water ways volume iv • winter 2007-2008

Water Ways Volume IV • Winter 2007-20082

American Flow Control 11

Cady Aquastore 27

Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. 5

Curry & Associates Engineers 21

Earth Science Laboratories, Inc. 24

Emma Sales, LLC 13

Engineering Enterprises, Inc. 23

First Bankers’ Banc Securities, Inc. 11

Godwin Pumps 23

Heneghan & Associates, P.C. 8

Lemna Technologies 13

Maguire Iron 20

Maurer-Stutz, Inc. 24

McLaughlin Group 13

Metropolitan Industries 9

Mike’s Inc. 18

Natgun Corporation 18

Newell Sand/Rock Filter Cleaning 24

Norman Noe Co. Inc. 22

PDC Laboratories, Inc. 12

Ressler & Associates 4

Stewart Spreading, Inc. 7

Test, Inc. 26

The Ford Meter Box Company 8

United Systems &Software, Inc. 6

USA Bluebook 28

Utility Service Company, Inc. 24

Water Leak Locators 5

Water Remediation Technology 2

Water Well Solutions 18

ADVERTISERS INDEXThanks to our advertisers who make our magazine possible. Please patronize them when you can!!


ON THE COVER…Picture of an ice covered tree taken by HeatherMcLeod just outside of Taylorville, Illinois.

IRWA Board Members

President Board of DirectorsGreg Bates Steve FletcherJersey County Washington CountyWater Company Water Company

Vice President Tom ShrewsburyRon Cowles Village of HebronCity of Grayville

Jay BellSecretary City of ChenoaJeff TumiatiVillage of Stonington Scott Wallis

City of PrincetonTreasurerDale Hanner Wayne DixonCity of Oakland City of Mason City

IRWA Staff Members

Frank Dunmire Executive [email protected] • 217-820-4626

Heather McLeod Membership Services [email protected]

Denise Burke Administrative / Program [email protected]

Wayne Nelson Training Specialist / Field StaffCoordinator

[email protected] • 217-820-1561

Gale Moore Circuit [email protected] • 217-820-4754

Pat Gammill Circuit [email protected] • 217-820-1564

John Bell Circuit [email protected] • 217-820-1568

Dick Rohr Wastewater [email protected] • 217-820-1567

Gary Chase Wastewater [email protected] • 217-820-1560

Bill Dowell Wastewater [email protected] • 217-820-1562

Chuck Woodworth Ground Water [email protected] • 217-820-1569

Mark Mitchell USDA Source Water [email protected] • 217-820-1565

IRWA’s Mission Statement“Protecting and preserving the water andwastewater resources of Rural Illinoisthrough education, representation and on-sitetechnical assistance”.

Waterways is the official publication of the Illinois RuralWater Association, P.O. Box 6049, Taylorville, Illinois62568, and is published quarterly for distribution to members as well as other industry associations andfriends. Articles and photographs are encouraged.Advertising and submissions should be mailed to theabove address or e-mail us at [email protected].

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Roller Coaster by Frank Dunmire............................................................................................4

The Use of Variable Speed Drives in Water Distribution Systems by Greg Bates.................5

January 2008… by Mark E. Mitchell ......................................................................................6

The Town of Cortland Constructs a Sheaffer SystemTM

for Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse Irregation by Gary Chase .............................10

26th Annual Technical Conference.................................................................................14-17

Can You Catch the Title of Best Tasting Water?..................................................................19

Who to Call… .....................................................................................................................20

NLP Coaching Goal Setting for Success at New Year Resolutions by Rintu Basu.............21

Water: Our Most Precious and Most Under-appreciated Natural Resource by John Mone ....................................................22

VIP Fleet Program................................................................................................................25

Welcome New Members ......................................................................................................26

As the year winds down I find myselfsitting at the desk in my office at homewondering where did the year go. Itseems like only yesterday that we werecelebrating the arrival of a new year andlooking forward to what it might bring.Without a doubt, 2007 could be definedas a roller coaster year – full of ups anddowns.

The year started off with a growingconcern over the Congressional appropri-ations process. After passing a numberof continuing resolutions to keep thegovernment operating as it entered thenew fiscal year, everyone was curious tosee how the new Democratically con-trolled Congress would clear the backlog

of appropriations bills. The answer wasnot long in coming and it was not a par-ticularly good outcome for rural waterassociations across the nation. Althoughthe Source Water, Circuit Rider andWastewater programs were fully fundedthe same could not be said about theUSEPA programs.

