The following is a transcript of the WaterWorld Weekly Newscast for the week of January 7, 2019.
Hi, I'm Angela Godwin for WaterWorld magazine, bringing you water and wastewater news headlines for the week of January 7. Coming up...
Water infrastructure bill codifies integrated planning approach
Energy-water nexus legislation introduced
Maryland bioenergy project gets nearly $47M in funding
Welsh Water removes 800 tons of fat from sewer
Just before the Christmas holiday, Congress passed H.R. 7279, the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, which codifies the U.S. EPA's Integrated Planning framework.
The framework allows communities to negotiate with EPA to better prioritize their most pressing public health and environmental concerns in order to meet Clean Water Act requirements more efficiently and cost-effectively.
The legislation is supported by a broad coalition of local government organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Regional Councils, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, and the American Public Works Association.
The bill is currently awaiting the president's signature.
H.R. 34, the Energy and Water Research Integration Act of 2019, was introduced into Congress last week by Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Ranking Member Frank Lucas.
The bill would ensure consideration of water conservation and use in the Department of Energy’s research, development, and demonstration programs to help guarantee efficient, reliable, and sustainable delivery of energy and clean water resources.
Chairwoman Johnson said the bipartisan Act "calls attention to the critical link between energy and water."
Ranking Member Lucas added that "innovations from this research could improve efficiency and reduce water use in oil and gas production across the country."
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has secured a total of $46.9 million in SRF loans and grant funding for the Piscataway Wastewater Treatment Plant Bio-Energy project in Prince George's County.
The plant, which will receive biosolids from other WSSC wastewater treatment facilities, will include a process to precondition the biosolids prior to anaerobic digestion, an anaerobic digestion facility and a facility to produce dewatered "Class A biosolids," which can be beneficially reused as fertilizer.
In addition, a combined heat and power facility will be built to capture biogas from the digestion process to be used to produce steam and electricity for the plant.
Fat weighing more than 130 elephants has been removed from Cardiff's Mermaid Quay sewer system.
Welsh Water removed the fat as part of its work to repair the Victorian brick sewer beneath the streets of one of Cardiff's busiest districts.
The massive buildup of fats, oils and grease -- as well as other debris -- required frequent cleanings, which degraded the antiquated sewer system, resulting in a number of sewer collapses in Mermaid Quay.
Work on the $2.5 million rehabilitation project began in September and has been progressing in phases to minimize impact on the local area.
For WaterWorld magazine, I'm Angela Godwin. Thanks for watching.
