Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Practical solutions for improving rural communities

May 2013

Webinar on EPA's Community-Based Water Resiliency program

Posted Fri, 2013/05/24 - 10:22am by RCAP

Plan to attend a free webinar hosted by EPA’s Community-Based Water Resiliency (CBWR) program. You will learn how the tool can assist drinking water and wastewater utilities, as well as the communities they serve, to prepare for a water-service interruption regardless of the cause of interruption.

NYTimes article describes RCAP's place (without saying it)

Posted Mon, 2013/05/20 - 12:08pm by RCAP

A May 10 article, titled "Why Federal Efforts to Ensure Clean Tap Water Fail to Reach Faucets Nationwide," describes the situations and places where RCAP does its work. The article speaks about small communities in California and the challenges they are having accessing funding and expertise in order to comply with federal regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency. There are communities like this not only in California but in the other 49 states across the country.

Use performance indicators to improve the operations of your utility

Posted Mon, 2013/05/20 - 9:47am by RCAP

Imagine you are driving and on your car’s dashboard a light comes on. It indicates that the car’s oil needs to be changed or that the engine is overheating. Auto manufacturers have included this feature as a way to tell owners to take action regarding the vehicle’s operation. A light in a place visible to the driver indicates that something elsewhere needs attention.

Format:

Magazine/newsletter (single article)

Topic:

Operations - technical operations of facilities and infrastructure

Source:

RCAP

Audience:

Operator

Peter Gleick: Water Wars? Here in the United States?

Posted Fri, 2013/05/10 - 10:58am by RCAP

Dr. Peter Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute and a renowned expert, innovator, and communicator on water and climate issues, asks the question about water wars occuring in the United States.

Read Gleick's article

Peter Gleick provides fascinating facts about water

Posted Fri, 2013/05/10 - 10:55am by RCAP

For World Water Day on March 22, Dr. Peter Gleick provided a long list of facts about uses of water that was published on Science Blogs. Gleick is president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute and is renowned as an expert, innovator, and communicator on water and climate issues.

Read Glick's post

EPA releases report on emerging technologies for wastewater treatment and in-plant wet-weather management

Posted Thu, 2013/05/09 - 4:13pm by RCAP

EPA has released a report on emerging technologies for wastewater treatment and in-plant wet weather management to assist municipal wastewater utility owners and operators, local governments, engineers, and planners find information on new wastewater treatment and in-plant wet-weather management technologies. The document includes technical and cost information to assist users in considering using more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective wastewater treatment and in-plant wet-weather management technologies.

Good news on the condition of the nation's infrastructure

Posted Fri, 2013/05/03 - 2:28pm by RCAP

Watch this (tongue-in-cheek) report from "The Colbert Report" on the ASCE's recently released report card on the state of infrastructure in the United States.

NY Times: Safe Storage of Water? Go Underground

Posted Fri, 2013/05/03 - 2:16pm by RCAP

The New York Times published an article on May 1 that talks about storing water underground as a modern (but also old) solution to water shortages and the advantages and disadvantages of this.

"[E]xperts are urging cities to build reservoirs below the ground, where the water cannot evaporate and many of the difficulties associated with above-ground water storage are avoided," the article reads.