As you are all well aware, funds forthe Groundwater and Training programswere swallowed up by USEPA. It wouldhave been easy to just throw our hands inthe air and give up, but that is not theway rural water’s grassroots effortswork. After we asked, our friends inCongress pressured EPA to make fundsavailable for protecting our groundwater

and training oursmall systemoperators andmanagers. Thiseffort did meetwith a measureof success.

EPA did final-ly capitulate andsought proposalsthrough a com-petitive bidprocess forsource waterprotection andtraining andtechnical assis-tance (T & TA)for small sys-tems. RuralWater wasawarded the con-tract requiringtraining and

technical assistance is provided to smallsystems throughout the country. Thesource water portion went to the NationalEnvironmental Service Center out ofWest Virginia and it is our understandingthey will create a source water resourcecenter. Beginning January 1, 2008, the T& TA program will be reinstated inIllinois as well as the rest of ruralAmerica.

The appropriations process seemed tobe destined for the same dismal fateagain this year, but at the last minute allof the remaining funding packages wererolled into one huge omnibus bill andpassed out of both houses of Congress.As I write this article, it has been report-ed that the President will sign the bill.As is usually the case, there is good newsand bad news.

The good news is that the fundingamount requested for the T & TA pro-gram for FY 08 is included. The badnews is that the amount requested for theGroundwater program did not survive thefinal cut. Just what this means to stateassociations won’t be fully known for atleast a couple of months. Hopefully wewill be able to convince the powers to bethat the program deserves a new lease onlife and funding will be made available.

Roller Coaster by Frank Dunmire, Executive Director


continued on page 26

4

The use of variable speed drives intoday’s pumping stations gives the opera-tor many advantages. With electricalexpenses rising at a high rate, the energysaving factor of a variable speed drive isone major reason to take into considera-tion. The V.F.D. allows you to run amotor at any speed you desire to achieveyour pumping goal and save energy atthe same time. V.F.D.’s also allow youto control the ramping speed of themotor to prevent water hammer and theyare adaptable to the SCADA system aswell to give you the options of input thatyou may need.

Jersey County Rural Water Company,Inc. currently has seven variable speeddrives in our water distribution system.They are used to initiate a slow start-upof the motors to prevent water hammer.The ramping can be programmed to startat the time of your choosing. In manycases, we use V.F.D.’s to control the out-let (discharge) pressure of our pumpingstations so that we don’t exceed pres-sures on our mains. We can set thispressure limit through our SCADA sys-tem to hold a constant discharge pres-sure. This is also very helpful if youhave a tank down for painting or mainte-nance to hold the discharge pressure at aconstant rate.

The pressure and flow rate can also becontrolled into a ground storage tank tohold an adjustable back-pressure to keepyour customers happy on the suction sideof the tank. This can be achieved withan electric actuator and butterfly valvewith the SCADA system. This allowsyou to open the butterfly valve 30%when the ground tank calls for water andhold a back-pressure of 55 psi. This isadjustable through the SCADA system,which looks at a transducer to determineand hold pressure settings. For instance,if your supplier only allows you to pur-chase a certain gallon per minute at aprecise pressure, a V.F.D. can be crucialin holding these inputs.

With theincreasing needfor reducingenergy costs, aV.F.D. is a valu-able asset asyou only need12 horsepowerto achieve yourgallon perminute rate, butyou have a 15horsepowermotor. AV.F.D. allows

you to run it slower to use less energy,yet still achieve your pumping goals.Variable Speed Drives are considered agreen product, which is important in con-servation as well as expense manage-ment.

The Use of Variable Speed DrivesIn Water Distribution Systems by Greg Bates, IRWA Board President

5Water Ways Volume IV • Winter 2007-2008

Where does the time go? I work, dayafter day, traveling around the great stateof Illinois talking to operators aboutSource Water Protection. It seems likeonly a month ago that we were lookingat January 2007. The years go by in abusy, busy blur. From time to time thetopics change, but foremost is always theIEPA and USEPA updates. “What are thenew things coming down the pipe?” Thisis the question I get most often. This tellsme that we are doing the right things.Operators everywhere are aware that theonly thing that stays the same is change!Soon we will all gather in Effingham forthe IRWA 26th Annual Conference. Thething that amazes me is that…I, MarkMitchell, the “new guy” to IRWA havebeen around for 13 of them as an IRWA

employee. That means that I have beenaround for half of the IRWA AnnualTechnical Conferences! This seemsentirely impossible to me! The yearshave been good and the conferences havecontinued to get bigger and better. Theattendance at our Effingham Conferencecontinues to grow with each passingyear, but another thing has come to lightas well.

