AWWA Water Equation 2022 Donor Impact Report

Investing in the Water Workforce

Water Equation 2022 Donor Impact Report

Scholarship Spotlight—Larson Aquatics Research Scholarship Offered by AWWA

A colleague of Dr. Thurston E. Larson established this scholarship anonymously in 1989 to honor him with a legacy of education. Dr. Larson studied at the University of Illinois and made major contributions to the water industry through his published research findings and his contributions to the field of water technology. He was elected as board president of AWWA in 1970 and was instrumental in establishing the Water Research Foundation.

The 2022 recipient of the Larson Aquatics Research Scholarship for master’s studies, Andromede Uwase

has a lot in common with the 1989 recipients of the award, Susan Teefy and Lisa Alvarez-Cohen. Uwase is starting her water career with a degree from University of Nebraska and now is an Environment-ECUIPP Labs Graduate assistant at University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her goal is to become an environmental health researcher by focusing on water safety and treatment.

Lisa Alvarez-Cohen is the vice provost for academic planning, Fred and Claire Sauer Professor, and pastchair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of the Faculty Senate at UC Berkeley. She received her bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied science from Harvard University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental engineering and science from Stanford University.

Susan Teefy has remained active in AWWA and recognizes the value the LARS scholarship brought to her career.

“My first job after graduating with a degree in civil engineering was at EPA working with small drinking water systems. I learned a lot, but realized that to be more effective I needed a better understanding of water treatment principles and public health fundamentals. I left my job and returned to school full time (I kept my AWWA membership). Receiving the LARS scholarship not only helped me finish grad school, but also reinforced my desire to continue working in the drinking water field. After graduation I got a job as an environmental engineer at East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, California. I moved to another water utility in northern California, and also worked for a small consulting firm, but stayed engaged and active in AWWA. Eventually I returned to EBMUD and I’m now the manager of water quality. I’m currently chair of AWWA’s Water Science and Research Division, which is a great way to contribute to the organization. The drinking water community, through AWWA, is so supportive and collaborative; I have never regretted my career choice. I have formed so many lifelong professional and personal friendships through AWWA and hope to continue supporting future generations of water professionals.“

There have been 66 recipients of the Larson Aquatic Research Scholarships, with over 80% of the recipients still actively involved in the water sector.

AWWA Scholarship Program

In 2022, 26 academic scholarships totaling $194,000 were awarded through the AWWA Scholarship program managed by Water Equation.

• Abel Wolman Fellowship, 2nd year

• Abel Wolman Fellowship

• AECOM

• American Water

• Arcadis

• Brown & Caldwell

• Carollo

• CDM Smith

• Denver Water

• Gannett Fleming

• Hazen & Sawyer

• HDR

• Jacobs

• Larson—Doctoral

• Larson—Masters

• Mueller

• Neptune

• President’s Scholarship

• Raftelis

• Roberts Filter

• Singer

• Stantec

• SUEZ

• Woodard & Curran

Originally a summer vacation campground on 1,500 acres, this dispersed community now comprises roughly 200 year-round households. The water infrastructure includes four public bathhouses, each with a well and septic system. Just under 70 homes have private wells, and the water quality from these wells varies widely. Consequently, for the vast majority of residents, the bathhouses provide their only access to potable water and sanitation. Multiple daily bathhouse trips to fetch or use water have been routine here.

Many residents, with an average household income of $31,000 per year, rely on public assistance. Yet some households have been spending as much as $250 per week to purchase clean water from outside the community— demonstrating both the high priority that some residents place on water and the financial burden that a lack of clean, safe water can create. Improving this community’s water system and extending it to serve all homes would be a major undertaking, requiring substantial resources and expertise that this community lacks.

Behind the project plans and the financial burdens of this project are the faces of the families and

their children—family members who haven’t been able to go to work for want of clean clothes and children who have stopped attending school.

All this has been happening in a town just a short drive from Nashville, Tennessee, ranked #4 for best US cities by Condé Nast in their 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards

More than two million people in the United States don’t have save drinking water. AWWA’s Water Equation raises funds for Community Engineering Corps, a partnership between AWWA, Engineers Without Borders, and the American Society of Civil Engineers to provide pro bono engineering services to underserved communities in the United States. In 2022, there were 26 water and sanitation projects being managed by volunteers to help unlock federal and state funding to fund projects to local engineering firms to provide solutions for your neighbors. Hand in hand, volunteers worked with communities and local governments to make sure families could open the tap and drink safe water in their homes. These projects aren’t completed overnight, but this Tennessee community now has a plan for an improved water system and improved lives.

In 2022, CE Corps:

Completed 22 water and sanitation projects impacting 1,584 people in 10 underserved communities.

