Cheryl MacKelvie

SVCW Awarded Plant of the Year Silicon Valley Clean Water SVCW was recently awarded Plant of the Year by the California Water Environment Association (CWEA). SVCW previously won the local Santa Clara Valley Section award, which automatically propelled them to the state competition for this esteemed award. SVCW staff and management team pulled forces together [...]

CALMS Webinar: Wastewater Surveillance for Covid-19 On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, the California Lake Management Society (CALMS) is hosting a lunchtime webinar, Wastewater Surveillance for COVID-19. The objectives of this project were to (i) develop and implement methods to monitor SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and (ii) examine the levels of the SARS-CoV-2 [...]

Did You Catch the CASA Annual Conference Survey? Earlier this week CASA distributed a member survey to determine our members’ level of comfort in attending an in-person Annual Conference in 2021, currently scheduled for August 11-13 in San Diego. In order to better inform our decision about whether to host our first live event in [...]

Lawmakers Introduce PFAS Legislation A group of House lawmakers, led by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Fred Upton (R-MI), have introduced the PFAS Action Act of 2021 (H.R. XXXX). The bill, which is a reintroduction of a bill (H.R. 535) Dingell sponsored last year, aims to address the public health and environmental risks posed by [...]

America’s Obsession with Wipes is Tearing Up Sewer Systems U.S. municipalities shell out at least $1 billion annually on maintenance to remove clogs caused by wipes, according to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). In Charleston, South Carolina, the problem has gotten so bad during the pandemic that the city’s water management agency filed a lawsuit against major [...]

OC San Video Contest The Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) is hosting a video contest that challenges students in middle and high schools located in their service area to put together a video that highlights the role of wastewater treatment. They are giving the younger generation a chance to put their Tik Tok, YouTube, and [...]

NACWA Webinar: Learn How to Protect Your Utility from Security Threats On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, from 11:00am to 12:30pm, NACWA is hosting a webinar, Security Threats Facing Today’s Clean Water Utilities. Water and wastewater utilities are facing increasing security threats from outside parties to both their cyber platforms and critical infrastructure.  News reports abound [...]

CASA Sponsors Three Bills in 2021 Last Friday, March 19, the CASA State Legislative Committee met and took positions on all bills of interest to the wastewater community that were introduced in the 2021 Legislative Session.   During the meeting the committee also decided CASA should co-sponsor AB 622 (Friedman), making for a total of three [...]

CASA Holds Special Committee Meeting on Congressionally Directed Funding Rules Last week, the CASA Federal Legislative Committee (FLC) held a special committee meeting for the CASA membership to review the recent reinstatement of congressionally directed funding, known as Community Project funding (and formerly referred to as “earmarks”), and how CASA members can engage in the [...]

LACSD Launch Event On April 15, the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts is hosting a virtual launch event for their Clearwater Project. The Clearwater Project is being built to protect local waterways by addressing aging infrastructure and involves constructing a new 18-foot diameter tunnel using a state-of-the-art tunnel boring machine (TBM). At the event, they [...]