"Bioswales in the Bayou"

was a smashing success, and

would not have been possi-
ble without the help of our
hard-working volunteers and
our generous sponsors. A
huge thank you goes out to
the following groups for
their monetary support:
Advanced Engineering and
Environmental Services,
Black & Veatch, Brown and
Caldwell, CDM, DC Water
& Sewer Services, Duperon
Corporation, Fluid Control
Specialities Inc., Hach Com-
pany, HDR Engineering
Inc., Stantec Consulting
Service Inc., Veolia Water
North America, Weston
Solutions Inc., and Westfall
Manufacturing Co. Thank
you also to the organizations
who donated both time and
materials to the day's en-
deavors: Archer Western
Alberici, Baker Transporta-
tion and Logistics, Bayou
Rebirth, Bottom Line Equip-
ment, Brentwood Industries,
By Katie Schaffnit
October 2, 2010 marked
the completion of the third
annual WEF Service Project.
This year, organized by the
SYPC, more than 75 volun-
teers came together to build a
bioswale in New Orleanss
Lower Ninth Ward, an area
hit hard by Hurricane Katrina
in 2005.
The project, titled
"Bioswales in the Bayou",
worked with local New Or-
leans landscape architecture
firm FutureProof to design
and build a 125 foot by 30
foot bioswale in the center of
a green housing community
that is under development by
the national environmental
non-profit, Global Green. It
will direct stormwater away
from the new homes, retain
the water and remove pollu-
tion while helping runoff seep
into the groundwater.
For the first time, this year's
WEF Service Project was ac-
companied by a water carni-
val. Held on a nearby street,
the carnival featured 14
booths manned by engineer-
ing, government, and envi-
ronmental groups, aimed at
educating the public about
water issues. The carnival
drew nearly 200 visitors,
who learned what it might
be like to have to collect and
carry all your drinking water
in a bucket, watched demon-
strations of erosion due of
stormwater runoff, and got
to have their pictures taken
with Ricky the Raindrop
who came all the way from
the Municipal Water District
of Orange County for the
event.
The carnival and the ser-
vice project were extremely
well received by the commu-
nity and even attracted the
attention of the local media,
resulting in an evening fea-
ture on the local news.
BIOSWALES IN THE BAYOU
In This Issue

