I was honored to participate in CWEA Summer Meeting 2022 with two new sessions on supporting collection system managers with reducing common violations, lowering enforcement risks and helping them avoid negative public attention from spills and inspections. Attendees were highly engaged in both sessions with many real-world scenarios with many questions fielded.
The first presentation entitled “SSS WDRs TRAINING FOR LROs, DATA SUBMITTERS, SUPERVISORS, AND MANGERS” focused on hot topics such as:
- Inspector auditing techniques and how to prepare for an inspection.
- Items to gear-up for in preparing for the being anticipated for new WDRs.
- Best practice recommendations for SSMP Audits, SSMP updates, training, and work program reviews.
- Training tips for Legally Responsible Officials (LROs), Data Submitters, Supervisors and Managers to help them be more effective and prepared for unannounced compliance inspections by regulators, especially State Water Board or USEPA Clean Water Action compliance inspectors.
The second new training I did along with Rachelle Lather, featured from Carmel Area Wastewater District covered her latest innovations and best practice tips on Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) Auditing with a brand-new manhole inspection program/application developed in-house by the District. She also showcased lots of information on what the District is doing with their current industrial pretreatment program and upgrades underway.
I covered a broad range of WDRs compliance topics, including “Regulatory Auditing Techniques. A case study from West Bay Sanitary District, including their SSMP Audit findings and best practice recommendations was also presented in the session to help managers get a detailed inside view of their audit results.
More questions and answers were covered about being ready for compliance inspectors, including questions such as “how do you know you are adequately operating, maintaining, and managing all parts of the collection system? “How do you know if you are collecting the right data on how your system is being impacted from changes in climate (heat, temps, fires, sea level)”? “Are you conducting any predictive monitoring in the collection system, especially with force main sewers?”
The session ended with some tips on preparing for the new anticipated WDRs and tooling-up existing SSMP/Audits for ultimate success.