By Alec Mackie
LABS of CWEA
The LA Basin’s water situation is looking grim – aging infrastructure, tighter regulations, rising energy costs, falling municipal budgets, pumping restrictions in the Sacramento Delta and a drought along the Colorado River. It all adds up less water for LA.
Despite all the challenges there are glimmers of hope, according to speakers at LABS’ World Water Day LA Seminar held March 22 at the LA Chamber of Commerce. LA’s water future actually looks pretty bright if we recycle more water, capture more rainwater and rethink how cities work with water.
LABS’ Past President Hala Titus of Black & Veatch started the seminar by listing cities and the amount they import – from 50% for Long Beach to 60% for Pasadena and 85% for the City of Los Angeles. Ms. Titus then shared an inspiring story about the City of Santa Monica. The City and Black & Veatch recently finished a groundwater filtration plant to remove MTBE and purify the drinking water, and the City cut its water supply needs to only 22% imported. The City wants to get to 100% local supplies by 2020.
All photos by Kent McIntosh, LACSD
CONFERENCE PHOTOS
FRIDAY NIGHT CWEA BANQUET
“A Night In New Orleans”
Click here to open narrated presentation
Pretty pipes - but what's the purpose? Do you know? (credit: Paul Cockrell)
- Where does LA’s water come from? And why are those supplies under pressure?
- How can pretty purple pipes (pictured above) save LA water and money?
- What’s a bioswale? And how does it meet EPA rules and supply drinking water?
- Why have Andy Lipkis, Founder of TreePeople, actor Ed Bagley Jr. and thousands of Angelenos installed large rainwater harvesting tanks at their homes and businesses?
- What’s the most affordable source of water for the LA Basin?
- Finally, where will LA’s water come from in the future?
We’ll post answers after our March 22, World Water Day seminar at the LA Chamber of Commerce. Join LABS of CWEA and Townhall LA to participate in a lively discussion about what’s happening with the LA Basin’s water supply and where some pioneering folks propose we get new supplies of water for a clean, green and healthy future.
Please help spread the word – everyone is invited!
Seminar sponsors include – Contech Engineered Solutions / Haaker Equipment Co. / LA Area Chamber of Commerce
March 22
La Chamber
8am to 1:30pm
$25pp includes lunch / $6parking.
Click here for details and to register
(our thanks to LABS photographer Kent McIntosh, LACSD)
By Wendy Wert, LABS President
On January 21, 2012, the Los Angeles Basin Section (LABS) of California Water Environment Association (CWEA) hosted the 2011 annual LABS awards from the Queen Elizabeth room aboard the Queen Mary. The event was a celebration of the contributions to the field of Environmental Engineering from the Past, Present, and Future.
The celebration began with an energized 1920’s themed social gathering of CWEA leaders, members, and award winners. LABS Outreach Coordinator Erika DeHollan provided a photo montage highlighting sponsors whose dedicated support during this economic recovery cycle has allowed LABS to provide training that enhances the education and effectiveness of California’s wastewater professionals.
In keeping with the historical theme, CWEA LABS Directors Basil Hewitt and Wendy Wert welcomed attendees with an interactive narrative on historical contributions from the era before sanitation through the 1920’s. Not only water professionals believe the advent of basic wastewater collection and treatment in the twentieth century resulted in direct benefits to public health in the United States and other developed countries. For example, in 2007, thousands of readers of the prestigious British Medical Journal picked sanitation as “the most important medical advance since 1840.” A reoccurring theme was that the most significant advances are always the result of collaborations involving engineers from multiple disciplines, scientists from multiple fields, academics from multiple global regions, and practitioners from multiple areas of expertise.
The PDF files are here:
www.labsofcwea.com/databases/presentations/?category=25
(Photos by Kent McKintosh, LACSD)
On Nov 10th 45 members of LABS participated in a unique, behind the scenes tour of the rapidly expanding Space X manufacturing facility in Hawthorne. The event was LABS’ annual Industrial Waste tour and arranged by members of the Los Angeles County Sanitations Districts’ Industrial Waste Section.
Founded just a few years ago by Elon Musk, the entrepeanuer behind PayPal and Tesla electric cars, Space X is working on designing and building the next generation of rockets that will take people and supplies to the international space station, whicle also cutting the cost of building, launching and recovering the rockets. The company is building new rockets in response to competitions created by NASA to fund the next generate of private rocket launching companies.
