Hands-On: Students Provide Stormwater Expertise
Every community is dealing with stormwater management and cash-strapped budgets. As he develops a strategy for Decorah, Iowa, City Manager Chad Bird has been getting research assistance from local college students, a relationship that has had mutual benefit. Culverts were these students’ classrooms, and improving the city’s water quality was the test. mswmag.com/featured
Busted: Drug Smugglers Destroy Sewer Line
A CCTV inspection confirmed what officials in Nogales, Arizona, had suspected — bundles of marijuana being smuggled from Mexico had blocked the International Outflow Interceptor causing a major sewer backup. Learn how emergency crews responded, what they discovered at the scene, and the expected cost to taxpayers. mswmag.com/featured
Think Tank: Old Water Meters Met With Creativity
Instead of meeting the fate of the scrap pile, Chariton Waterworks Superintendent Duane Covington decided that old water meters being replaced in this Iowa community deserved a second life. For example: Gut a meter’s components, add a glass front, run an aerator through the back, and you have a fish tank. Repurposing ideas continue to be mulled over at the utility, while others have come to fruition and are currently on display at the main office. mswmag.com/featured
Overheard Online
We have a lot ofinfrastructure, but a lot of it doesn’t work very well anymore. We need to undertake what amounts to a giant re-plumbing project across the West.
— Drought, Climate Change Speed Call to Action mswmag.com/featured