Member Spotlight

KC Water works to highlight the vital role water plays in everyday life by leveraging the annual awareness effort by the Value of Water Campaign — Imagine A Day Without Water – to help its community better understand the importance of clean and safe water. Recognizing access to clean water is often taken for granted, KC Water produced a short video, social media graphics and promotional items to highlight the simple daily tasks and luxuries that would not be possible without the essential resource.

In 2018, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) Communications Department set a goal to engage more middle school and high school students in the HRSD service area. To achieve this, the Environmental Education and Outreach program was restructured to include updated versions of lesson plans suitable for secondary school age students. Prior to these updates, the education and outreach program curriculum were most beneficial to elementary school students. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District was recognized with a National Environmental Achievement Award in the Public Information & Education (Educational Program) category during NACWA’s Winter Conference in February 2020. Congratulations to the HRSD and everyone involved!

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.