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Joint Utility Management
Conference
Slated for February by WEF, AWWA
The Water Environment
Federation (WEF) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) will
present the joint Utility Management
2009 specialty conference February 17-20 at the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
The conference will tackle
tough issues currently facing water and wastewater utilities to provide new
insight and ideas for utility leaders through workshops, presentations,
roundtable discussions, and networking with key utility decision makers.
Attendees will also get a firm grasp on how to strategize for future
challenges.
Conference topics include:
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asset management
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best business
practices/innovations
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capital project planning &
delivery
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financial planning/rate setting
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strategic planning
-
succession planning
-
workforce strategies
The event is designed for water and wastewater utility
managers, public works directors, district managers, water and wastewater
treatment professionals, consultants, public officials, and regulatory board
members.
For more details and registration
information, visit
www.awwa.org/conferences/umc.
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Utilities Invited to Host Local ‘Drop
Savers’ Contests
The Florida Section of the American Water Works
Association will again sponsor the statewide “Drop Savers” Water
Conservation Poster Contest during National Drinking Water Week, scheduled
for May 3-9. Since the deadline is March 15 for local winners to be
submitted for judging at the state level,
Florida
utilities are encouraged to begin preparations for showcasing the creativity
of their local school children.
The contest gives children from kindergarten through
high school the opportunity to design a poster about water
conservation. Early in the year, local winners are chosen in five different
age groups, with winning entries advancing for statewide judging. Utilities
publicize the local contests, distribute contest materials to local schools,
coordinate the judging, recruit prize sponsors, and arrange local awards
ceremonies.
Although the state winners will be announced in mid
April prior to Drinking Water Week, utilities should start planning their
local celebration now. Interested utilities may download the complete
package of “Drop Savers 2009” start-up materials from the “Drop Savers”
Florida Section web site at www.fsawwa.org. For any questions, or if there
is any problem downloading the materials, please contact state coordinator
Vince Eck at (407) 553-4146 or by e-mail at
Vincent.eck@itt.com looking forward
to seeing your utility represented this year!
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2009 Operations Challenge Welcomes Entries
Operators from across Florida will compete in
the 22nd edition of the Operations Challenge during the Florida
Water Resources Conference in May. Participants will be timed in five
separate events to determine
Florida’s representative to the National Operations
Challenge during the WEFTEC ’09 conference.
Last year’s competition was arguably the closest in the
21-year history of the event, as the Fort Lauderdale Knights regained the
Operations Challenge title in a tiebreaker situation after finishing dead
even with the Orange Crush of Orange County Utilities. Both utilities are
expected to be represented by teams at the 2009 competition, along with
teams from Tampa
and Tallahassee.
The Operations Challenge promotes team building,
leadership, education and pride within your utility. Utilities that did not
enter a team in last year’s Operations Challenge are especially invited to
participate in the 2009 event.
For information and entry forms, contact John Lomax,
Operations Challenge 2009 chairman, by phone at 904-825-1040 or 904-669-3793
(cell phone), or by e-mail at
jlomax@ci.st-augustine.fl.us.
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Top Ops Set for April in West Palm Beach;
FSAWWA Regions Challenged to Enter
The annual statewide Top Ops competition will be held during the first
week of April at the Florida Water Resources Conference in West Palm Beach. The “College Bowl”
style event features teams of licensed water plant treatment operators
answering questions to showcase their knowledge of treatment operations.
Utilities throughout the state are encouraged to enter. Teams do not have to be
made up of contestants from the same utility; multiple utilities can sponsor
a single team. Florida Section AWWA regions are challenged to enter teams
made up of licensed operators from their regions. Last year the Palm Coast
Water Buoys won their fourth straight Florida Top Ops event, then went on to
win the national Top Ops competition for the second time in three years.
The Top Ops Committee will meet at 2 p.m. February 4 at 255 Enterprise Drive
in Deltona to review the state rule requirements, discuss the question
format, and assist any organization willing to compete. For directions,
contact Top Ops Chair Scott Ruland at the phone number or e-mail address
shown below.
No video, audio, or digital recordings will be
allowed during the competition. For registration forms and the 2009 rules, contact:
Scott Ruland, TopOps chair
Chief Operator
City of Deltona
401 Fisher Drive, Deltona,
Fl 32725
386-574-1620
E-mail: sruland@deltonafl.gov
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Looking for Answers? Here Are the
Questions
Are you new to the water and wastewater field? Want to boost your
knowledge about topics you'll face each day as a water/wastewater
professional?
Each month's issue of the Florida Water Resources Journal
features "Certification
Boulevard," a popular question-and-answer column
for treatment plant operators. Past editions of "Certification Boulevard" back through the
year 2000 are available on the Florida Water Environment Association's Web
site at the following Internet address.
http://www.fwea.org/cms/index.cfm?primarykeylist=,234,248,264,1756
This address is a Web page titled "Quizzes and Case
Studies." All
"Certification
Boulevard" questions and answers back to January
2006 are posted on this page. Near the top left corner of the page above the
"Quizzes and Case Studies" title, click on the phrase 'Archives CBTS' to
access all editions of
"Certification
Boulevard" dating back to the year 2000.
