The photo on the left is the inside of FRWA's warehouse in Cairo GA after emergency response equipment was deployed south in the wake of Hurricane Milton. Late Wednesday evening, when the last piece of emergency response equipment was returned as Alicia Keeter, FRWA Executive Director, took a moment to video the full warehouse before returning home herself.

This past month has been one for the history books! Not only in Florida, but for FRWA as boots were on the ground in the wake of two hurricanes. Staff spent long days and nights as they assisted systems affected by record breaking natural disasters.

FRWA has a clause in all of our job descriptions "other duties as assigned". Sometimes these duties may include odd assignments especially in times of emergency response. The video on the left is of Scott Phillips, FRWA Circuit Rider, as he brings a kayak back from a flooded lift station after trying to get some automated control panels to operate. Such is "the life of a circuit rider".

Thank you FRWA for your valiant efforts in the wake of historical disaster.

FRWA is there for systems in times of emergency, but as Gary Williams says, "Any need for a water utility is an emergency response for FRWA."

As FRWA personnel was busy dealing with the disasters that have hit Florida this month, an annual Emergency Response Training that is held at different Rural Waters throughout the nation was held at the Idaho Rural Water Association in Boise, Idaho. FRWA usually attends these events, but we were busy "practicing what they were preaching". The video below was created by the National Rural Water Association after witnessing FRWA in action.

Watch closely and you will get a glimpse of FRWA employees at work. FRWA Employees include Jamie Hope (Wastewater Trainer), Scott Phillips (Wastewater Circuit Rider), Riley Wolf (WW Circuit Rider), Alicia Keeter (Executive Director), Ben Lewis (Circuit Rider), Jim Cagno (Water Trainer), and employees from fellow Rural Water employees.

Thank you to all the Rural Waters that came to our rescue during our time of need.

Phishing: The More Things Change…

A cybersecurity awareness message from WaterISAC

Our utility strives to block malicious messages from hitting your inbox, but with the pace threat actors adapt their scams, it’s often difficult for the email filters to keep up. As such, phishing emails do get through. To that point, in 2023 Cofense reported catching a malicious email that bypassed its customers email filters EVERY MINUTE – that’s a lot of phish! While email is not the only method attackers use for phishing, year-after-year it’s one of the most prominent and prolific.

Social engineering: In the context of cybersecurity, social engineering exploits human emotions to ultimately obtain information that could be used to facilitate a cyber attack to commit fraud against or otherwise harm us or our utility.

Phishing: A social engineering technique for attempting to acquire sensitive data/information through a fraudulent solicitation in which the perpetrator masquerades as a legitimate business or reputable person.

Given all the phish, we do our best to keep you aware of the various phishing themes, tactics, and subjects for you to watch out for. However, it’s not practical, or even possible to keep you aware of everything, nor to expect you to remember it all. Despite all the phish and different ways threat actors use to trick us, there’s one thing that’s constant –attackers try to elicit a hasty response based on emotion. Fear, urgency, doubt, and curiosity are some of the most common emotions leveraged to pressure us into falling for a phish and the highest volume of themes designed to elicit those emotions are regarding finances, notifications, shipping, and responses.

Common Phishing Email Themes:

■    Finance-themed emails typically have subjects relating to invoices, payments, pay slips, statements, orders, remittances, or receipts.

■      Notification-themed emails typically have subjects relating to password expiration, reminders, messages, required actions, recent activities, or appointments.

■      Shipping-themed emails typically have subjects relating to shipments, port information, arrival notices, cargo, or anything to do with DHL, FedEx, UPS, and USPS.

■      Response-themed emails typically have subjects relating to any sort of response or sometimes forwarded messages as well as hijacked and spoofed email threads. While many threat actors spoof reply chain threads, the most advanced threat actors hijack pre-existing email threads.

Misspellings are a misnomer. While it used to be a dead giveaway, today’s phishing messages are more carefully crafted and contain fewer spelling and grammar errors. You’re more likely to receive a legitimate email with bad spelling than a poorly crafted phishing email. However, do pay attention to the tone of the message. Trust your gut! If an email or message appears to be coming from a coworker, manager, vendor, or other trusted partner, but the wording doesn’t sound like them, or the overall tone or signature is wrong, it’s likely a phish!

