The American Public Works Association (APWA) will introduce a new executive director at its annual convention in Minneapolis this month. Most recently associate managing director for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Washington, D.C., Scott Grayson once spent four years as a City of Golden Valley, Minn., council member. We should have asked him the same thing we asked this year’s APWA Top 10 Leaders: What’s the best way to develop an excellent working relationship with elected officials? Find their answers here.
Seeking awesome concrete projects
Every year, Public Works' sister publication Concrete Surfaces celebrates project owners who choose polished concrete over tile, carpet, or vinyl floors for its durability and ease of maintenance. If you’re one of them, throw your project into the ring by Sept. 16. Last year, a Caltrans/Bay Area Toll Authority maintenance complex earned an Institutional (hospitals, churches, and government facilities) award. Click here to enter your project.
THE question from the American Water Works Association convention
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) lets water utilities see and tweak how treatment equipment is working in real time. Now it’s possible to “see” when organisms that indicate, say, a disinfection byproduct are building up and tweak processes to stop their proliferation. Real-time microbiological monitoring requires significant investment, which is why attendees said it’s a great idea, but …
There’s also such a thing as “intelligent pipe monitoring.” East Bay Municipal Utility District and Southern Nevada Water Authority are using cloud-based wireless technology to identify pressure swings indicating tiny leaks that could, over time, cause a main break — again, almost in real time.
We got a facelift!
Technology’s improving our service as well. Thanks to new content management software, you can navigate our website via smartphone, tablet, laptop, and/or desktop. We’re now also digital-first, which means everything you see in Public Works magazine has already been published on pwmag.com. We publish a lot more online than we do in print, so it's important to add pwmag.com to your favorites list. You don't want to miss a chance to submit a Department of the Month, subscribe to our free e-newsletter, check out the results to our annual salary survey, or answer our quick poll.
