NEWEA's July Update

Despite the near-constant downpour of rain, we're officially a couple weeks into Summer 2023. As we ease into this season, things slow down a bit while people take their vacations and (hopefully) get to enjoy some nice New England weather.

Although NEWEA's calendar is sparser over the next couple months, we are still hosting one event that allows us to get together this Summer. Our Source Water Homebrew Competition is happening on July 26 at Mayflower Brewing. This family-family event includes food, games, and beers created with local source water by our NEWEA brewers. All attendees over the age of 21 will have the opportunity to try all brewers' beers and vote on their favorite. Prior to the competition, attendees are invited to a free walking tour of local green infrastructure, led by Plymouth, MA WWTF staff. We hope to see you there!

Once we all return from our summer vacations, NEWEA's schedule gets busy again. From September through November, we'll be hosting CEC/Plant Operations, Risk & Resiliency, and Residuals and Biosolids Conferences. We'll also be co-hosting an IT/Asset Management Fair with NEWWA. This event is currently accepting abstracts. Scroll down to learn more and access the link to submit.

In addition to our specialty conferences, planning has begun for our 2024 Annual Conference & Exhibit, taking place January 21-24. Our committees are currently reviewing abstracts. Authors will be notified of acceptance in November. In the coming months, we'll also begin releasing information to reserve exhibit booths.

Check out the rest of the newsletter for more on committee news and details on upcoming events. Until next newsletter, we hope everyone has a great month and stays healthy.

As always, we invite you to contact Jordan Gosselin at jgosselin@newea.org with committee news and updates you would like to share in future editions.

Source Water Homebrewing Competition to be Held July 26

Join us at Mayflower Brewing for food, games, and a friendly competition among NEWEA's home brewers. Brewers were tasked with creating an original beer using local source water. Attendees age 21+ will have the opportunity to sample each brewer's beer and vote on their favorite. The winning brewer will receive a prize.

Call for Abstracts: IT/Asset Management Fair

The New England Water Works Association (NEWWA) Information Technology Committee and NEWEA's Asset Management Committee are seeking presentations for the Fall 2023 Information Technology & Asset Management Fair. The fair will consist of a combination of technical presentations and “learning stations”, where actual demonstrations of technology may be made in a small group interactive forum.

Submit an abstract by August 30.

2022 Stormy Award Recipients

The New England Stormwater Collaborative has announced the winners of their 2022 Stormy Awards, which honor the best stormwater ideas in the region.

The 2022 New England Stormy Award winners are:

Town of Arlington – “Small but mighty: Catch basin retrofits as cost-effective green infrastructure”
Co-Awardees:
Mystic River Watershed Association – “Regional Stormwater Management in Greater Boston's Mystic River Watershed”
Town of Natick, MA – “Charles River Flood Model: Inspiring Regional Collaboration”
City of New Bedford – “Automating Sewer Overflow Notifications and Identifying Anomalies with a Digital Twin”

Recipients were invited to present their winning idea at the NEAPWA Conference, June 21-23 in North Falmouth, MA.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Connecticut Student Named SJWP Winner

Naomi Park, a high school student enrolled at Greenwich High School, has been named the winner of the U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize. She was honored for her outstanding project "Concurrent Removal of Rising, Soluble Ocean Carbon Dioxide and Oil-in-Water Contaminants via Multi-Functional Remediation Framework".

Earlier this year, Naomi won the Connecticut state prize and advanced to the national competition. Fifty-one students representing 36 WEF Member Associations convened for this competition at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado in June. In addition to Naomi, NEWEA was represented by Alexander Busko (Maine); Hyeonki Lee (Massachusetts); and Abhinav Avvaru (New Hampshire).

NEWEA is thrilled for Naomi and her success in the national competition and wishes her the absolute best as she prepares to participate in the international competition in Stockholm, Sweden in August.

Work for Water New England Collaborative Update - June 2023

In January 2022, the Workforce Committees of New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) and New England Water Works Association (NEWWA) gathered to discuss establishing a regional water workforce planning structure.

Because of multiple stakeholder interests in establishing a workforce development effort, NEWWA and NEWEA contacted the six New England states' professional drinking water and clean water associations to form collaborative partnerships.

Over the past year, utility leaders from participating partner organizations collaborated closely with the executive leadership at NEWWA and NEWEA to form a Work For Water - New England planning structure that includes a Steering Committee of utility leaders representing water professionals in all six states.

A summary article has been developed listing the participating organizations, the three-phase approach developed, and outcomes of the Steering Committee's in-person meeting that took place in April 2023.

Regular updates will be shared to keep participating associations' memberships informed on the Collaborative's action items and next steps and their Strategic Plan to address workforce issues in New England's water industry.

Read the full article.

Lego Set Highlighting Water Professionals Seeks Support

Sewer Heroes: Fighting the Fatberg was introduced as a proposed Lego set last year. To move on to the next step of the review process, a proposed set must receive 10,000 votes of support. Although this set did hit that benchmark, it was not ultimately chosen to be produced as a Lego set.

Now, the set has returned for a second chance to be produced. As of sending this, the set has received approximately 2,900 votes of support and needs a total of 10,000 to be considered by Lego.

The set highlights our essential water professionals and the vital work they do for our environment and communities. The model depicts a 360-cutaway view of a combined sewer clogged by a fatberg and includes a working manhole. Water professionals are at work to remedy the issue, with the assistance of a jet/vac truck. At the street level is a burger and fries restaurant, allowing those playing with the set to backtrack the stream of fats, oils, and greases and other non-flushable items to their likely entry point.

Cast your vote to show your support.

Ways to give

Make a donation online.
When you shop online, use Amazon Smile and choose New England Water Environment Assoc as your charitable organization.
Take a moment to share how NEWEA has impacted your career, education, and/or community.
Establish a legacy gift or memorial fund, or include NEWEA in your will.
Designate NEWEA for a Qualified Charitable Distribution. (If you have to take a Required Minimum Distribution from your retirement funds in 2023, you may be able to offset the tax impacts. Contact your financial advisor/IRA custodian for more information.)

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