Report Phishing Emails – even if you’re not sure if it’s a phishing email, or even if you already opened or actioned it. Some organizations use phish report buttons integrated into the email client for easy reporting. Otherwise, report it to the helpdesk, tech support, or your manager/supervisor. Plus, your reports help us understand and block more messages and themes that are evading the email/spam filters. Additionally, if you believe you’ve personally been a victim of phishing, report the fraud to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov or the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.

NATIONAL NEWS

$3.6B Announced for Water Infrastructure Funding from U.S. EPA to help upgrade water infrastructure and keep communities safe. more

EPA to unveil lead-dust standard this week-EPA is days away from releasing its updated

standards for lead contamination in dust, a move that could lead to costly paint removal treatments in millions of U.S. buildings. more

VP Harris backs plan to provide medical care for military PFAS victims-Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday will publicly back plans to provide easier access to disability and medical benefits to veterans exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, while serving in the military. more

More states ban PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals,’ in more products-Legislative momentum against PFAS has surged this year, as at least 11 states enacted laws to restrict the use of “forever chemicals” in everyday consumer products or professional firefighting foam. more

Forever chemicals found in 99% of bottled water samples globally, study finds-A recent international study led by researchers from the University of Birmingham Southern University of Science and Technology reveals that over 99% of bottled water samples worldwide contain "forever chemicals," also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). more

New Yorkers Have 'Serious' Concerns About Their Drinking Water Quality-A new survey found that more than half of the New Yorkers questioned found the condition of their drinking water to be a "very serious" problem. more

SWLA parish leaders concerned proposed carbon capture projects could affect drinking water-Having access to clean drinking water is essential, and some residents are concerned that proposed carbon capture projects may put that resource at risk. more

Supreme Court Could Curb EPA’s Water Quality Regulation Powers-A suit brought by the

City of San Francisco argues that the agency's language around water treatment and discharge is too vague and imposes retroactive penalties. more

Federal EPA is weighing Sierra Club push for cleaner waterways-A top official with the US EPA says the agency is still reviewing a petition by an environmental group asking for federal authorities to take over enforcement of clean water laws from the Iowa DNR. more

Supreme Court allows rule limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in effect-The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a Biden administration regulation aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in place as legal challenges play out. more

ESG Update: Congress Questions Whether ESG-Related Coalitions Violate Antitrust Laws-

Republican lawmakers are continuing their antitrust push against environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investor initiatives by investigating a prominent climate coalition that is focused on getting companies to curb emissions. more

Louisiana linemen work to restore power in chest-deep water following Hurricane Milton-video-Millions of Floridians were without power following Hurricane Milton's landfall. more

Asheville’s Dirty Water Warns of Climate Risk to Aging US Infrastructure-Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated swaths of the southeastern US by bringing too much water more

MIT Researchers Build Solar-Powered Low-Cost Drinking Water Desalination System-

MIT engineers have built a solar-powered desalination system that "ramps up its desalting process and automatically adjusts to any sudden variation in sunlight, for example by dialing down in response to a passing cloud or revving up as the skies clear." more

With little electricity, Cuba girds for a hurricane-Cuba girded Sunday for a hit from Hurricane Oscar, bracing for more chaos and misery as it grapples with a nearly nationwide power outage now in its third day. more

Europe's Water Crisis Needs Urgent Attention, Says EEA's State Of Water Report-A new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) reveals that Europe’s water resources are under serious pressure, with no significant progress made since 2009. more

Calls To Ban 'Forever Chemicals' After Worrying Levels In Sewage Discharges-

A new study has revealed a significant increase in synthetic chemicals used in homeware products in a highly protected marine area following wastewater discharges. more

STATE NEWS

‘It affects everyone’: Water quality woes ignite Fort Lauderdale residents to unite for resilience-They call her the “Water Guru:” a Fort Lauderdale resident who watches over the canals and Intracoastal and makes a lot of noise when conditions aren’t safe. more

Florida Everglades restoration is progressing, but scientists say it needs improvement-The long-running effort to restore the Florida Everglades has seen progress at a “remarkable pace” in the past two years, according to a new report. more

2 weeks after Hurricane Milton, and many communities are still flooded out-It’s been 2 weeks since Hurricane Milton roared into western central Florida and then bisected the State with hurricane winds. more

Bad state data may misdirect nearly $1 billion in federal funds to replace lead pipes-The Environmental Protection Agency is at risk of misallocating nearly $1 billion in lead pipe replacement funding to the wrong states because it didn’t verify inaccurate data provided by Texas and Florida, an agency watchdog announced. more

