The State of Iowa Public Drinking Water Program 2014 Annual Compliance Report is available. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996 require the Department to issue an annual report of the SDWA violations in the state. This report fulfills the reporting requirement in Iowa for the 2014 calendar year and was provided to EPA on July 1st.
by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The State of Iowa Public Drinking Water Program 2014 Annual Compliance Report is available. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996 require the Department to issue an annual report of the SDWA violations in the state. This report fulfills the reporting requirement in Iowa for the 2014 calendar year and was provided to EPA on July 1st.
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This past March there was a gas explosion in New York City. Many of you might remember this incident since it was in the national news. When the building exploded it caused eight deaths and dozens of injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated and found issues with the way the installation company fused its poly joints. They found inadequate surface preparation or inadvertent contamination of plastic pipe surfaces prior to saddle fusion welding led to a joint with incomplete fusion; and a weld joint with incomplete fusion can be strong enough to pass initial pressure testing of the piping system but could eventually fail or leak after the joint is placed in service. As a result of these findings the NTSB has issued an advisory bulleting to incorporate the guidance into your plastic fusion procedures and appropriate instructions to avoid similar incidents. The fusion procedures that IAMU gas members use do cover these procedures but it is an excellent reminder that you can’t take short cuts when preparing you pipe for fusion. Here is the advisory. From EPA’s Office of Research and Development, 7/6/2015 This presentation is an overview of the most important water treatment strategies for the control of lead and copper release from drinking water plumbing materials and components. In addition to lead, copper, and combined treatment, this presentation will also cover sampling to find lead and copper, the stagnation behavior of copper versus that of lead, the impact of pipe scale aging on copper release, and complications of metal contamination arising from accumulated deposits of iron, manganese, and aluminum on the lead or copper pipe surfaces. An overview on the nature of scales and deposits on lead and copper pipes in real water systems, which often differ from classical corrosion theory, and the implications for metal release control by requiring the addressing optimization of interacting treatment processes to assure simultaneous compliance will also be presented. Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 Time: 1:00 to 2:00 pm CDT To register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5651769410281471234 Although Mother Nature decided to cut the day short, this year's edition of Golfin' For Safety was still a big success. A total of 88 golfers teed off the morning of June 24th, a new event record. Golfin’ Fore Safety is IAMU’s only golf tournament held each year with the proceeds going towards equipment for our training field. Last year we combined two years of tournament proceeds along with some other funds to purchase a used backhoe - trencher for the field. IAMU wants to extend a big THANK YOU to all of the golfers, as well as the fantastic support from Associate Members who sponsored holes, food, and other activities. With your support, nearly $4,800 was raised to benefit the IAMU Training Field!To see a photo book of all the golfers as well as the various contest winners, CLICK HERE. by Jim Wolfe, IAMU Electric Services Coordinator Copper theft continues to be a problem across the nation. There are no exceptions to where a thief will strike next. Homes, businesses, and utilities are vulnerable to thieves who have as it appears nothing to lose by taking major risks for a free payday. This issue is hitting the news again and continues to hit consumers in the pocketbook. On June 26th, Governor Terry Branstad signed HF 645 into law. The bill, passed earlier by the Iowa Legislature, makes municipal utilities eligible for renewable energy tax credits. Attending the formal signing ceremony were IAMU representatives Julie Smith, Legislative and Regulatory Counsel; Troy DeJoode, Executive Director; Joel Logan, Director of Energy Services; and Krista Allen, IAMU Board of Directors and Director of Finance and Customer Service at Harlan Municipal Utilities. A few weeks, we introduced you to Jeb Kopera, the energy services intern at IAMU. The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities received a grant from the American Public Power Association Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program to sponsor the internship for Jeb, an Industrial Engineering student at Iowa State University. Jeb has been instrumental in assisting members with the filing of their biennial IUB energy efficiency reports, and has brought fresh ideas to energy services to better assist our members. Krista Allen, HMU Director of Finance and Customer Service and IAMU Board of Directors member, has been appointed by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to serve as a representative of Municipal Utilities to the nine member Iowa Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP). The CAP consults with Consumer Advocate Mark Schuling of the Attorney General’s office on matters of public utility regulation and oversight. The Attorney General’s office appoints five representatives and the Governor’s office appoints four to the panel. Allen stated, “I am honored to be appointed to the Consumer Advisory Panel. I take the responsibility seriously and look forward to being an advocate of consumers and municipal electric, gas and water utilities.” The panel meets four times a year. Allen’s term began July first and runs until June 30, 2019. submitted by Roger Morris, Spencer Municipal Utilities Electric Manager and Iowa OneCall Board Member Excavator Safety Report 2016 IOC awareness meeting locations are in current discussion. New locations will replace some previous locations. A new video production concepts include rural water, communication and a possible segment from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. The most successful programs implemented in 2015 will be carried over for 2016 implementation, and includes; Ag trade show events and applicator training program. IOC will also take part in the 2016 Farm Progress Show. The committee is looking into additional partnership opportunities to further offset ESAP programming costs. A motion was made and carried to have board representatives start discussion with CGI for by year 2017, have a combined event with CGI. Advertising Report The committee will continue with the following initiatives; focus on iowaonecall.com with Call 811 secondary, continue statewide dispersion of information, develop program for statewide 811 awareness day, monitor TV spots, movie theatre ads, google AdWords, outdoor ads, e-newsletter, agriculture focus with pipeline association, exhibit booths, developing activities for 2016 and evaluation of contract with Amperage. Upcoming activities include; working with “Top 10” member operations to develop effort to meet with excavators onsite across the state on 811Day, explore opportunities with surrounding states for advertising with border city TV stations, develop electronic survey for homeowners, cover trade shows, such as; Iowa State Fair, Home & Garden Show, etc., and develop an ad program for 2016. Also maybe consider utilizing Iowa Cable Advertising Network (ICAN) for out of Des Moines locations to reach the full state. And looking to see if IOC could provide larger Iowa One Call stickers to place on utility work trucks. State of the Art Report The Strategic Action Plan is to obtain 75% electronic ticketing by November 1, 2015. Current tracking showing 60-63%. We developing a derived list from the notification center database that will show which IOC member operators who are not adequately using the Ticket Check System. The committee outlined an outreach/communications plan to deal with operators who have failed to adequately use the system. The committee directed OCC (One Call Center), and staff to implement communications programming, including eShots to inform excavators about the importance of using the Ticket Check System to verify locating and marking statuses. Legislative Report Committee members and IUB staff to meet and discuss the initiative set forth by the PHMSA and explore options for implementing a dispute resolution, and determine who would oversee the process. The committee is also looking into the ticket check data analysis that sorts data to determine operator compliancy and usage trends. Several tracking reports have been developed based on operator usage. The committee has interest in tracking how operators who are statusing their tickets use the system and the status codes. Beginning in 2016 PHMSA form 7100.1-1 the distribution annual report, will have some new questions on the form for our gas utilities. The biggest change is the new requirement, to report for this current year, the number of excavation damages by apparent root cause using the basic root cause categories from the Common Ground Alliance’s Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT). Last year in anticipation to PHMSA’s new form, IAMU’s April 2014 revision of the model Gas Operating and Maintenance Plan (O&M) added the DIRT reporting form to the plan. The form is titled “Dig-In Report” and is in section 11 of the O&M, pages 115 and 116. You should be using this form this year whenever you have a dig-in on your gas pipes. By filling the form out as you have dig-ins will assist you with the information you will need to fill out next year’s annual report. |
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