across the US, but a new analysis indicates a gap in funding for communities of color and smaller communities. more
GAO: EPA lacks PFAS data on disadvantaged communities The EPA needs more extensive data on the extent to which compounds known as forever chemicals are impacting drinking water in communities of color and other disadvantaged areas, the Government Accountability Office said in a report unveiled Wednesday. more
Republican Congress would mean more scrutiny for EPA The midterm elections could see Congress flip to a Republican majority and, if that occurs, lawmakers have indicated they intend to take a deeper look at the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory activity. more
Dry, warm winter likely in Florida as La Niña continues for third consecutive year | WMFE La Niña is expected to lead to a warmer and drier winter across Florida during the upcoming winter season for the third consecutive winter. more
STATE NEWS
How Hurricane Ian swamped Florida rivers: Before-and-after photos show record floods | Tampa Bay Times “A 500-year flood event.” That’s how scientists and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are referring to the record amount of water left stirring in Hurricane Ian’s wake. more
County approves nearly $3M in expenditures | Suwannee Democrat With the exception of a withdrawn patrol car laptop lease request and the 2008 Service Delivery Strategy agreement, which required no action, the Lowndes County Commission approved all items on its agenda at the most recent meeting. more
Restoration begins: After 40 years, Black Creek project to revive Keystone Heights lakes | Clay Today Lake Geneva served as a backdrop to the formal announcement the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project was a reality. Once filled nearly to a small seawall, water from the lake had receded nearly 70 yards to remind residents and dignitaries why they were there. more
Price estimate for Tallahassee sewer extension doubles as city officials take up proposal | Tallahassee Democrat It could cost as much as $20 million to complete a proposal to extend city sewer and water lines to 203 properties in south Tallahassee. more
FGCU Water School researchers survey Hurricane Ian’s impact on Gulf | Florida Weekly Do hurricanes make red tide worse? How are creatures that live on the bottom of the sea dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian? What about coral reefs? Oh, and is there abundant evidence of pollution in the Gulf following this ecological disturbance? more
Opinion: Guest opinion: Are underground utilities the answer to post-hurricane outages? | News-Press After Hurricane Ian, Southwest Florida residents and businesses waited patiently for their power, cable and internet to be restored. Although they wore tool belts – not capes – linemen and utility workers became neighborhood superheroes. more
$1.2 million project works to get rid of stinky smell in Panama City Beach | WJHG It’s an issue most Panama City Beach residents have smelled; the Wastewater Treatment Plant off Back Beach Road has an odor you just can’t miss. more
Town of Fort Myers Beach under mandatory boil water notice | NBC-2 All water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, washing dishes, or brushing teeth must be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute. Bottled water may be used as an alternative. more
Mexico Beach granted nearly $9 mil for flood mitigation | My Panhandle Mexico Beach is receiving more funding to help rebuild the city. Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity granted the Eastern Bay County town millions for the devastation of Hurricane Michael. more
Nassau Co. Commissioners leave American Beach out of ARPA funding | Florida Politics Use of federal coronavirus dollars in a lot of places is dictated by the decisions of local officials, and that can create some conflicts when it comes to local priorities. Nassau County decided to open up its Nassau Florida Prosperity Plan to new goals and projects, made possible by millions of dollars in federal funds. more
Federal disaster assistance for Hurricane Ian recovery tops $1B | Florida Politics Twenty-two days since Hurricane Ian hit the Gulf Coast and forged a path of destruction across the state, the amount of federal recovery aid distributed to the state blew past the $1 billion mark. more
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This Week in Water History |
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Cholera in Sacramento, California |
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October 27, 1850 Cholera in Sacramento, California. “Alas for Sacramento in 1850, cholera is a disease that thrives in conditions of urban filth. The bacterium can be transmitted from one host to another through unwashed hands or raw sewage. When raw sewage containing the bacteria finds its way into the public water supply, cholera spreads rapidly. Its symptoms include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. The disease strikes without warning. In the course of a single day, cholera can be fatal to a previously healthy person. Perkins wrote on October 27, ‘Some have been taken who were to all appearances in good health and have died in a few hours.’ Likewise, on October 23, Lord noted in his journal, ‘A man walking down J Street last evening, dropped suddenly, and lived only long enough to be carried into the nearest door.’
The first death from cholera occurred on October 20. The number of cases rapidly multiplied over the next few weeks, radiating into the city from the commercial riverside district….Public health measures proved to be worse than ineffective. A city ordinance passed on October 21 ordered residents to burn their garbage or face a $500 fine. Lord wrote that the ‘filth is burned in the middle of the streets—old shoes and boots and clothes by the ton, and cart loads of bones, and raw hides, and putrid meat, and spoiled bacon—so that the end of the matter is worse than the beginning.’ By the end of the month, half of the population of the city had either succumbed to the disease or fled the city. By the end of the first week of November, it was 80 percent.
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2970 Wellington Circle | Tallahassee FL 32309 | 850.668.8023 | Contact Us
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