By Julia LeDoux February 9, 2021 Transitioning service members will no longer have to use their GI Bill funds to attend the Microsoft Systems Academy. “MSAA is now fully funded by Microsoft and is permanently offered online,” said Chris Cortez, vice president of military affairs at Microsoft. “MSSA is one of only a few corporate-sponsored programs that …

Continue reading “Microsoft Systems Academy now free for transitioning service members”

February 25, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time CAMDEN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–American Water (NYSE: AWK), the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, announced today it has earned the 2021 Military Friendly® Gold Employer, Spouse Employer and Supplier Diversity designations produced by VIQTORY. “American Water remains committed, and takes great pride in creating meaningful opportunities …

Continue reading “American Water Earns 2021 Military Friendly® Gold Employer, Spouse Employer and Supplier Diversity Designations”

Charlotte (N.C.) Water has a fresh approach to finding new utility technicians. That approach is a yearlong apprenticeship program offered by the utility trains recruits in a variety of skills — and even guarantees them a job upon completion.   The program was created to tackle a high turnover and vacancy rate for the city’s utility technician position, which involves water and sewer maintenance. …

Continue reading “North Carolina jobs program fills vacancies, forges careers”

February 24, 2021 Editor’s Note: This feature highlights water utility employees in the San Diego region working during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure a safe, reliable and plentiful water supply. The water industry is among the sectors that are classified as essential. Phil Stevens, Padre Dam Municipal Water District Senior Lab Analyst, is the Water Utility Hero …

Continue reading “Water Utility Hero of the Week, Veteran Phil Stevens, Padre Dam MWD”

Flushing woven and nonwoven household products – such as wet wipes for restroom use or cosmetic wipes for removing makeup – is a global issue for the wastewater sector. These products are often mislabeled as “flushable” despite their inability to disperse in conventional collections systems. Flushing them can result in costly and messy septic backups, …

Continue reading “Collections Systems Professionals Invent New Tools for Battle Against Non-Flushables”

This new and exciting program, hosted by the West Basin Municipal Water District and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, is designed to encourage students in 6th grade through community college to explore career options in the water industry.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is hosting a series of webinars on COVID-19 vaccination for essential workers, including a webinar specifically for the Water Sector on February 10, 2021. The webinar will provide an overview of vaccine distribution and implementation and briefly cover safety and efficacy. Participants are encouraged to submit any questions they have …

Continue reading “CDC Webinar on COVID-19 Vaccination for Water Sector – February 10”

While known for top-rated university science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs that are educating the next generation of water professionals, the state of Indiana has a problem: convincing graduating students to stay.   Half of the 2014-to-2016 bachelor’s-level STEM graduates of Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.), for example, found employment out of state, according to a study by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.   Such …

Continue reading “PERL: This gem of an educational partnership is helping build Indiana’s water workforce”

A hundred miles north of New York City, not far from the origin of the 107-year-old Catskills Aqueduct that supplies 40% of the Big Apple’s water, a new generation of professionals is being trained to protect the region’s coveted water resources.   All are students of SUNY Ulster Community College (Stone Ridge, N.Y.). SUNY Ulster launched its new wastewater operator training program in January 2019 to address a looming worker shortage and prepare new and current operators to manage and maintain water resource recovery facilities, according to professional engineer Henry Jaen, the program’s director.   Designed …

Continue reading “SUNY Ulster’s evening training program designed for new and current water professionals”

When it rains, it doesn’t always pour. At least not at Columbia, South Carolina’s water resource recovery facility – even after a historic 1,000-year flood in 2015 and the wettest December on record three years later.  “During these periods, we were treating sustained flows that were 25 to 30% above design capacity every single day,” said David Wiman, superintendent for the city’s 60-mgd plant. “And every single day, the plant was well within regulatory limits.”   …

Continue reading “Columbia, S.C.’s atypical apprenticeship program is working, and here’s proof”