9 Massachusetts (x2), New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee (x2), Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, California, Arizona

Initiated work on 8 water and sanitation projects

9 California, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee

16 AWWA members contributed to the successful completion of CE Corps project completed in 2022, representing 7 Sections, including NEWWA, CA/NV, VA, NY, KY/TN, IL, and FL.

In a community surrounded by lakes and rivers, it can be difficult to understand the reason that some residents don’t have safe drinking water. That has been the case for an area nestled in the Tennessee mountains, where families have struggled with the reality of having to fill jugs of water and transport them for washing, drinking, and cooking.

Ride with Purpose-Water Buffalos supports Community Engineering Corps through its patch sales and ride to ACE.

You never know where life will take you. Ohio resident Kristina Wasiniak began her career in public service with the sheriff’s department as a 911 communications specialist, dispatching calls for law enforcement agencies and fire departments in her hometown. She then worked for the county recorder’s office and began taking courses at Hocking College and made a career move to the City of Norwalk Water Treatment plant.

Kristina applied for a One AWWA Operator Scholarship to decrease the stresses of financial uncertainty.

“Since entering this profession a mere 20 months ago, I knew that I wanted to make it a great career. I started learning as much as possible right from the beginning. Just prior to my one-year anniversary, I completed the OTCO [Operator Training Committee of Ohio] Basic Water class and obtained my Ohio EPA Class I Water Supply Certification. I am currently working on an associate’s degree in water and wastewater management from Hocking College. By taking these classes, I will be able to test for and obtain my Ohio EPA Class II Water Supply Certification one year early. My end goal right now is to

have my Class III Water Supply Operator and Class III Wastewater Treatment Operator certifications all within the next five years. After that, I will decide on class IV licenses.”

Kristina is already ahead of the curve by setting up her five-year goal and taking steps to establish a lifelong career in the water community. By reaching out to the Ohio Section of AWWA for a scholarship, Kristina hoped she would receive assistance with educational finances, but she also broadened her connections through AWWA’s Water Equation programs and can now see her herself in a management role in her local utility.

The One AWWA Operator Scholarship is a partnership with local AWWA sections and funded by AWWA Water Equation donors to provide educational opportunities at colleges, conferences, and trainings to obtain advanced certifications.

In 2022, Water Equation awarded 34 scholarships to water and wastewater operators across North America—but that’s not enough.

Right now, the water profession is at a pivotal point of increasing retirements in utilities and a lack of workforce to fill available job opportunities. On any given day you will find hundreds of job openings for water utility employees, but laborers must be skilled. That is why AWWA leaders developed Water Equation’s One AWWA Operator Scholarship. Students can receive up to $1,000 in funding from AWWA sections, which is matched by Water Equation to provide books and materials as well as cover course and conference costs so that students like Kristina can be well positioned for a successful career in the water sector.

“Barb and I contribute to a few causes that have had a direct impact on our lives. Classical music has been and continues to be a source of joy in Barb’s daily life, thus we contribute to The Cleveland Orchestra annually. Barb’s career as an Emergency Preparedness Nuclear Specialist made her aware of the important part the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, Planned Parenthood and other entities play during emergencies, stemming from both radiological and natural disasters. I find pleasure in giving to the University Hospitals (Cleveland) Siedman Cancer Research Center as I credit them for curing me of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Their passion for excellence is inspiring. But my favorite cause is and always has been the effort to train young operators to provide a continual reservoir of talent for water treatment and distribution systems. We need to ensure that they receive the best training possible. For me, there can be no better choice than AWWA’s Water Equation.”

AWWA Member Nick Pizzi and his wife Barb are generous donors to the One AWWA Operator Scholarship.

Water Equation Funds K–12 STEAM Education

The focus on K–12 STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, mathematics) education at the AWWA Section level has increased this year as more members want to provide educational materials and information about the water sector to students in elementary to high school grades.

AWWA Water Equation received an HDR Foundation grant in the amount of $18,000 to fund pilot programs in Florida that instruct students on the use of bathymetric drones for water sampling. In Pinellas County, Fla., Seminole High School teacher Jerry Cantrell has provided the curriculum, and Water Equation has provided the drones, Microsoft tablets, Python software, safety vests, and support for the program that will then be introduced to Evans High School in Orange County, Fla. HDR volunteers will be working with students as they write research papers and log data gathered from local lakes and ponds.

The New Jersey Section’s Share the Love campaign, hosted by AWWA Water Equation, raised $4,200 for STEAM education programs in New Jersey. Past projects funded include the Girl Scouts, CAUSE, and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium.

A similar campaign in the Florida Section was the Last Splash of Summer and funded the Broward P3 Eco-Challenge, Blue Thumb Jr. Detective Program, Pinellas County Utilities’ South Cross Bayou Education Program, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, and Seminole High School STEAM Academy. The Section has created a Florida Gives campaign to raise $10,000 in 2023 for K–12 STEAM education programs in Florida.