x SYPC Service Project
x WEFTEC 2010
YP Reception
Student Design
Competition
Career Fair
Process
Automation and
Control Workshop
x MA Updates
x Getting Involved:
Students and YPs
x Calendar of Events
The completed bioswale will
retain storm water allowing it
to percolate slowly back into
the groundwater.
SYPC volunteers hard at work in
New Orleans
YP Connections
Volume 5 lssue 1: First Quarter 2011
SYPC volunteers and the
completed bioswale.
City of New Orleans Police De-
partment, Cleveland Tubing,
Delta Mining, EcoUrban LLC,
Future Proof, Global Green,
Greater Little Zion Missionary
Baptist Church, Groundwork
New Orleans, Hike for
KaTREEna, Jenkins Farm and
Nursery, Lower 9th Ward Vil-
lage, LSU Ag Center, New Or-
leans Sewerage and Water Board,
St. Pius X Catholic School,
Storm Hunter Hauling, World
Water Works, and WEF.
Planning is already underway
for next year's service project
(WEFTEC.11 in Los Angeles). If
you are interested in getting in-
volved, please contact Haley Fal-
coner at
haley.falconer@hdrinc.com.
By Sarah Hubbell
On Monday night at
WEFTEC in New Orleans,
the Students and Young Pro-
fessionals Committee hosted
the sixth annual YP Reception
at the incredible House of
Blues. About 250 young engi-
neers and industry leaders
mixed and mingled in the
indoor/outdoor Voodoo Gar-
den area of the venue, enjoy-
ing delicious food and bever-
ages. Several sponsoring com-
panies provided some great
door prizes, including a Flip
video camera and an Amazon
Kindle. Committee chair,
Bob Wimmer, emceed a
dance competition and a rous-
ing game of musical chairs.
Sponsors of the event in-
cluded CDM, Greeley and
Hansen, Hach, Marsh McBir-
ney, AECOM, EDI and
WWEMA. Our generous
sponsors make this event pos-
sible at no charge to atten-
dees, so make plans now to
attend this event in Los Ange-
les at WEFTEC 2011!
Pirnie, and the Peace Corps. Over 200
students attended the Career Fair. Stu-
dents were encouraged to submit their
resumes in advance of WEFTEC, and
WEF received a record number of re-
sumes for the Career Fair. Mr. Christo-
pher Korab, Vice President of Human
Resources for Aqua-Aerobic Systems,
Inc. assisted students with last minute
preparations and answered questions
regarding career search strategies. WEF
also added an opportunity for students
By Anil Tangirala
The WEFTEC.10 Career Fair was held
at the New Orleans Morial Convention
Center on October 12, 2010, from 1 to
4 PM. This year the following compa-
nies participated in the Career Fair:
AECOM, Black and Veatch, Brown and
Caldwell, CDM, CH2MHILL, Carollo
Engineers, Environmental Dynamics,
Freese and Nichols, Greeley and Han-
sen, Hazen and Sawyer, HDR, Malcolm
and young professionals to learn more
about WEF Technical Committees. Six
committees had booths at the Career
Fair to speak with young professionals
on opportunities to get more involved
in WEF through committee work.
YP RECEPTION
CAREER FAIR
PROCESS AUTOMATION AND CONTROL WORKSHOP
workshop provided design
personnel, operational staff
and utility managers with
practical fundamental knowl-
edge of control systems, ex-
plaining what automation
systems consist of, why auto-
mation is beneficial, and how
automation systems are im-
plemented. The workshop
was well received by the at-
tendees. The workshop was
chaired by a YP (Erici Dodds)
and included three YP speak-
ers (Steve Kerr, Matthew
Schultz, and Eric Dodds).
By Eric Dodds
The S&YP co-sponsored the
Process Automation and
Control Fundamen-
tals: SCADA 101 workshop
at WEFTEC10 with the
Automation and Information
Technology (AIT) Committee
and the Municipal Wastewa-
ter Treatment Design
(MWTD) Committee. The
WEFTEC


A YEAR
IN REVIEW
PAGE 2 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
YPs Jennifer Shore, Haley
Falconer, and Michelle
Hatcher at WEFTEC.10s
YP Reception.
By Michelle Hatcher
WEFTEC 2011 hosted 11
teams for the Student Design
Competition for the wastewa-
ter and environmental compe-
titions. Teams from across the
country participated and in-
cluded schools from the Uni-
versity of Florida, Southern
Methodist University, Ryerson
University, University of Illi-
nois Urbana Champaign,
Colorado State University,
University of North Dakota,
University of South Florida,
University of Waterloo, North
Dakota State University, South
Dakota State University, and
Virginia Tech. In all, there
were seven teams that partici-
pated in the traditional waste-
water competition, and four
teams that participated in the
newer environmental competi-
tion. The traditional wastewa-
ter competition includes topics
ranging from hydraulic capacity
design, upgrades to existing
systems, biosolids handling,
etc. The newer, more con-
temporary environmental de-
sign competition includes top-
ics ranging from sustainability,
water reuse, wetland construc-
tion, etc. Teams prepare a 20-
page submittal prior to
WEFTEC and 20-minute pres-
entation for WEFTEC. Both
aspects of the competition are
judged and a final score is de-
termined, with the winner
announced at WEFTEC. This
years winners included South-
ern Methodist University for
their presentation titled
Settlers Village Wastewater
Treatment Plant Expan-
sion. The University of Flor-
ida received first place in the
environmental competition
with their presentation titled
Green Infrastructure Design
for Pollutant Control from
Transport Systems Crossing
Land-Water Interfaces A
Bridge too Far?. Both first
place teams received $2,500 in
cash prizes as provided by our
generous sponsors. Sponsors
included Black & Veatch,
CDM, Greeley & Hansen, and
Parsons Brinkerhoff. For addi-
tional team information, please
see the SYPC webpage on
www.wef.org, or contact Lau-
ren Zuravnsky at
lzuravnsky@greeley-
hansen.com. The 2011 Stu-
dent Design Competition
Guidelines will be posted
shortly, so mark your chance
to become a part of this excit-
ing competition!
STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION
WEFTEC


