Is your small rural water system infrastructure coming to the end of its useful life? Are those replacement dates approaching quickly? Maybe your system is out of compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), or can’t meet peak daily water demand because of drought. Often small rural water systems find it difficult to set aside the appropriate reserve funds to pay for these costs and keep water rates affordable. Many systems depend on multiple state and federal funding sources in the form of grants, and zero- or low-interest loans to remedy these challenges. Don’t assume that your system will qualify for these state and federal funds without doing your research. Funding agencies use the community’s median household income (MHI) to deter­mine the grant amount and/or loan funds they can provide the system, and what is an affordable service rate. This course will help you to determine if your system needs an income survey conducted, and how it can be a tremendous benefit to your community. Participants will learn: How to determine if your system could benefit from an income survey Benefits analysis How it could help you develop a stronger capital improvements plan The MHI process, how and when […]

Description: This webinar will look at how instrumentation and control systems are used by a water utility.  It will look at controlling motors, VFDs and energy management.  The webinar will have math problems related to the topic of instrumentation and control.  It will identify four main building blocks of a SCADA system and have examples, usage and configuration option.  Finally, it will show real world examples of SCADA screens and discuss how water operators interact with SCADA technology. Earn up to 8 contact hours. Instructor: Henry Palechek Member $150 / Non-member $175 Online registration for this webinar closes on February 7.

No water system is an island; we need each other. Small water systems must meet the same regulations as large systems without the economies of scale. What’s a system with 1,000 connections or less to do? This workshop will discuss the spectrum of opportunities for partnering with others. From casual information sharing or operational support, to formal consolidation or joint powers agreements, we will review the challenges and benefits of partnering up. By creating partnerships and opportunities for working together we can solve some of our small system challenges Participants will learn: How to evaluate their system's potential for partnership Options for working with other systems The next steps to start or continue the conversation