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February 4, 2022
Focus on Change

Focus on Change classes begin in south Florida next week. On Monday, the FRWA staff will be journeying to Pompano Beach to kick off the first class of the 2022 on Tuesday, February 8th. From Pompano, we will travel onto Punta Gorda to host another class on Wednesday, February 9th. For more information on Focus on Change, click here or see below.
2021 CCR Template Available

The Department of Environmental Protection announced this week that there were few changes to last year's report and asked FRWA to make the template and instruction available on our website at this link. If you have questions, please contact the Drinking Water Circuit Rider in your county. You can do so by clicking here and entering your county in the search box.
Focus on Change Registration
For more information and to register, click on the location below nearest you.
FRWA UPDATE
UCMR5 EPA has money for systems, 3300 population up to 10,000 population to participate in the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule number 5. Florida water systems in this new range got a letter last week. FRWA will help and Jim McClaugherty is the primary contact for that assistance. EPA will pay for sampling and shipping but not labor to collect. Systems are asked to go into EPA portal to register. This is new for these water systems but systems over 10,000 population have been doing for many years. EPA may run out of money or lab capacity to do all the new ones before all get done or the end of the year so get your request for assistance in early. 
 
FRWA Emergency Response Equipment As you likely saw in last week’s eNews that FRWA has leased a warehouse space in Gainesville to house equipment for water utility use. 100KW and 12KW/VFD Generators, bypass and trash pumps, vacuum trailer, etc. is there and can be borrowed by water utilities for closer logistics. Jamie Hope, George Glover, Donnie Morrison and Tim Plymel are FRWA contacts for equipment/water utility coordination. We also have all 16 100KW trailer mounted generators which are in Cairo Warehouse ready for use and response.  

D/DBP continue to be our number one HBL=Health Based Level compliance issue for water systems in Florida. FRWA continues to add tools to our toolbox to help attain and retain compliance for these systems—We have acquired Mixers for pilot testing at systems with suitable tankage to try to form the TTHM’s and to mix off after formation. We of course have other treatments like Hydrogen Peroxide, water age reduction, and chlorine level management. We want to help these systems correct this issue and improve water quality in any way we can. 

Lead in schools update Steady stream of childcares being tested and school district testing is starting to pick back up. 7 new schools districts have approved to move forward with lead testing.
Sample update as of 1/21/22.
Sampling is pending for 29 childcare facilities in Franklin, Leon, Jefferson, Sarasota, Indian River, Okeechobee, Miami-Dade, and Marathon counties.

97% of samples have been below the 15ppb action level. Almost every remediated location and resample have been well below the action level. We are doing a good thing for Children’s Public Health.  
SPAM ALERT
It has come to our attention that some of you may have received an email from an Amy Miller similar to the one on the left. This email was not authorized by FRWA and is not from FRWA. It has been reported to the FTC.

Please do not click on any links or unsubscribe from this email as it may put you on a mailing list. In order to protect our membership, the Florida Rural Water Association would never sell or release any of your information to the general public.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.
The Latest on Topics of Interest
Below are links to articles on topics that we feel are of interest to the water and wastewater utilities in Florida.
NATIONAL NEWS
New Flood Maps Show U.S. Damage Rising 26% In Next 30 Years Due To Climate Change Climate change is raising flood risks in neighborhoods across the U.S. much faster than many people realize. more

Droughts reveal PFAS contamination in groundwater Drought is exposing new layers of risk posed by PFAS contamination in drinking water nationwide, a public health hazard expected to cost billions of dollars and take years to solve, state and federal officials say. more

EPA's data innovation challenge highlights water quality Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) Data Analysis Innovation Challenge, which invites research institutions to utilize large, nationally consistent statistical survey datasets to evaluate the health and impact of the nation’s aquatic ecosystems. more

What to expect from EPA, SCOTUS in the way of WOTUS As a landmark Clean Water Act case heads to the nation’s highest court, all eyes are on how quickly EPA will push out a new rule to clarify which waters are federally protected — and whether that new definition will be legally bulletproof. more

Scientists on alert over rising cases caused by omicron cousin BA.2 The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus - the most common form of which is known as BA.1 - now accounts for nearly all of the coronavirus infections globally, although dramatic surges in COVID cases have already peaked in some countries. more

The science of masks, explained by an engineer after 2 years of testing in his lab As the CDC changes its guidelines to recommend more heavy-duty masks, this scientist explains what’s behind the difference in quality of cloth masks, surgical masks, and N95s—and how to make them the most effective. more

How to Destroy ‘Forever Chemicals’ Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFASs, are considered indestructible chemicals. more

Biden-Harris Administration Expands Public/Private Cybersecurity Partnership to Water Sector See testimony delivered to the Senate on Rural Water cybersecurity more

