On Good Authority March 2023

ON GOOD AUTHORITY

Monthly Newsletter for Employees & Families of the Western Virginia Water Authority

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Employees of the Water O'Thority have many talents, and building parade floats is certainly at the top of that list. Our shimmery green ship set sail on the streets of Downtown Roanoke on Saturday, March 11. It was a chilly day, but the community still came out to enjoy such a fun event. We are excited to have won second place!

This parade float has been a fan favorite for many years, but we are excited to share that a new pot of gold may be at the end of the rainbow for next year's parade! If you are interested in building a new parade float for next year, please reach out to Public Relations to get involved.

Upcoming Dates

March 1 - 31: Women's History Month

March 12 - 18: Fix-A-Leak Week

March 20: Spring Starts

March 22: World Water Day

Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Project Updates

In 2021, Roanoke Gas Company and the Western Virginia Water Authority entered into a cooperative agreement to develop a digester gas conditioning system to produce pipeline quality gas from the Roanoke Regional Water Pollution Control Plant

The project broke ground last Spring, and the joint project between Roanoke Gas Company and the Authority is now about 90% complete

The Digester Upgrade and Rehabilitation Phase 1 Project includes upgrades to the primary Digesters, such as demolition and replacement of three concrete tank covers, concrete repairs, new mixing systems to help produce more methane, new instrumentation, and piping and valving modifications to the digester control system.

In Phase 2, more equipment has been delivered and installed to support the consistent and reliable production of a commercial/gas-line quality product This project is nearing the end of completion and will produce enough gas to heat approximately 500 homes in the Roanoke Valley

Women's History Month

Celebrating Noteworthy Women of Water

Spring Hollow Pipe Replacement

An approximately 40-foot section of 36-inch stainless steel pipe has been replaced at Spring Hollow. This line was damaged back in the summer when a valve blew out on a connecting line. It drained the 36-inch line and pulled a vacuum, causing damage to this section of line. Although the line remained in service, the section was slated for replacement as a critical plant component. Water Distribution, Maintenance and Plant Operations all assisted in the replacement

Sylvia Earle is an American oceanographer and explorer known for her research on marine algae She pioneered the movement for ocean exploration and was one of the first underwater explorers to make use of SCUBA gear.

Margaret Murie was American naturalist, conservationist, and writer who was helped found the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska She was known as the “grandmother of the conservation movement.”

Mollie H. Beattie was named the first female director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1993. She fought hard to support the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act in Congress.

Photos by Terri Love

Lisa P. Jackson started her career at the Environmental Protection Agency as a staff-level scientist before working her way up to the position of Administrator. The fourth woman and first Black American to hold the position, Jackson has spearheaded environmental programs to protect clean water, reduce harmful emissions, and protect at-risk communities.

VA Section AWWA Hockey Night at Railyard Dawgs

Friday, Feb. 24

The VA section AWWA enjoyed an incredible Dawg's win on Friday, Feb 24. In the last 30 seconds of the third period, the Dawg's scored a tie-breaking goal and won 4-3 over the Knoxville Ice Bears. Go Dawgs!

Without the great water quality that is in SML, a fish of this size would not be possible for not only myself, but the thousands of folks who travel from all over the country to have a shot at a trophy such as her in SML.

The folks who work for the WVWA should be highly commended for their contributions to providing such a clean effluent to SML!

Lacy Burnette, WPCP Operations Manager caught a huge bass at Smith Mountain Lake! 9.40 pounds, 23" long

On March 4th, prospective Apprenticeship students toured our facilities across the Water Authority. Thank you to all of those who were involved in giving these students an unforgettable experience!

Can’t say enough good things about the Water Authority man that came out just now to check on my water leak. He was exceptionally helpful in finding the problem.

Customer

Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!

Scott Kroll was awarded Public Employee of the Year by the Roanoke Regional Homebuilders Association

Hello! We just had Jeffy and Kara in on Friday at Bonsack Elementary School. They did a FABULOUS job! The pictures they brought and online presentation really helped the children grasp the concepts that they were teaching. Way to go!

Jen Hancock

Our Mission is Clear

The Core Value for March is:

Definition:

Operate and maintain our assets in a manner that is safe and enhances the quality of life for our customers, community and environment.

Tim Halsey

Travis regularly evaluates projects in order to determine the wisest use of resources. An example is underway where Travis is rehabilitating an existing tank for use as a temporary tank for a tank maintenance project, but then identified that the rehabilitated temporary tank can be used in the new South Lake Water system to save expense. This is just one example of the types of innovation and thinking that Travis brings to work every day. These cumulative efforts ultimately save expenses which would be born by customers.

Tim is always pleasant to be around. He is always willing to help a co worker with any project they may need help with. He not only works well with me but with the interns as well, demonstrating his knowledge and helping them understand the importance of collecting accurate data.