(PDF formats)
Photos by Kent McIntosh, LACSD
2011 LABS AWARDS NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN!
● All nominations must be received or postmarked by November 16, 2011 ●
Each year LABS, CWEA and WEF present awards to deserving professionals in the water pollution control field. These prestigious awards acknowledge personal achievement and dedication to the profession. Now is the time for you to nominate those deserving individuals with whom you work or associate.
There are so many deserving wastewater professionals – who will you nominate?
1) Download LABS / Hala Titus cover letter. Award submissions must be mailed to:
Black & Veatch Corporation
Attn: Hala Titus
800 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600
Los Angeles, California 90017
2) Visit www.cwea.org/mlr_member_awards_forms to choose and download your award submission forms.
NOMINEES MAY SELF NOMINATE.
NOMINEES MUST BE MEMBERS OF LABS TO WIN AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
For more information contact: Hala Titus.
(photos by Alec Mackie, JWCE)
Vander Lans AWTF
A new GapVax combo truck delivered to the City of Gardena by Plumbers Depot.
LABS welcomes our newest sponsor – Plumbers Depot Inc. From their website…
I would like to take the opportunity to welcome you to Plumbers Depot Inc. We are a family-oriented company serving cities, municipalities and plumbers nation-wide. My family name is well-known throughout the industry for the superior services we have given. My aim is to provide our customers with the best quality and quantity of services and supplies, offering competitive prices and discount for volume purchases; we can provide you with everything from cable repairs to relining systems.
In the years I have been in this industry I have gotten to know my clients not only on a business level, but on a personal level also, establishing great working relationships. My goal is to keep my customers happy and in order to succeed we strive to meet our customers’ needs and excel in customer service. We welcome you to review our prices and compare them to our competitors’ prices and feel free to give us a call for a free quote. Thank you for your interest in our company, we look forward to doing
business with you.
Sincerely,
Jose Martin
President
The Plumbers Depot website is: www.plumbersdepotinc.com
The GapVax website is: www.gapvax.com
The biggest conference and exhibition in the wastewater and stormwater world is coming to Los Angeles Oct 15-19. WEF has kindly compiled a list of the California presenters (wow over 100 people !) – how many CWEA members can you spot?
Click here for a list of California speakers and session numbers (Excel) >
Click here to access My WEFTEC Planner >
CWEA headquarters put out this blast announcement for members…
“Wednesday October 19th is packed with forty powerful technical sessions on the hottest topics for Southern Californians, everything from emerging contaminants to bioenergy and my session, Green LA Stormwater! If members in the Southern Region of CWEA only go to one day of WEFTEC in Los Angeles – this is it! Registration is open at www.weftec.org – What’s in store on Wednesday?
- For treatment people the talks cover fixed film, foaming, air emissions, clarifiers and modeling.
- Recycled water proponents will discuss emerging contaminants, industrial conservation and reuse.
- Sustainability strategies, climate resilience, renewable energy and bioenergy are important now.
- Membranes, brine, nutrients and microconstituents round out the advanced treatment needs.
- In today’s economy, the sessions on CIPs, elected officials future forecasts and revenue structures will help us “do more with less”.
- Making the most in existing collection systems, new technology and modelling protects our buried assets.
- Urban runoff, wet weather treatment and green infrastructure are the big challenge as the rainy season begins.
- Industry has specialized biological, anaerobic and reuse treatment technologies.
- Scientists will discuss advances with nitrous oxide,microconstituents, algae, pathogensand disinfection.
Let’s bring out the locals — See you downtown at the convention center!”
Water for People is having two fun and exciting fundraising events at WEFTEC. Help support the great folks at Water for People and have some fun too!
Monday night will be their big fundraising party at the The Conga Room at LA Live.
You can purchase tickets directly from Water for People:
- Sun – Oct 16th – Water for People Bike ride Fundraiser
When: Sunday, October 16, 2011
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Where: Bikes and Hikes U.S.A.
Cost: $75 for riders with bike & helmet / $100 for riders renting a bike & helmet
http://www.waterforpeople.org/get-involved/special-events/weftec-2011/weftec-bike-ride.html
Email contact: georgepatrickatl@bellsouth.net - Mon – Oct 17th – Water for People’s Party With a Purpose
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Conga Room at L.A. Live
Tickets: $45 in advance, $50 at the door
Click here to purchase tickets on their webstore
