SMART News
SMART About Water - 'Strategic Management, and Available Resources and Technology'
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| RCAP trains with the NESC. |
WVU's NESC Trains Source Water Specialists - Seminar Will Help Small Communities Address Water Quality
Morgantown, W.Va.—On August 5, 6, and 7, 2008, West Virginia University’s National Environmental Services Center ( NESC) hosted a national training seminar about developing source water protection plans in America’s small communities.
The seminar—a key activity in the SMART About Water program, a $3 million, 18-month grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—featured NESC staff working with Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) trainers and source water specialists from around the country. These trainers will go on to assist small communities in their efforts to create their own source water protection plans, with a special focus on addressing untreated wastewater from failing septic systems.
“Nothing is more important than a clean, safe supply of water,” said Gerald Iwan Ph.D., NESC’s executive director. “
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| Gerald Iwan, NESC's Director |
Good water is the key to a host of other issues, including quality of life, public health, environmental protection, and economic development. And, because failing wastewater systems are the main water pollution problem in many communities, correcting this situation is a logical first step.”
The seminar focused on ways that community leaders can develop source water protection plans to improve water quality in their communities. The training also showed how social marketing techniques—an innovative approach that uses commercial marketing tools to stimulate community action—can be used to achieve source water protection goals. By next summer, NESC and RCAP expect to have offered training and technical assistance about source water protection in nearly 250 communities in each of the 50 states.
Located at West Virginia University, the National Environmental Services Center (NESC) helps small and rural communities with their water, wastewater, management, and infrastructure resilience concerns. To learn more about NESC, call (800) 624-8301 or visit www.nesc.wvu.edu. To learn more about the SMART About Water program, go to www.nesc.wvu.edu/smart/.
Posted August 8, 2008
NESC Wins $3 Million EPA Award
Source Water Protection Project Will Help Small Communities Address Water Quality
Morgantown, W.Va. - A West Virginia University environmental program won a $3 million, 18-month award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help very small communities learn how to protect their sources of drinking water.
The National Environmental Services Center (NESC) at WVU and its collaborator, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), will train and directly assist small drinking water system personnel and state and community officials across the country through the SMART About Water program. The program will focus on how to develop source water protection plans, an initiative of the EPA.
According to EPA reports, the leading polluter of small drinking water systems is untreated wastewater from failing septic tanks and small sewer systems.
"Source water protection involves a wide array of technologies, resources, and management options that for very small communities span from wastewater treatment to drinking water delivery," said Richard Bajura, program leader and director of the WVU National Research Center for Coal and Energy where NESC is housed.
SMART About Water stands for 'Strategic Management, and Available Resources and Technology.' "How people choose to fund and manage their water infrastructure is as a big a factor as the technology they use," Bajura said. Plans will include ways that community leaders and homeowners can make sure wastewater systems are properly installed, maintained, and working over the long-term. "Septic systems and other small wastewater systems can in fact be the best choice for wastewater treatment in small communities, if they're properly maintained," said Bajura.
SMART About Water builds on the 30-year history of NESC's National Small Flows Clearinghouse, National Drinking Water Clearinghouse, and National Environmental Training Center for Small Communities, whose technical experts provide the latest information about small community water and wastewater systems. RCAP brings a 30-year history of offering assistance to small communities through its nearly 200 specialists in all 50 states. "We think that NESC's university-based expertise coupled with RCAP's on-the-ground network is an exciting partnership that will deliver results," said Bajura.
The National Environmental Services Center (NESC) helps small and rural communities with their drinking water, wastewater, management, infrastructure security, and solid waste challenges. NESC is a program of the The National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University.
To learn more, call (800) 624-8301.
The
NESC is based at West Virginia University (WVU), one of the nation's major
research institutions. WVU is West Virginia, located 75 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. NESC is housed in the
National Research Center for Coal & Energy
(NRCCE) Building on WVU's
Evansdale Campus.
Get directions to our building or call (304) 293-2867.