Member Spotlight

The City of Garland, Texas continually seeks positive ways to make their mark on the community. To improve communication with the Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) located within the city’s service area, the City of Garland Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP) implemented a quarterly electronic newsletter and an annual training opportunity. The newsletter provides regulatory updates and requirements, reminders, and notices of upcoming events. The goal is to inform and educate the SIUs to improve and maintain compliance with pretreatment regulations.

The residents of Alexandria, Virginia sometimes confuse the three water entities that service the city: Virginia American Water (VAW), which provides drinking water; the City of Alexandria, which owns the sanitary sewer system and stormwater infrastructure; and Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew), which owns the water resource recovery facility, interceptors, pump stations, and four combined sewer outfalls. In 2018, the One Water Alexandria partnership was established to provide education and outreach to the community and lessen confusion among shared water customers. The eight-person team, which represents the three water entities and RiverRenew (an AlexRenew program to address combined sewer overflows), developed a multi-phased plan to get Alexandrians to know their H2O.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) provides water and wastewater service to the greater Albuquerque metropolitan area of central New Mexico, managing a 2,400-mile collection system and treating more than 50 million gallons of wastewater every day. The agency established the Albuquerque Area Watershed Collaboration Program to build partnerships to help protect watershed health. With support from local, state and federal agencies, the utility encourages collaboration with forest managers, local stormwater managers, regulatory agencies, educators, environmental groups, agricultural interests, and the general public.

The vision of NEW Water, the brand of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, is “Protecting our most valuable resource, water.” The utility’s commitment to that vision is demonstrated through two initiatives that also help advance NEW Water as a Water Resources Utility of the Future. First, the Resource Recovery and Electrical Energy (R2E2) project was the catalyst for a transformation in mindset at NEW Water by treating the materials it receives from its customers as resources to be recovered and reused rather than wastes to be disposed.

KUB’s pledge to provide safe, reliable, and affordable water begins with protecting its community’s most valuable water resource: the Tennessee River. With the emergence of stories across the country concerning water contamination and safety concerns, KUB recognized a proactive approach to community education and awareness was necessary to adequately inform its ratepayers of the ways in which they can help protect their source water.

The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour Program has provided free tours for residents and students to learn about wastewater treatment and EBMUD’s protection of public health and the San Francisco Bay. The guided tours are led by a diverse group of EBMUD employees, including operators, engineers, and administrative staff. Often fully booked and given excellent reviews, the tours aim to engage the community and promote pollution prevention.

Last month, NACWA recognized Clean Water Services with a National Environmental Achievement Award during a ceremony at the Association’s Winter Conference in Atlanta, for the innovative systems approach to building watershed resiliency they ultimately selected—Tree for All.

In May 2019, DC Water launched an art contest encouraging District residents to submit designs that communicate the importance of the DC Clean Rivers Project and the need to invest in water and sewer infrastructure in the District.

The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC), Rhode Island’s largest wastewater authority, focuses on bold infrastructure improvements, active stakeholder engagement, diligent monitoring of environmental health, and trailblazing renewable energy generation. When the organization was formed in 1980, the NBC transformed Providence’s Field’s Point Wastewater Treatment Facility from one of the worst performing plants in the nation into an award-winning facility. In 1992, the state entrusted the NBC with the Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facility, located in East Providence, and the NBC has made continual improvements in both service districts ever since.

In collaboration with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) and the Freshwater Forum at the Cranbrook Institute of Science, the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) created a comprehensive education program – the One Water Campaign. The highly visible and engaging regional campaign was designed to raise awareness of and generate appreciation for water resources and infrastructure topics including drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and the connection of these to the blue economy, recreation, quality of life and economic prosperity in Southeast Michigan.