Hazy fire-touched sunrise over downtown Los Angeles, shot from Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Photo by Glenn Duenas as part of the Met Photo Club Quarantine Series Challenge
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT MET THIS WEEK

A weekly newsletter by and for Metropolitan employees
August 31, 2020
Here is the year-end video shown during GM Kightlinger's Town Hall last week. Link
Two Outstanding Projects Honored by ASCE
Last week, Metropolitan received two Outstanding Project awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch.

ASCE MLAB’s panel of professional engineers selected the projects based on innovation and improving the state of the practice for water supply and delivery and wastewater treatment. 

The Second Lower Feeder PCCP Rehabilitation – Reach 1 and 4 - is the 2020 Outstanding Water Project. The Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center is the 2020 Outstanding Water/ Wastewater Treatment Project. Metropolitan will share the RRWP award with our partner, the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County.

“I am very proud of all the Metropolitan staff that worked on these projects,” says John Bednarski, Engineering Services Group Manager. “These awards recognize the quality and significance of our work and the professionalism of our staff.”

The Second Lower Feeder project involved relining more than six miles of prestressed concrete cylinder pipe with steel. The project was recognized for its strategies to minimize downtime for deliveries, reduce impacts to traffic flow, sequence construction and coordinate excellent public outreach.

The Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center began operations in October 2019 and is located at the Sanitation Districts’ Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson. The 500,000 gallon-per-day demonstration facility is designed to test an innovative advanced water treatment process train for potable reuse.
A Chance to Bring Your Kids to Work...Virtually
The majority of students in Metropolitan’s service area are beginning this school year with some form of online learning.

Over the summer, staff from Metropolitan's Education Unit has worked with our member agencies and other educational organizations to update and develop new and revised online materials for grades Pre-K to college.

For a soft launch, the Education Unit would like to introduce these projects to the children of Met staff during the week of September 21 to get feedback and then incorporate suggestions into the presentations that will be made available to students in our service area this school year.  

Metropolitan employees can register their children in the free online exercises through this link

Education staff will be in touch with registered participants to verify their interest, and participating students will be mailed the necessary activity kits.

The offerings include re-imagined online field trip programs to Diamond Valley Lake and the Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center. Met is also offering an online program for both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts based on the Environmental Science merit badge requirements.

For younger students, Metropolitan is offering online H2O shows and story times in which educators read water-related books. These activities teach water conservation themes and help students understand more about the sources of their water and how it is treated and delivered to their homes.
Using Her Energy and Skills as a Power Broker
"Tesla and Elon Musk will have nothing on us," says Ha Nguyen, Senior Resource Specialist in the Engineering Services Group, who secured a $7.75 million State grant for BESS -- the district's Battery Energy Storage System project.  

Once installed, BESS will provide an edge for peak load management and energy price arbitration. Currently planned for Jensen, Skinner, Weymouth and an Orange County pump station, the battery projects will be installed in a micro-grid configuration to ensure seamless operation of the treatment plants in the event of a utility system outage. The micro-grid will also integrate power supplies from both on-site solar and emergency diesel generators.  

Hired in 2002, Ha hails from Montreal and joined the district's solar program in 2009. She quickly provided her expertise and dedication - starting with the planning and continuing to the solar panel dedications at Weymouth in 2016 and Jensen in 2018.

These projects cut the agency's carbon footprint, help protect against energy price increases, and resulted in large rebates from LADWP's Solar Incentive Program. Ha also manages the annual greenhouse gas emissions and water energy nexus metrics reporting to various reporting agencies. 

A global trekker who speaks three languages, Ha enjoys traveling with her husband, John Wilson, a USC professor who teaches sustainability issues. A trip to Tibet had a huge impact on her life. "Despite the strict rules and sternly-controlled tour, the heart of the Tibetan people did shine through,” says Ha. “They are such open, kind people. It made me re-think my world view and philosophy of life." 
New hires, transfers, promotions & retirements are posted here each month.
NEXT ISSUE: September 8
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