CONTINUED
PAGE 3 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Southern Methodist University
won first place in the wastewa-
ter division.
University of Florida won first
place in the environmental divi-
sion.
By Lou Storino, IWEA Stu-
dent Chapter Chair
The Illinois Water Environ-
ment Associations Student
Chapter and Young Profes-
sionals Committee hosted a
fall rain garden maintenance
day on Saturday October 16,
2010, at Pulaski Park in Chi-
cago. The rain garden was
installed as the first service
project of the WEF Students
and Young Professionals
Committee during WEFTEC
efforts at the Dry Creek
Wastewater Treatment Plant;
Patrick Moore, with Barge
Waggoner Sumner & Can-
non, presented on the recov-
ery efforts at the Biosolids
Facility; and Roy Denney,
with Metro Water Services,
took everyone on a tour of
the Biosolids Facility. A big
thanks goes out to all the
speakers and to Southern
Sales for sponsoring the
lunch.
The Louisville YPs hosted a
lunch and learn on December
The Nashville YPs got
together on November 9
th
for
a lunch and learn at Metro
Water Services for a presen-
tation on the Flood Recovery
Efforts of three facili-
ties. Gresham, Smith & Part-
ners presented on the recov-
ery efforts at the K.R. Har-
rington Water Treatment
Plant that was completely
flooded by the May
event. Heather Crabtree,
Ken Cox, and Ron Taylor, all
with Metro Water Services,
presented on the recovery
17
th
at Louisville
MSD. Chuck Anderson, with
Strand Associates, presented
Picking a Pump in 30 min-
utes or Less. A big thanks
goes out to Mr. Anderson and
to Ray Wilkey, with ITT
Flygt, for sponsoring the
lunch. The Lexington YPs
got together for a social on
December 14
th
at Marik-
kas. The Knoxville YPs
hosted a lunch and learn on
December 14
th
at Cannon and
Cannon, Inc. Jennifer Bald-
win, with CH2M Hill,
PULASKI PARK RAIN GARDEN UPDATE
YPS IN TN & KY LEARN ABOUT FLOOD RECOVERY EFFORTS
VIRGINIA WATER ENVIRONMENT ASSOCIATION
cheered on the Old Dominion
University (ODU) Monarchs
Men's Basketball team as they
took on the Richmond Spi-
ders and rallied from eight
points down to beat Rich-
mond 77-70. The attendees
enjoyed pizza and wings from
club level while watching the
exciting game.
Some of Hampton Roads finest
YPs supporting ODU.
By Stephanie Kunze
ASCE, the Eastern Virginia
Regional Activities Commit-
tee (EVRAC), and the Vir-
ginia Water Environment
Association (VWEA) hosted a
social event for young profes-
sionals on Wednesday, De-
cember 1, 2010. Participants
MA
UPDATES
PAGE 4 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
2008. Special thanks to
Kendra Sveum for coordinat-
ing the event and Metropoli-
tan Water Reclamation Dis-
trict of Greater Chicago
(MWRDGC) for lending
their tools.
Volunteers adding a top dress-
ing of mulch to the garden
after weeding and planting
Volunteers from MWH
Americas, Donohue and Asso-
ciates, AECOM, and
MWRDGC along with some
of their friends and families
presented Drinking Water
Regulations what are Stage
2 DBPR & Long Term 2
EWSTR. A big thanks goes
out to Ms. Baldwin and to
CH2MHill for sponsoring the
lunch.
Rising flood waters
By Kendra Sveum
The Technical Coordination
sub-committee was estab-
lished to focus on increasing
new member engagement and
filling volunteer needs, both
within and outside the
S&YPC. If you are a YP that is
interested in becoming more
involved, either nationally or
locally, but needs some help
getting started, please contact
me at ksveum@donohue-
associates.com, and we can
find something that fits your
interests.
Right now we are looking
for YPs to fill specific volun-
teer requests with the fol-
lowing WEF Committees:
x Residual and Biosolids
x Membership
x Municipal Wastewater
Treatment Design
Last year the sub-committee
developed a mentor system
to establish a guide for each
new member as they learn
how to navigate the S&YPC
and WEF. Each new mem-
ber was asked to fill out a
survey that gathered infor-
mation on their areas of inter-
est and goals. The survey pro-
vided background information
on the individuals to help in
selecting a mentor as well as
making suggestions to poten-
tial activities that may be of
interest with them. Currently
we are looking for more peo-
ple to serve as mentors to our
new incoming members. If
you are interested in getting
to know a new YP in your
area and helping them find a
place within WEF and your
MA, please let me know.