Nominated by Sonya Fox

Justin Fulcher

Ron Agee

Paul Miller

Paul is always on task and willing to accept whatever responsibility he receives with a happy heart. He is eager to be responsible for his efforts which are approached with the team in mind. He is knowledgeable, professional and well received.

Nominated by Francie Dobbins

Greg Honeycutt

Greg is incredibly reliable and thorough. He is very resourceful when equipment is hard to replace in a timely manner. He comes up with creative solutions that work.

Nominated by Jamie Morris

Justin provides immeasurable value in protecting Field Operations' greatest asset, the staff, by educating and training them on safety protocols related to their everyday duties, such as trenching and excavation, confined spaces and CDL driving.

Nominated by Trent Cox

Catie Harris

Catie is hardworking and responsible. She is always aware of the work environment and surroundings. Catie is the first one to report any potential dangers and makes the appropriate report to Human Resources. Catie puts emphasis on the cleanliness of the work environment. She encourages the idea of seasonal decorations to keep up co-workers morale.

Nominated by Jody Jones

A licensed operator with nearly 40 years of experience in the business, Ron has been a solid pillar of the Water Production team and a dedicated WVWA employee. He demonstrates commitment to safety that goes beyond the requirements of his role, working towards continuous improvement of health and safety at the plant, making sure the plant is operating properly and employees reporting to him have the resources they need.

Over the years I worked with Ron to prevent injuries and remove unsafe conditions or practices whether it was a housekeeping issue, fall protection, cleaning basins, forklift safety, etc. Ron will never hesitate to step in and help!

Nominated by Ioana Kwei-Tagoe

Jason Witt

Jason strives to complete tasks in an efficient and safe manner, but will take the time to make sure it is done correctly. If there is an issue he will stay with it until it is resolved. Jason will save and use spare parts to eliminate added costs to repairs.

Nominated by Donald Waldron

Nominated by Scott Shirley

Travis Lane

As Operations Supervisor, Mark is dedicated to maintaining a safe and efficient treatment process at the Roanoke Regional Water Pollution Control Plant (RRWPCP). Mark also displays a great talent for troubleshooting issues at the RRWPCP, oftentimes working with outside contractors and fellow employees to diagnose and propose solutions to the problem at hand.

Ioana takes stewardship to heart with protecting the Authority against risk (damages) and keeping employees safe. Ioana's passion can be seen with the many ideas, software, training and programs that she has put together or helped with. Her attention to claims has saved the Authority money with discounts during renewal and preventing claims before they happen. Her eye for safety keeps employees going home everyday.

Donald understands that the work he and his crew does has a direct impact on treatment at the WPCP. He gets work assignments completed in a timely manner. It matters to him to do things the correct way.

Nominated by Chuck Light

As a manager over Maintenance, Kevin's team plans and executes work that extends the life of critical plant systems. This past year, Maintenance elected to take on a substantial project at the WPCP that involved the full mechanical rehabilitation of one of the gravity thickeners. This effort will ultimately save the Authority tens of thousands of dollars with self performance of the work. It is this type of effort and planning which allows the Authority to offer exceptional service at reasonable rates to our customers.

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Nominated by Lacy Burnette

Mark Whitt

Nominated by Scott Shirley

Kevin Thomasson

Nominated by Neil Norris

Ioana Kwei-Tagoe

Donald Waldron

Engineering Services Stewardship

in Action

The Core Value for the month of March is STEWARDSHIP. This value represents maintaining assets and enhancing the quality of life for our customers and the environment. The Engineering Services department is a great example stewardship in action!

One project that is currently taking place is the Thompson Memorial water line extension project The Authority is installing a major waterline which will connect near Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail This project is scheduled to be completed over the next twelve months The pipe is a 24" ductile iron water line Ductile Iron is known for its high strength and durability This installation will positively effect the quality of life for our customers

"What we are doing is improving our system to offer a better service to our customers," shared Charlie Crush, Construction Inspector II. "It is going to help improve the flow of water in our distribution system." This North Loop Water Main improvement project will connect the Spring Hollow and Carvins Cove distribution lines, allowing for resiliency in our distribution system The Authority will be able to move water more efficiently to our customers

A project of this size takes team effort from across Engineering Services "One of the key elements for design is accurate data from the Field Survey team," said Scot Sutherland, Engineering Coordinator The survey team will collect data such as fences, property lines, center line of road, fire hydrants, utility poles and more Having reliable data is another way that the engineering department helps improve the quality of life for our community Sonya Fox, GIS Tech III, explains, "We are not only helping the Authority, we are also helping contractors because everything we map is available on our public GIS map "

This water line project uses underground drilling technology to minimize the impact to the land and environment. Reducing the impact to the community and environment is always a top priority for capital projects. "What I like about my job is that I can be an Engineer, solve problems, but also look at the environment and how to protect it and how to protect public health," shared Michelle Caruthers, Project Manager Capital Improvements.

Currently in the design phase is the Angel Lane water main project, which will be an extension of the Thompson Memorial project.