Tampa Bay water reservoir reaches capacity, water restrictions lifted-Tampa Bay Water's Regional Reservoir reached full capacity and water restrictions have been lifted. more

Residents in parts of Zephyrhills asked to limit water usage-The city of Zephyrhills asked residents in specific neighborhoods to continue limiting their water usage as the area recovers from Hurricane Milton. more

With 2 weeks before Election Day, Pinellas Dems are at risk of losing even more ground on County Commission-Trends don't look on paper to be in Democrats' favor, but more nuanced forces could lend an assist. more

No water, then no power. How one St. Petersburg hospital survived Milton.-“The hardest 24 hours of my career:” St. Anthony’s Hospital faced loss of sewer, water, power and computer network as Hurricane Milton raged across Florida. more

Resource resilience on display-Innovative Florida pilot project showcases the advantage of integrating direct potable reuse at water treatment facilities. more

After Milton: JEA crews return from helping with restoration after hurricane-As of Sunday morning, all JEA electric and water/wastewater crews are back in Jacksonville after helping Florida communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. more

Facing state demand, Palm Coast begins process to expand wastewater treatment facility-

Palm Coast's Wastewater Treatment Facility 1 has been processing more than its permitted daily average of water and must now submit a plan to expand the plant's capacity by 2028. more

Editorial: Hurricane Milton should spark new approach to natural disasters-If Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers don't take action, the marketplace that conservatives and Republicans so often revere will. more

Fighting Florida’s Invasive Python Problem One Step at a Time-Despite miles of ground covered as we drove through the Everglades under the cover of darkness, it was impossible to ignore the fact that we hadn’t spotted a single mammal. more

Water service restoration by G.I.W.A. AND Margate Crews-At press time, a crew from Margate, Florida, hired to help Boca Grande restore its water service, hoped to have the main fully repaired by Friday. more

Palatka properties to be inspected for water safety-Palatka property owners with buildings

constructed before 1989 can expect a visit from city mployees sometime between Monday and the end of the year to check the safety of their drinking water. more

Will You Trade Three Hours for a Lifetime of Water Protections? This October and November are our best chances to exercise our rights to self-governance and create the highest level of water and wetlands protection in Western law for future generations of Floridians. more

Catholic Charities teams respond following Milton- In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc., Disaster Response Teams have been on the ground in several locations helping to bring needed supplies to individuals and families who are suffering from home damage or the loss of power and drinking water. more

Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics-“U.S. judge blocks Ron DeSantis admin’s threats to broadcasters over Amendment 4 ads” via Jackie Llanos of Florida Phoenix. more

County waives fees for testing residential potable wells-The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County (DOH-Volusia) will waive fees for bacteriological tests for private, residential potable wells during the next couple of weeks for residents living in flooded areas impacted by Hurricane Milton. more

Lakeland launches lead pipe program-The City of Lakeland has launched a new program to identify any lead or galvanized drinking water service lines that may be in the Lakeland water distribution system. more

Florida sees rise in flesh-eating bacteria after back-to-back hurricanes-People on Florida’s Gulf Coast have more to worry about after experiencing back-to-back hurricanes. more

‘Substantial threat to public health:’ City of Sanford files lawsuit over 1,4-dioxane in drinking water-Chemical has been linked to former Siemens manufacturing site on Rinehart Road that closed in the early 2000s. more

Here’s Brunch, a pop-up, weekend email during the 2024 campaign-Good Sunday morning, and welcome back to “Brunch,” a pop-up newsletter about the 2024 campaign cycle in Florida. more

October 19, 2009: Aircraft Drinking Water Rule(ADWR) is adopted by USEPA. "The primary purpose of the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR) is to ensure that safe and reliable drinking water is provided to aircraft passengers and crew. This entails providing air carriers with a feasible way to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the national primary drinking water regulations (NPDWRs). The existing regulations were designed primarily with traditional, stationary public water systems in mind. Some of these requirements have proven difficult to implement when applied to aircraft water systems, which are operationally very different. Therefore, using a collaborative rulemaking process, EPA developed the ADWR that is tailored to aircraft public water systems. The final rule combines coliform sampling, best management practices, corrective action, public notification, operator training, and reporting and recordkeeping to improve public health protection."

FLORIDA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION http://www.frwa.net

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