ENGAGING OUR MEMBERS:
THE TECHNICAL COORDINATINON SUB-COMMITTEE
THE WASTEWATER CHALLENGE
system by applying traditional
wastewater treatment princi-
ples learned in the classroom
in an extraordinary situation
that requires true and innova-
tive outside-the-box think-
ing.
WHERE: Sacramento, Cali-
fornia, at the 2011 WEF Re-
siduals and Biosolids Confer-
ence
WHEN: May 22-25, 2011
Questions: Post ques-
tions to WEFWastewater-
Challenge@wef.org
To be eligible to compete,
your team must submit a De-
sign Report to the WEF
Wastewater Challenge Com-
mittee. There is a limit of
one team per student chap-
ter. The top 12 teams will be
selected to compete.
The deadline to submit
reports for entry is April
1, 2011, at 5 PM PST.
All team members must be a
registered WEF member. For
more information on how to
join please visit:
http://www.wef.org/
Members/
page_joinwef.aspx?
id=261&ekmensel=c57dfa7b
_59_0_261_9
(click on Student Package).
By Dianne Crilley
The Water Environment Fed-
eration would like to invite a
team from your school to
participate in the 2011 WEF
Wastewater Challenge
(WWC). This hands-on chal-
lenging and fun national com-
petition requires teams of
students to treat agricultural
runoff from a biosolids com-
post facility in order to pro-
tect a wetland ecosystem,
using an assortment of house-
hold products. The challenge
is an opportunity for students
across the nation to work
collaboratively, problem
solve, and design an emer-
gency wastewater treatment
GETTING
INVOLVED:
STUDENTS
AND
YPS
PAGE 5 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
The Problem:
A 200 acre Biosolids Compost
Facility that has 100,000 cubic
yards of composting, curing, and
finished compost on site sits next
to an earthen levee and just up-
gradient from a sensitive wetland
type ecosystem. The levee is
expected to breach and for sev-
eral hours 5,000 CFS of agricul-
tural runoff and snow melt will
run through the site with the
normal runoff controls getting
overloaded. It is expected that
most of this now further con-
taminated water will reach the
site fence line and if not stopped
or successfully treated will dev-
astate the wetland. The Army
Corps of Engineers will be re-
pairing the breach within 12
hours and therefore the solution
to the problem should be consid-
ered temporary. The natural
slope of the facility would chan-
nel the flow to an area of no
more than 100 yards wide at the
fence line....
To learn about your teams
task, visit:
http://www.wef.org/
PublicInformation/page.aspx?
id=136
Calendar of events

February 9: Part Two of Perspectives on Collection Systems Rehabili-
tation and Replacement Webcast Series: Manhole Rehabilitation
February 8-11:Utility Management Conference
March 17-19: New Jersey WEA, Atlantic City, NJ
April 1: April Fools Day
April 10-12: Disinfection 2011, Cincinnati, OH
April 14: Young Professionals Summit, Louisville, KY
April 14-16: Tennessee-Kentucky WEA, Louisville, KY
April 28-29: Iowa WEA, Davenport, IA
May 19-20: British Columbia WWA, Vancouver, BC
May 22-25: Residuals and Biosolids 2011, Sacramento, CA
June 12-15: Collection Systems 2011, Raleigh, NC
June 28-29: EWA/WEF/JSWA Cutting-Edge Technologies and Best
Practices on Sewerage, Tokyo, Japan
July 31-August 3: Energy and Water 2011, Chicago, IL
October 15-19: WEFTEC 2011, Los Angeles, CA


Co-Chairs:
Michelle Hatcher: hatchermm@cdm.com
Katie Schaffnit: schaffnit_ks@hotmail.com
Contributors:
Dianne Crilley
Eric Dodds
Sarah Hubbell
Stephanie Kunze
Lou Storino
Kendra Sveum
Anil Tangirala
YP CONNECTIONS
WE RE ON THE WEB
WWW. WEF. ORG