The average age of the attendees tendsto creep upward. Last month in theTechnical Assistance Bulletin you readan article by Jeff Tumiati, IRWA Directorfrom District 5, which reinforced andshowcased the need for new and youngeroperators. It is not my intention to takeanything away from what he wrote in hisarticle, but to simply add to the need in

the industry foryoung blood. Italked to alicensed Class*A* Water Plant/Class *3*WastewaterOperator todayand he told methat he had togrow a beard,because at age 24no one takes himseriously whenthey ask to talkto the person incharge! Thisdeclares the sta-tus of our profes-sion. This youngman has beeninvolved withwater and waste-water treatmentfrom his earliestyears due to thefact that his

father is a licensed water and wastewateroperator. For this young man to have togrow a beard to “look older” to prove toothers that he is the person “in charge” isunacceptable. The most unacceptablething to me is that council/board mem-bers hire these very able and schooledpersons and then are unable or unwillingto let them do the job they hired them todo. Systems pay salaries to the operatorsthey hire and then are unable or unwill-ing to accept the fact that the person theyhave hired is able to handle the job theyhave been hired to do.

I am going to make a vow and I amgoing to hope that boards/councils ofwater systems and municipalities will dothe same. I am going to accept the factthat even though an operator is muchyounger than me, if he or she proves thatthey are capable, I am willing to acceptthe fact that just because I am older, I amnot necessarily smarter! More cynical,yes! Smarter, doubtful!

So let’s hope that over the next 13years at the IRWA Annual TechnicalConferences as they continue to get big-ger and better the average age of theattendees will get younger instead ofolder! And that the topic that is mostasked for… What is new coming downthe pipe from IEPA? May what is new beyounger operators and may IRWA still bearound to answer those questions foryou.

January 2008… by Mark E. Mitchell, Source Water Protection Specialist

6 Water Ways Volume IV • Winter 2007-2008


The Town of Cortland Constructs a Sheaffer SystemTM for Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse Irrigation by Gary Chase, Wastewater Technicianr

Cortland, Illinois, is located inCentral DeKalb County with a popula-tion of 4,826 residents.

In 2003 the Town of Cortland deter-mined that the collection system was atfull capacity. At that time Cortland hadbeen pumping their wastewater to theCity of DeKalb. Both Cortland andDeKalb were in a growth phase andDeKalb could no longer accept the con-tribution from Cortland, due to capacitylimitations in the sewage collectionpipeline, without replacing the existingpipe. This would raise the sewer rates forthe residents of Cortland.

Cortland started to search for a systemthat would be environmentally friendlyto the area and cost effective to operate.

The Cortland’s Administration andEngineering Firm, Fehr, Graham &Associates, visited different types ofwastewater treatment plants, to get anidea of technology that was IEPA accept-able, but would not be an expensive sys-tem to operate.

The search committee visited a subdi-vision in Wasco, Illinois, that was using a“Sheaffer System”. The search committeewas impressed with the treatment processland the fact that all the water treatedwould be reused by spray irrigation.

While Sheaffer International had pre-viously designed and received permitsfor many Sheaffer Systems in Illinois andother States, Cortland was the firstmunicipality to utilize the system for theentire town. Town representativesapproached the Illinois EnvironmentalProtection Agency (IEPA)who confirmedSheaffer’s track record within the Stateof Illinois and indicated that the agencywas supportive of this type of system.

The State of Illinois did not reject theidea of Cortland constructing a SheafferSystem, since the existing systems aremeeting state ground water standards.

The Town of Cortland decided toretain Sheaffer International, LLC toDesign-Build-Operate a SheafferSystemTM for wastewater reclamation andreuse irrigation.

Construction started in the spring of2006 and completed in August of 2007.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant con-sists of two aerated lagoons that operatein series, two storage lagoons for wintereffluent storage, filtration and ultravioletdisinfection.

The first cell holds a volume of 32.4MG. The second cell holds a volume of21.6 MG, for a total of 54.0 MG. With a

design average dailyflow of 1.5 MGD, thisgives a detention timein both lagoons of 36days. The 1.5 MGD isthe average design flowfor the Town’s growth.The present averagedaily flow is 0.30MGD, which gives adetention time, in bothlagoons, of 180 days.

