SYPC Brings Community Service to WEFTEC®

By Haley Falconer, WEF Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC) member

I am very excited to have the opportunity to blog about the success that the Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC) has had regarding our first service project as well as plans for WEFTEC.09. It was at WEFTEC.07 in San Diego when the SYPC first discussed participating in a service project, and at the time, the group wanted something that would engage the young (and seasoned) WEF SYPC members as well as give our group something we could put our name on and be proud of. The initial goal was to complete a couple of small projects in Chicago and Orlando with an ultimate objective of finishing a large project for the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (WEFTEC.10).

The project we selected in Orlando, Fla. for WEFTEC.09 is a wetland replanting as a part of the Orange County Utilities Northwest Water Reclamation Facility (NWRF). NWRF is an advanced secondary treatment system with a permitted treatment capacity of 7.5 MGD that is located in the northwest part of the County, about 30 miles from the WEFTEC.09 conference location.

This project includes harvesting plants from established parts of the wetlands and replanting them in other areas that currently have a limited amount of plants. The wetlands system consists of six cells planted with native plants and includes approximately 75 acres of land; this project, however, will focus on one wetland cell. Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn about a wetland treatment system and how wetlands are used to further remove nutrients from secondary effluent.

The work will be completed on the Saturday of WEFTEC, and each volunteer will hopefully plant around 20 plants. We estimate that about 100 students and young professional volunteers will gain hands-on experience with reclaimed water and learn how reclaimed water is integrated with water supply sources by supplementing wetlands treatment with advanced secondary wastewater treatment process and lake augmentation. There is also potential for a community education part of this project that will be further developed in the future.

The success of the first SYPC service project in Chicago added energy and enthusiasm to the Orlando project. Around 60 volunteers at a neighborhood park (Pulaski Park) helped with that project, titled "Gettin’ Out of the Gutter," which focused on building and planting a rain garden. WEF SYPC collaborated with the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT, Chicago); the Chicago Park District; the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; and the Illinois Water Environment Association to plan and coordinate the project, recruit volunteers and sponsors, and provide construction labor. The Illinois WEA will also maintain the rain garden. We look forward to this sort of corroboration in Orlando! For more information contact me at haleyfalconer@gmail.com or Rebecca McLarty at McLartyRG@cdm.com.

P.S. Due to the success of the SYPC’s first service project and the momentum and anticipation of the next project, our group would like to challenge each WEF Member Association to participate in a service project of their own. This is an opportunity for each MA to get out and make a difference in our own communities. Many small projects can have a huge impact, and I hope that this is a continuation of a tradition of service through WEF!

On Turning Waste into Watts…

By Jeanette Brown, Vice President of WEF

As WEF vice president, I testified before the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee this morning about protecting water quality and public health more economically and efficiently. It was extremely rewarding and an experience I will certainly never forget.

It was really inspiring to be able to place our shared goal for sustainable water infrastructure squarely on the new administration’s radar screen. (Read full testimony.) As water quality professionals, we know that the proper treatment of our water makes significant demand for energy, the cost of which cannot be overlooked or underestimated. Energy efficiency and energy independence are essential to sustainable wastewater treatment. We are concerned about the high use and cost of energy (over 30% of a utility’s operating budget!) as well as the age of water infrastructure. As members of the Water Environment Federation, we have continually taken a proactive approach to address conservation and renewable energy using technology and innovation. WEF has documented this commitment to the environment and our water through conferences, papers, forums, and publications. (See WEF's Sustainability & Energy Knowledge Center.) I’m optimistic that key legislators understand this now, too.

But perhaps as important as all of that is a major evolution in thinking where wastewater utilities are beginning to be viewed as big players in conserving or even supplying energy, rather than energy consumers or waste generators. It’s a paradigm shift advanced by cost, climate change, and sustainability considerations. In fact, we initiated a pilot study and scaled research program for the conversion of wastewater biosolids to synthetic gas (www.stamfordbiogas.com) at my own utility with the support of the Federal Department of Energy. As discussed this morning, other new approaches that can turn waste to energy, generate electricity and income, or use energy efficiently are taking place across the country and around the world.

We like to say that the success of our sustainable future will be “CTI”; Conservation, Technology, and Innovation. We are the people who can turn waste into watts! I was grateful for today’s opportunity to shed some light on this topic and feel truly honored to be part of this wonderful community of environmental stewards and professional practitioners who dedicate their lives to the preservation of our most valued resource, our water.