Survey - 52% of State, Local Public Workers Considering Leaving Jobs MissionSquare Research Institute has been tracking state and local government
employee sentiment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. more

EPA Under Renewed Pressure To Strengthen EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) Rule On Wednesday, over 70 state and local lawmakers urged the EPA to increase federal requirements under the RMP rule. more

EPA Announces New WIFIA Loans Totaling $688 Million Agency highlights more than $5 billion in water infrastructure investments towards building a better America. more


STATE NEWS
Opinion: The City Council should advance Tampa water project | Tampa Bay Times It’s a waste to dump tens of millions of gallons of treated wastewater into Hillsborough Bay every day. It’s smart to study a better use for this resource. more

Tampa will discuss water reuse plan that has been called "toilet to tap" | WMNF Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is proposing a plan to reuse partially treated wastewater. more

Florida gets another $404 million for climate change prep. It needs billions more | WUSF Gov. Ron DeSantis announced funding for another 113 projects, including a $25 million mobile home wastewater collection project in Pinellas County. more

Florida bill could help protect outdoor workers from high heat | Miami Herald When Pedro Trejos was in his early 20s, the Nicaraguan-born construction worker was on the second-floor of a job site in Miami when he lost his footing in a spell of dizziness. more

Florida Senate panel overhauls coastal resiliency measures A bill to formalize the state’s lead agency and top official on sea-level rise has been overhauled into a broader effort to improve a 2021 law on environmental policy. more

‘Stealth’ omicron is more contagious. Now Florida has two cases. The highly contagious omicron variant set pandemic infection records in Florida and the U.S. and is still spreading across many states and the rest of the world. more

Bill would scrap 2021 deal as public notices battle begins anew in Florida legislature Lawmakers will again consider a proposal to allow government agencies in Florida "the option to publish legal notices on a publicly accessible website instead of in a print newspaper," according to a House staff analysis. more

Northeast Florida gets over $54M for projects through resilient Florida grant program | News4Jax Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Pinellas and Miami-Dade counties Tuesday to announce the award of grants totaling over $404 million for 113 environmental resilience projects across the state through the Resilient Florida Grant Program, which will help prepare coastal and inland communities for the adverse impacts of flooding and storm surge. more

Water main break causes van to sink into hole in Miami Gardens | Local 10 Miami Gardens police were called to a water main break Monday, which they said caused a van to sink into an open hole that was located on the city swale. more

Pasco County, Fla., to buy Lindrick utility system serving several coastal communities The purchase is possible through $24 million in federal funding and a state allocation. more

Tallahassee's rain garden grants help protect community water quality Tallahassee has a beautiful natural environment, and residents can help preserve it by using sustainable gardening practices in their yards. more

DeSantis, Rubio ask feds for more funding for reservoir | Local 10 Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio accused Democrats in the federal government of not prioritizing Florida Everglades restoration projects. more

Fort Myers to temporarily switch to Lee County drinking water source | NBC-2 The City of Fort Myers will temporarily be able to acquire up to 1.5 million gallons per day from Lee County after finalizing a water purchase agreement. more

Crews to close portion of E. 109th Ave. in Tampa to repair water main break | WTSP A section of roadway in Tampa will completely shut down this evening in order for crews to repair a water main break. more

Opinion: Tropical Storm Eta was a warning shot for Tampa Bay’s future | Tampa Bay Times Most of us who live in the Tampa Bay region didn’t see Eta coming or feel its impact. more
This Week in Water History
Influenza in New York State and Reservoir Maintenance
February 1, 1919: Article in Municipal Journal. Declares Influenza Cause Is Unknown. “Albany, N. Y.-According to a statement by Dr. Hermann M. Biggs, state commissioner of health, in this state in the month of October alone approximately 32,000 lives were lost, while in the country as a whole 400,000 people are believed to have died of so-called influenza during the months of September, October and November. “It is questionable,” says the statement, “if any recorded epidemic has produced in a similar space of time such disastrous results, yet, despite the efforts of an army of research workers both here and abroad, the definite causative agent of the disease remains today unknown. Until proof to the contrary is forthcoming it must be assumed that the epidemic represented a very virulent form of the same disease which has spread throughout the world from time to time for many centuries, and numerous excellent records of which are available for study in medical literature. At the present time there is no exact diagnostic procedure which may be relied upon positively to differentiate epidemic influenza from severe ‘colds’ accompanied by fever, cough and prostration, and frequently followed by pneumonia, such colds being due to a variety of well-known organisms. Nevertheless there are certain fairly characteristic symptoms in typical cases of epidemic influenza which at present justify a clinical diagnosis of that disease.”

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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