How is Climate Change Affecting Your System?  {9/21/2011}
Was your area burning up this summer, or were you in a place that received torrential rains? Severe weather has struck many parts of the country this year. “Climate change” is a phrase often misused by people without a basic understanding of what drives it, what affects it, and what it, in turn, affects. For operators or leaders of small water systems, here are some tips on how to minimize the potential effects that climate change will have on your system as well as an explanation of some basic principles of climate change and examples of how climate change affects the weather.

Ready-to-go publications  {8/31/2011}
Communicating with customers is one of the most important functions that managers of water/wastewater treatment systems have, but not many have the time to research and write articles as one way of reaching out to the public. If you need a way to help your customers understand the services your drinking water or wastewater system provides or perhaps help in educating new board members in their duties, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) has publications that can aid you with these tasks.

Dealing with drought  {8/10/2011}
It's summer, which usually means drought conditions for a few places here or there. Only this summer is different. So far, 2011 is the hottest on record for many areas of the country, and much of those same areas are experiencing moderate to severe drought. What about your system? Is your supply ample enough to last through to the next soaking rain? Are your customers complaining about excessive water bills? How can you keep costs down in such a situation? In this edition of eBulletin, we'll offer some suggestions to help your system and your customers make it through a drought, be it regular summer dryness or a persistent problem.

How the Clean Water Act Protects Us  {7/27/2011}
The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and for regulating standards of quality for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. It was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the act's common name with amendments in 1977. Today, significant changes to that bill are making their way through Congress in the form of HR 2018. What will this bill mean for you? In this edition of eBulletin, Pat Kline explores that question.

Perfecting Policies, Part 2  {6/29/2011}
What happens if a board member resigns? How will you replace him? How much money should be put away each month in a reserve fund? What’s considered a pay period in your organization? Who’s in charge of making nightly deposits? These are a few of the questions that should be answered in your system’s policies, specifically the Governance Policies, Financial (or Financial Management) Policies, Personnel Policies and Standard Operating Procedures. In the last edition of eBulletin, we provided a few starting points and tips on how to write your policies. We also provided a few suggestions on writing your Customer Service Policies. In this edition, we’ll talk about other policies you need and offer some suggestions on what you should include in each set of policies.

Perfecting policies  {6/8/2011}
What do you do when a customer reports a large water leak? Who is in charge of making sure the nightly deposits are made at the bank? What happens when a developer wants to add a subdivision that may tax your water system's capabilities? All of these questions should be answered in your water system's policies. In this special two-part edition of eBulletin, we'll delve into what kind of policies you should have and give a general idea of what should be covered. In the next issue, we'll continue our policy discussion and offer ways to make sure your policies stay current.

What’s the fracas over fracking?  {5/18/2011}
Hydraulic fracturing is being spoken about in some quarters, including the media, as the next great hope for weaning America off foreign oil and making the U.S. energy-independent. It is a process that involves extracting natural gas from underground pockets and is commonly referred to as “fracking.”
While fracking provides access to valuable new sources of energy, it also has the potential for negative environmental side effects. As this process becomes more common, the need to understand its benefits and consequences becomes more important for everybody—those who provide drinking water for their communities and other citizens who consume it.

Water and Wastewater getting more ‘social’  {4/27/2011}
What if there was a free tool that allowed access instantly to a wide audience? This tool could provide important announcements, standard reports, updates, accolades and whatever else customers needed to know, and could do so without costing a dime.
Such a tool actually exists, and water and wastewater systems, regulators and nonprofit agencies are already using it, despite its stigma as a “youth only” thing. It’s social networking, using sites like Facebook and Twitter. In this edition of eBulletin, we’ll give you a brief overview of the top two social networking sites and what some water- and wastewater-related companies are doing there. We’ll also provide suggestions on how your system can use free Internet sites to reach customers better and faster.

To Regulate or Not to Regulate?  {4/6/2011}
A few weeks ago, we discussed the EPA’s plans to regulate perchlorates in drinking water and the process that will take place over the next few years to prepare for that.
Perchlorates aren’t the only chemicals under the gun. As part of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s 1996 amendments, the EPA is required to review groups of chemicals every five years and decide whether they should be monitored as well. That time has come, and the EPA is looking at the possibility of regulating 28 chemicals and two viruses. What will this mean for small water systems? What’s the timeline for all this, and what could the cost be? This edition of eBulletin will answer those questions.

A clear message in a bottle: Tap water is safe and cheaper for consumers  {3/16/2011}

Bottled water has been described as one of the greatest marketing successes of the last century. Convincing consumers that the water coming from their home taps is unhealthy, getting them to pay again for more drinking water—in some instances, identical to what they receive from their water treatment facilities—and causing them to believe that their choice of water harms no one. For all these reasons and more, bottled water companies have persuaded customers that purchasing their products is the best choice. But is it? Have you ever compared the cost of bottled water to that of the drinking water you as a utility provide? This article explores the true cost of bottled water.

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