CalMutuals

By law, all mutual water board members are required to have two hours of ethics training within six months of taking office and every six years following. This training is designed to provide system longevity and help ensure that board members meet their legal responsibilities. Required training topics include conflicts of interest, fiduciary responsibilities, Safe Drinking Water Act compliance, long-term management and capital improvement planning. We will also cover the AB240 requirements, which affect mutual water systems as of January 1, 2014. This workshop allows mutual water systems to comply with this new regulation and helps prepare them to better govern their water company. This workshop meets the legal requirement for board members ethics training under AB54. Participants will learn: Requirements of AB54 and AB240 Financial conflicts of interest to avoid About strategic planning Financial responsibilities Capital improvement planning How to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act

This course is now offered as an online training. It is recommended to take both parts on the same day.  Part 1will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm and Part 2 will take place from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Please follow the links below to register for each part separately.  Your only licensed operator has just left town due to a family emergency and handed you the phone number of a certified operator in the next town. Will the substitute operator know how your system works and what needs to be done daily to keep it safe and in compliance? A properly prepared Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Plan is one of a water purveyor’s most important documents. The O&M Plan is a “living” document that explains how a public water system is to be operated and maintained on a day-to-day basis to ensure public health, safety, and compliance with applicable regulations. In addition to being an important training tool for new staff, the O&M manual serves as a practical handbook by which a qualified substitute operator can operate and maintain the system in a safe and reliable manner in absence of the system’s primary operator. Participants will learn: The vital elements that comprise an O&M […]

This course is now offered as an online training. It is recommended to take both parts on the same day.  Part 1will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm and Part 2 will take place from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Please follow the links below to register for each part separately.  Your only licensed operator has just left town due to a family emergency and handed you the phone number of a certified operator in the next town. Will the substitute operator know how your system works and what needs to be done daily to keep it safe and in compliance? A properly prepared Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Plan is one of a water purveyor’s most important documents. The O&M Plan is a “living” document that explains how a public water system is to be operated and maintained on a day-to-day basis to ensure public health, safety, and compliance with applicable regulations. In addition to being an important training tool for new staff, the O&M manual serves as a practical handbook by which a qualified substitute operator can operate and maintain the system in a safe and reliable manner in absence of the system’s primary operator. Participants will learn: The vital elements that comprise an O&M […]

This course is now offered as an online training. It is recommended to take both parts on the same day.  Part 1, will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm and Part 2, will take place from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Please follow the links below to register for each part separately. Public water systems are required to provide safe drinking water. Methods for providing safe drinking water vary from system to system, but there are a handful of methods that apply to all systems. This workshop designed for operators and managers will cover the methods used by most water systems to ensure acceptable water quality. Participants will learn: • The technique and importance of coliform sampling • The importance and methods for unidirectional flushing • Disinfection basics • Water storage tank cleaning and maintenance • Cross connection prevention

This course  is now offered as an online training. It is recommended to take both parts on the same day.  Part 1, will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm and Part 2, will take place from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.  Please follow the links below to register for each part separately.  Public water systems are required to provide safe drinking water. Methods for providing safe drinking water vary from system to system, but there are a handful of methods that apply to all systems. This workshop designed for operators and managers will cover the methods used by most water systems to ensure acceptable water quality. Participants will learn: The technique and importance of coliform sampling The importance and methods for unidirectional flushing Disinfection basics Water storage tank cleaning and maintenance Cross connection prevention

This course is now offered as an online training. It is recommended to take both parts on the same day.  Part 1 will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm and Part 2 will take place from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Please follow the links below to register for each part separately.   Every system will have an emergency. Identifying potential risks and taking measures to mitigate their impact are the first steps to a successful recovery. In part one of this two-part series we will look at tools and techniques for assessing where your system may experience service interruption, unsafe water, or any other harm. Participants will learn: Identify risks to their system  Utilize available tools to begin mitigation efforts  Understand the cost and benefit of instituting mitigation efforts Access tools for the completion of a hazard mitigation process

This course is now offered as an online training. It is recommended to take both parts on the same day.  Part 1 will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm and Part 2 will take place from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Please follow the links below to register for each part separately.   In part one of this series you learned about pre-hazard mitigation planning and how to reduce drinking water system vulnerabilities. In part two, we will provide water system personnel with the information and resources needed to respond preemptively and proactively to most emergency situations. A water system emergency is any situation which causes water outages, unsafe drinking water, or any harm to humans or animals. The emergency may have been created by a fire, flood or vandalism and having a written response plan, lines of communication and mutual aid agreements in place prior to an emergency will provide an avenue for thoughtful response. Participants will learn: How to develop an emergency response plan and identify the eight core elements required in the ERP  How to assess vulnerability and complete risk ranking as we introduce the concept of the vulnerability assessment The benefits of mutual aid agreements Where to look for resources to complete a […]

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