All four lagoon cells operate at awater depth of approximately 23’. Allfour lagoon cells utilize fine-bubble dif-fusion at a 20’ depth. The three-feetbelow the diffusers in the cells is theanaerobic zone.

In cells 1 and 2 the aeration pattern istapered. There is more CFM at the influ-ent end of the lagoon cell and less CFMat the effluent end of the lagoon cell.

One nice feature of the aeration sys-tem is changing, or cleaning, the dif-fusers without raising heavy concreteblocks or hiring a skin-diver. The drop-pipes can be removed from the surfaceair-header to replace, or clean, the dif-fuser.

There are two storage lagoon cellswith each one holding 112.5 MG. Thedesign detention time is 150 days,between the two cells at the 1.5 MGDflow rate. The detention time will bemuch greater until the flow rate meetsthe design rate of 1.5 MGD.

The aeration in the two storagelagoons is strictly for mixing, since itwill be a secondary Effluent to be stored.

When the weather is conducive to irri-gate the ground, the water will bepumped out of the storage lagoons, runthrough a pressure disk filter, disinfected

continued on page 12

The Town of Cortland Constructs a Sheaffer SystemTM for Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse Irrigation continued from page 10

with Ultra-violet Radiation, and thenpumped to one of the irrigation sites.

The irrigation sites will be farmground, Parks and Parkways.

Since there is no discharge to a

stream, there are no NPDES Standards tomeet. The IEPA requires quarterlyground water monitoring around thetreatment cells and the irrigation areas,and quarterly submittal of other routineoperating information from the plant.

The control build-ing houses the three100 H.P. motors thatdrive the Roots posi-tive displacementblowers, the pressuredisk filter and theultraviolet radiationunit.

Presently one100 H.P. motor is operat-ing. When the system approaches capacity,another blower/motor will be put online.

On October 21, 2007, the IllinoisMunicipal League awarded Cortland the“Best Innovations Award” for their use ofthe Sheaffer International WastewaterReclamation and Reuse System. SheafferInternational is based in Glen Ellyn, IL.

I would like to thank Scott Davis,Vice President of Operations and NathanHinch, Operations Manager, fromSheaffer International, LLC, for theirassistance in preparing this article.



SOLD OUT


Who to Call…Field Operation Headquarters

1021 North Grand Avenue East P.O. Box 19276Springfield, IL 62794-9276Dave McMillan, Manager (PWS)Phone: 217-782-1020Fax: 217-782-0075

Rockford Regional Office – 14302 N. Main St. Rockford, IL 61103Brett Hanson, Regional Manager(PWS)Phone: 815-987-7760Fax: 815-987-7005

Elgin Regional Office – 2595 South StateElgin, IL 60123Segundo Nallatan, StaffPhone: 847-608-3131Fax: 847-608-3139

Champaign Regional Office – 42125 South First StreetChampaign, IL 61820Steve Johnson, StaffPhone: 217-278-5800Fax: 217-278-5808

Springfield Regional Office – 54500 South Sixth StreetSpringfield, IL 62706Dave Cook, Regional Manager(WPC)Phone: 217-786-6892Fax: 217-786-6357

Collinsville Regional Office – 62009 Mall StreetCollinsville, IL 62234Gayle Battas, Regional Manager(WPC)Phone: 618-346-5120 Fax: 618-346-5155

Marion Regional Office – 72309 W. Main Street, Suite 116Marion, IL 62959Jon Lam, StaffPhone: 618-993-7200Fax: 618-997-1281

Peoria Regional Office – 3(water pollution control only)

Jim Kammueller, Manager (DWPC)Mailing Address:

5415 N. University AvenuePeoria, IL 61614 Phone: 309-693-5463Fax: 309-693-5467

Maywood Regional Office – 2(water pollution control only)

Jay Patel, Manager (DWPC)Mailing Address:

9511 West HarrisonDes Plaines, IL 60016Phone: 847-294-4000 Fax: 847-294-4115

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES AND WATER POLLUTION CONTROLREGIONAL OFFICES


NLP Coaching Goal Setting for Successat New Year Resolutions by Rintu Basu

This article is about the many differentways we can trip ourselves up in settinggoals, particularly with New YearResolutions and what you can do to change.

Many people evaluate their lives andset new patterns around the New Year.There are several ways that this candeliberately set you up to fail.

