Small Loan Funds Available
Now
Through a grant from the RUS, Rural
Water is able to provide small loans to water and waste utilities of
up to $100,000.00 on a 10 year term with interest rates being the
lowest of market or poverty rate as established by the Department of
Agriculture. Currently the rate is 4.5% (http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/int-rate.htm).
There is also a special interest only
loan program for pre-construction cost available. The intent of the
revolving loan program is to assist utilities with small projects or
equipment loans in a rapid and user friendly fashion. If your
utility is in need of a loan for anything other than normal
maintenance, these funds are available in a fast and efficient
manner. There is a simple application form and once received, and
provided all necessary information is available, the funds should be
available within a week.
Obtain the application form at
www.nrwa.org (click the Revolving Fund Loan link on the right
side of the page) as well as additional information, or call
580-252-0629. This loan fund is made available through your state
rural water association.
DRWA Continues to Provide Technical Assistance to Mobile Home Park
Operators
With the majority of water systems
here in Delaware being of a small community water system or a
private mobile home park water system, we at DRWA want to remind
those operators that we continue to provide training credits toward
their certification, either by classroom training or on-site
training with the Mobile Training Unit. Operators that can’t travel
to class or need credits, please call and schedule our training unit
before your certification lapses.
Delaware
Rural Water Association, with funding through the Delaware Office of
Drinking Water, has a new program called the Sustainable
Infrastructure Assistance Program (SIAP). This program will focus
on promoting better management practices by assisting systems under
3,300 in population with financial evaluations, suggesting and
helping to implement improvements and helping these systems to
optimize the use of financial, physical and human resources while
helping to assure full cost recovery from the utility operation.
SIAP can help systems under 3,300 in population with planning, rate
setting and development of financial and managerial capacities and
more, all with a goal of developing a more sustainable system.
DRWA has
hired Jean Holloway to fill the position of SIAP Circuit Rider.
Many of you may be familiar with Jean who came to DRWA after eight
years as the Training Manager with the University of Maryland
Environmental Finance Center. During that time she provided
training on financial and management topics for utilities in
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
For more
information about the SIAP or to schedule an appointment with Jean
Holloway, call 302-424-3792. Jean can also be reached directly by
cell phone at 302-462-0462 or email at
jeandrwa@yahoo.com.
SEMS
Technologies, LLC Offers New Software Suite
SEMS
Technologies, LLC, has developed a new software suite for drinking
water and wastewater utilities. The new suite offers new sections
on ISDE, cross connection control/backflow prevention, sample
collection and recordkeeping, in addition to the Vulnerability
Assessment and Emergency Response Plan sections you may already be
familiar with.
Contact
Rick Duncan at 302-424-3792 for more information about the latest
version of the SEMS Software Suite.
State Revolving Fund
(SRF) Program
Delaware
Rural Water Association (DRWA), will continue to provide training
and technical assistance to SRF borrowers and community water
systems in Delaware. SRF applicants must meet technical, managerial
and financial capacity requirements. DRWA, under its agreement with
the Office of Drinking Water, will provide on-site technical
assistance and training to help SRF systems understand what makes
the system run and how to stay in compliance. In addition, DRWA will
assist systems in developing policies, procedures, and emergency
response plans, as well as how to administer such plans. Finally,
DRWA will assist SRF systems with their capital improvements
planning by conducting training to local officials on budgeting and
utility management. For more information or assistance, call Rick
Duncan at 302-424-3792.
Selbyville Town Administrator Announces Retirement
Gary
Taylor came to the Town of Selbyville, replacing former Town
Administrator Peter Nilles, on February 1, 1998.
Taylor
came from the computer software industry where he retired as the CFO
and COO of a large software company located in Owens Mills,
Maryland. He retired after eleven years when the company was sold.
Upon his
retirement, he and his wife, Kit, moved to their home in Bay Colony
on the Indian River Bay. He enjoyed his retirement for about three
years but found he was missing the day to day contact with
colleagues and customers that he found very rewarding in his
career.
When
reading the Wave newspaper one Wednesday he saw that the then
Selbyville Town Administrator had passed away. His first thought
was “This job would be right up my alley” and so he submitted an
application to the town, went through the hiring process and was
eventually hired. Taylor has found meeting and working directly
with the elected legislators of Delaware and the Mayor and Council
of Selbyville very rewarding.
While
Taylor has found his position as Town Administrator the most
rewarding of his career, he is going to give the retirement process
another try come May 2008. He and his wife plan to do some
traveling and the “Snow Bird” thing in Florida during the cold
months. They will continue to call Delaware their home and plan to
spend many happy years on the Delaware shore.
Leak Detection
At the
end of last year the Governor issued a drought warning and advised
conservation measures. There are things water professionals can do
to lend a hand. The first is a water audit which basically consists
of figuring out your unaccounted for water. That is, the
difference between what is coming into your system and what is
leaving your system. The unaccounted for water may be due to
recordkeeping errors, inaccurate metering, water that is given away
or stolen, or it may be the dreaded water leak.
This is the season for water leaks;
it seems the freezing and thawing of the ground brings them on.
Leak detection and water loss control are not as complicated as they
may seem. When you see water visibly seeping out of the middle of
the road, it’s pretty obvious. When that is not the case, a leak
detection survey is required. For this brief overview on leak
detection, let’s just say we have seen actual evidence of a water
leak.
If you’re not exactly sure where a
leak is originating from, be sure to call DRWA. We have some great
equipment and are always willing to lend a hand. We use two methods
of detecting water leaks: Sonic listening devices and Correlator
devices. Listening devices are basically ground microphones that
amplify the sound of water escaping the pipe. The water lines are
first located and marked, and then the listener moves the ground
microphone over the marked lines and listens for the sounds a water
leak makes. The Correlator, on the other hand, pretty much does the
job for us. It has two transmitters that are placed either directly
on the water line or on valves or meters that hear the “leak sounds”
and transmit them separately to the main processor unit, thereby
pinpointing the water leak.
The benefits of leak detection are
numerous. Finding and repairing leaks reduces wear on equipment,
lowers electric and operating costs for treating, pumping, and
storing water, and protects the public’s health by reducing
cross-connections. For assistance with leak detection, call DRWA at
302-424-3792.
AWWA, NRWA to Advance
Common Goals
AWWA and the National Rural
Water Association have agreed to advance common goals and promote
each other’s products, as well as raise public awareness about the
water industry and promote sound public policy.
AWWA is truly
committed to developing this working relationship with NRWA,” said
Nilaksh Kothari, AWWA president. “Both organizations will benefit
from each other’s strengths, and this new era of cooperation and
coordination will ultimately serve consumers from communities of all
sizes.”
Kothari and
Rodney Tart, NRWA president, signed a memo of understanding (MOU)
declaring their intent to work more closely together and affirming
each association’s common goals. “It is important that our
respective organizations continue to seek opportunity in areas where
we can find mutual agreement,” said Tart. “I am encouraged by this
new collaborative effort to advance the water industry.”
Signed during
NRWA’s annual conference in Philadelphia, the MOU states that the
respective presidents will meet at least twice a year. They will
appoint a joint workgroup to develop an annual action plan to
fulfill the intent of the agreement. The group will also review the
implementation of the MOU, hold formal partnering sessions, and
recommend amendments.
According to
the MOU, the associations’ common goals are to advance education,
science, and technology; disseminate technical information; provide
training assistance; increase public understanding; promote sound
public policy, and improve trust and confidence between the two
organizations.
Source: AWWA
E-Mainstream, posted 10/23/07
