Pre-Conference Workshops

2018 Wednesday Pre-Conference Seminar Summaries (there is an additional fee for Wednesday sessions they are not included in the full conference registration fee)

Their Side of the Meter – Full-day seminar, hosted by the Water Conservation Committee With water rates rising and inefficiencies on both sides of the meter coming to the fore-front of conversations on water management, educating and addressing customer concerns on these issues is becoming important. This workshop will be a full day of training on how to set up and implement effective end user audits, proven to be beneficial to promote good long lasting water management practices by water users and helping to promote good relationships between the water provider and its customers. The workshop will consist of a half-day of classroom training and a half-day of hands-on in the field, performing an assessment.

The Smart Utility (Parts 1 and 2) – Two 3-hour seminars, hosted by the Water Information Technology Committee Information technology in the water sector is no longer confined to SCADA and its associated telecommunications – it has become an indispensable component of every aspect of utility operations and management. In this seminar, the morning session will focus on cybersecurity, smart utilities in the past and now, and the implications of the Cloud and the Internet-of-Things for SCADA systems. The afternoon session will begin with security for Wi-Fi networks. Geographic information systems (GIS) are powerful analytical tools, once they are created and populated with accurate data. Two case studies of the transition from paper maps to GIS will be presented, along with a case study of how one utility combined GIS with an economic model to develop costs and optimal time to replace of watermains. The final presentation will examine lessons learned from variable frequency drives installed on pumps.

Emergency Management (Parts 1 and 2) – Two 3-hour seminars, hosted jointly by the Engineering and Distribution Committees The morning session will focus on seismic resiliency design for pipes and valves, ductile iron piping considerations, earthquake resistant ductile iron piping, yard piping at a water treatment facility, and storage tanks. The afternoon session will focus on assessing vulnerability from all hazards, managing sustained operations following an earthquake, lessons learned about seismic resiliency, and resiliency planning, on topics ranging from assessing emergency demands, master planning, to creating a regional water system geo-database to promote agency collaboration in an emergency.

The Emergency Management Pre-Conference Seminars have also been approved for Oregon wastewater CEUs.

Water Audits – One 3-hour morning seminar*, hosted by the Distribution / Water Loss Control Subcommittee For more than 10 years, Washington State has required utilities to maintain water losses lower than 10% of supply. However, many utilities have not yet employed the AWWA Free Water Audit Software to assess water losses with best-practice methodology. Washington Department of Health is conducting a pilot water audit technical assistance program that includes water audit compilation, Level 1 water audit validation, and evaluation of cost-effective water loss reduction opportunities. This workshop will instruct participants in best-practice water loss accounting, use of the free AWWA software, and data validity grading. Participants will be introduced to water loss control strategies. Key takeaways from Washington’s pilot program will also be offered. *Note: The Pre-Conference Seminar fee is for an entire day. No refund credit will be given for half-day attendance. Water Audits attendees may choose either the Smart Utility or the Emergency Management 3-hour afternoon seminar to complete their day.

Train the Trainers – Two 3-hour seminars, hosted by the Training Coordination Committee The mission of the Training Coordination Committee is to facilitate access to training and education, especially in under-served areas of the section outside of urban centers and the I-5 corridor. To this end, the Training Coordination Committee has developed a series of courses, known as Training-in-a Box (TIAB). The content of these courses is developed by a group of subject-matter experts, and is standardized so it is applicable and can qualify for CEUS in all 3 states in the section. TIAB is structured so it can be taught by anyone who completes the trainer orientation and training to satisfy the requirement for a qualified instructor. Individuals who complete these workshops will go out to subsections to bring the training to local utilities. These workshops will orient trainers from PNWS-AWWA subsections on the curricula for two of the trainings; Water Storage Basics will be covered during the morning session, and Emergency Preparedness will be covered in the afternoon session.

THIS SESSION IS FREE OF CHARGE. HOWEVER YOU MUST REGISTER SEPARATE FROM THE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION TO TAKE PART.  To register for the Train the Trainer Session Click Here