Popular Biosolids and Renewable Energy Seminars Sell Out

CWEA and CASA hosted two successful Innovative Technology Seminars, one in Oakland and one in Los Angeles. The sessions featured presentations on the latest advances related to biosolids and renewable energy along with the tools and projects which are using new technologies. Presenters included regulators Hank Brady from CalRecycle and Anthy Alexiades from CARB, scientists Dr. Becca Ryals from UC Merced and Dr. Sebastian Tilmans from the Codiga Center, consulting and technology firms Lystek and Bloom Energy, and member agency speakers John Hake from EBMUD and Shawn Redmond from Delta Diablo. Their presentations spanned a full range inclusing such topics as plastic removal from co-digestion feedstocks; fuel cell advances in biogas treatment; carbon sequestration through land application; and gasification with biosolids, amongst others.

For follow-up details about the presentations (which can be found on the CASA website under Resources), please e-mail Greg Kester.

Get Your Entries Ready For The CWEA Annual Conference Film Festival!

Start planning your entry now for the 2020 California Water Environment Association Film Festival and Awards. The film festival is your opportunity to showcase training and public education videos that your agency has produced about water resource recovery in California. Winning films will be showcased at the annual conference in Reno, NV on March 31 – April 2. The entry deadline is December 9, 2019. Click here to open view the online awards form.

CASA Launches Field Study Project on Wipes Dispersibility

The Sacramento Area Sewer District and CASA teamed up to pilot a field study on wipes dispersibility that will roll out across Northern California in the coming weeks. The field study will examine how several wet wipe products, or “flushable” wipes perform in actual sewer lines.
The field study involves tagging different wet wipe products and sending them through manholes into small sections of sewer lines. The tagged wipes are then retrieved and studied. There is still a need for more field study participants, especially in Southern California. If you’re interested, please contact Jared Voskuhl.

State Water Board to Adopt Water Quality Fees for FY 2019-20

On September 18, the State Water Board is set to adopt the FY 2019-20 Water Quality Fees. NPDES fees are expected to increase by approximately 13% and WDR fees are expected to increase by approximately 15% (though not all WDR increases will directly impact wastewater WDR programs). Cost drivers for the increase include rising staff costs and program adjustments as well as budget change proposal adjustments. In addition, some fee increases in previous fiscal years were deferred by utilizing the fund reserve to cover some of the revenue shortfall.