The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has announced Canadians Alexandre Allard and Danny Luong as the winners of the 2010 International Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP). According to SIWI’s press release, the team received the prestigious prize for their project, “Novel Biodegradation of Polystyrene”. Click here to read SIWI’s full press release and/or visit www.siwi.org for more details.
In 1997, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) partnered with SIWI and others to create the Stockholm Junior Water Prize–the world’s most prestigious award presented to youth for water science. Each year, WEF and its Member Associations, with support from ITT Corporation, the Coca-Cola Company and Delta Air Lines, organize the national, state, and regional SJWP competitions in the United States. The 2010 U.S. Winner, Rebecca Ye of Bangor, Maine, represented the United States at the international competition this past week in Stockholm with her project, “Nanoparticle-amplified immunosensor enables excellent sensitivity in rapid detection of viable E. coli O157:H7”.
The Water Environment Federation proudly announces the winners of the 2010 WEF Excellence Awards. The awards will be presented at the WEF Awards and Presidential Celebration Reception during WEFTEC® 2010, WEF’s 83rd annual technical exhibition and conference, this October in New Orleans, La. Read more
Rebecca Ye of Bangor, Maine was named the U.S. winner of the 2010 Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) – the most prestigious international competition for water-related research – during a ceremony this weekend at the Sheraton City Center in St. Louis, Mo. Read more
CWEA is proud to announce that Sumit Mitra has won the California 2010 Stockholm Junior Water Prize. Sumit competed with over 24 other junior scientists throughout California. Sumit’s project is entitled, “The Effect of Photosensitization of Fullerene-based Nanoparticles on Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and Toxicity to Viruses in Various Aqueous Environments.” Sumit is a Senior at University High School in Irvine, CA. As part of CWEA’s commitment to the program, CWEA will award Sumit Mitra with a $250 cash prize, provide him a student membership in WEF/CWEA, publish his paper in an upcoming Wastewater Professional and fund his and his teacher’s airfare to attend the 2010 National Competition on June 17-20 in St. Louis Missouri. Good luck Sumit!
WEF and the American Water Works Association have joined forces on a new public outreach campaign that will enhance the image of water careers and encourage students and job seekers to “Work for Water”. The campaign will promote water careers as both professionally fulfilling and aligned to the greatest public health and environmental cause of our day. The outreach will also address one of the water community’s top concerns in the coming decade—the expected retirement of 30% of the water workforce and the need to recruit new talent to the field.
On October 26-28, 2009, WEF and the Duke University Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions convened a workshop of 30 national experts to discuss the key issues preventing achievement of goals of the Clean Water Act [CWA]. This workshop was hosted by the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread in Racine, Wisconsin. The full CWA Conference Report has now been issued summarizing these discussions and detailing potential solutions and next steps.
While recognizing CWA successes, the workshop participants discussed the shortcomings and limitations of the existing law, including inability to adequately address nonpoint source pollution, emerging contaminants [pharmaceuticals, personal care products], and broader issues of biological and physical integrity. As importantly, they focused on viable potential solutions and key considerations in moving forward. Some ideas that especially energized the group included: market-based solutions such as water pollution trading; a targeted watershed approach; implementing a new generation of technology-based controls for both point and nonpoint sources; integrated water management; reasonable assurance for nonpoint source implementation; and, adequate funding. The workshop broadly identified four reform options:
1. Update the CWA to improve existing tools
2. Expand the CWA beyond traditional applications
3. Update other relevant statutory mechanisms to better address water quality
4. Create new legal or regulatory tools to target nonpoint sources or integrated watershed restoration and management.
The 2010 WEF Wastewater Challenge is a new national competition that’s both challenging and fun. This hands-on competition requires teams of students to build a wastewater treatment system from an assortment of household products in an effort to remediate a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO). This event offers students an opportunity to compete and problem solve with fellow students from schools throughout North America.
The competition will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, at the 2010 WEF Collection Systems Conference on June 13, 2010 at the Phoenix Convention Center. To be eligible to compete, your team must submit a Design Report to the WEF Students and Young Professionals Wastewater Challenge Sub-Committee, and the top 12 teams will be selected to compete. The deadline to submit reports for entry is May 1, 2010, at 5 PM PST. There is a limit of one team per student chapter. The WEF Wastewater Challenge Guideline provides complete details on how to participate in this event or visit wef.org under the Public Information/College Students. A monetary award will be presented to the top two teams. The Case Scenario below provides a brief look at the challenge at hand.
A collection systems crew needs your help. There has been a sanitary sewer overflow due to a massive rain event. The treatment plant has reached its capacity, and the collection system is surcharged. The surcharge has caused numerous manhole covers to pop and wastewater is spilling into a neighborhood street, flooding the area and threatening human health. The weather forecast is predicting heavy rain for several days. The challenge is to contain the spill and provide an emergency treatment system to treat the SSO and surcharged flows on site immediately. Because of the extreme urgency of the situation, the crew has turned to you and your team, the local wastewater treatment experts, for some help. Unfortunately, it’s the evening of Thanksgiving Day, and all the stores are closed. The only resources you have are the odds and ends in your garage. You quickly gather all the materials you can use and come up with a way to protect the town’s drinking water supply from getting contaminated by this sanitary sewer overflow. Let’s hope that you and your team can save the day!
Now is the perfect time to start thinking about nominations for the 2010 WEF Annual Awards, as deadlines are March 1st and April 1st. If you know someone who has made a positive contribution to the water environment, do not let their efforts go unnoticed – submit your nomination to the WEF Awards Department! With over twenty Annual Awards, it is possible for distinguished leaders within the water environment to receive the recognition that they deserve.
CWEA member Barry Pomeroy received the prestigious Gascoigne Wastewater Treatment Plant Operational Improvement Medal from the Water Environment Federation. The award was presented during a ceremony at WEFTEC 2009.
The Gascoigne Medal was established in recognition of George Bradley Gascoigne, a prominent consultant who exhibited a great deal of interest in the operation of wastewater treatment plants. The medal is awarded to the author(s) of an article that presents the solution of an important and complicated operational problem within a full-scale, operating wastewater treatment plant that is appropriately staffed. Mr. Pomeroy is being recognized for his article, “Odors Get The Chute”, that was published in the May 2008 issue of WEF’s flagship publication, Water Environment & Technology (WE&T).
The article describes how the operating and maintenance staff for the Vallejo (Calif.) Sanitation and Flood Control District applied ingenuity and an understanding of their particular facility to design and construct an odor controlled biosolids truck loading station. The article details a “do-it-yourself” problem solution procedure that is appropriate for most wastewater treatment plants.
Barry Pomery, Vallejo Sanitation and Flood Control District
Mr. Pomeroy is Director of Operations and Maintenance at Vallejo Sanitation and Flood Control District, and is a Director on the Board of the Redwood Empire Section of CWEA.