Often this is done because there is anexpectation from others that you shouldset resolutions at this time of year. Alsothere is often a sense of giving things upor a judgement about not having suc-ceeded the previous year. Typically thesetype of resolutions have the word 'must'associated with them. Here are a fewexamples I have collected over the yearsas an NLP Coach:

I must change jobs I must be able toget into this new dress by February Imust do this, give up that...and so on. I'msure you get the idea.

This approach has a few pitfalls. Howcommitted is the person to their goals ifthey feel forced in to them? The judge-ments and the sense of giving things upattaches negative emotions to the goalsso they don't seem like fun or excite-ment. Is it any wonder that so many peo-ple fail with New Year Resolutionsbefore the end of January?

NLP Techniques — A SolutionThree elements of NLP Techniques

include examining intention behindbehaviour, emotional state and beliefchanges. By taking these three elementswe can start looking at our New YearResolutions differently.

Goal Setting and IntentionBy examining what we gain from our

goals, who they are actually for and whywe want them some interesting thingssometimes fall out. The motivation tosucceed or not comes from this element.

Emotions — The Secret to Success

Have you ever seen or experiencedthe situation where the closer you got tosuccess the more anxious you got aboutit? And then possibly fell at the last hur-dle? The problem with being too emo-tionally attached to your goals might leadto failure. How well would your cropsgrow if you were constantly diggingthem up to see how far they had got?

NLP Techniques — Belief Changes

What you believe about yourself andthe world around you will determineyour success or failure. Any NLPPractitioner Training will show you awhole number of techniques for chang-ing beliefs, letting go of limiting beliefsand installing empowering one. Usingthese NLP processes you can ensure thatthe goals you set and the New YearResolutions that you take on are mean-ingful and that you will succeed. But thereal power for making big sweepingchanges to your life comes from NLPCoaching Systems.

NLP Break-through Coaching Process

Many coaches are also NLPPractitioners and they have integratedsome powerful tools into their coach-ing practice. But there are a few veryskilled Hypnosis andNLP Trainers thathave developed theNLP BreakThroughCoaching Processthat can help inmaking serious anddeep changes in aperson's life.

This highly spe-cialised NLP

Coaching process starts by examiningyour goals, expectations, unconsciousbehaviours and repeat patterns of behav-iour. Through this we can determine thekey limiting beliefs and negative emo-tions that will let you really achieve any-thing you want. Then through systematicInterventions you can let go of the pastand embrace powerful new ways ofbeing. The whole process usually takesas little as three or four hours. Many peo-ple that are serious about their goals andachievements have taken this route tosuccess.

When you think about how you andthe people around you set their New YearResolutions you might be consideringdoing things differently. A little imagina-tion and creative thought might give youthe opportunity to achieve more in thenext twelve months than you have in thelast twelve years. How much of a resultwould that be for you?

Rintu has developed the NLPScotland community's NLP TrainingProvider of choice in The NLP Company.He also maintains an exclusive NLPcoaching practice in Glasgow and isfocused on high quality training anddeveloping new hypnosis and NLP appli-cations.

Article Source:http://www.ArticleBiz.com

We all use it many times a day… Andvery rarely do we ever consider what ourlives would be like without it. I amspeaking, of course, of water. I wouldlike to think that those of us in the waterbusiness have more of an awareness thanthe general public regarding what musthappen to effect the treatment and distri-bution of water in our communities everyday. This is especially brought to mindwhenever I come across an article dis-cussing water usage and distributionmethods dating back to the early 1900s.These articles will invariably invokefond memories of a childhood spent in arural area of our country, as well asbringing to light the wonder and blessingof the water system infrastructure of cur-rent day. So, on this note, I would like totell you about some of my memories, andrelate them to current day attitudes andpractices.

Probably my most vivid memories of‘less than modern’ residential water sys-tems were from my preteen and teenageyears. My parents owned an old farm-house in southeastern Illinois. The wellhouse was attached to the home, and thehand-dug, shallow well was rock-lined.On top of the well there was a recipro-cating pump belted to an 110v motoralong with a 10-gallon pressure tank. Itsoperation was very apparent anytime

anyone used the water in the house. Wewere just happy to have ‘indoor plumb-ing’. Many of our neighbors did not andhad to run out to the outhouse in the bit-ter cold of winter when nature called. Avariety of other water systems were alsofound in our rural county. Some neigh-bors had deep wells with submersiblepumps, but some folks had the task ofdrawing water out of their well with ropeand a 2 gallon bucket. Still others with-out a well would go to Decker Springs, apristine spring which bubbled from alimestone bluff, and they would fill con-tainers with drinking water and haulthem back home!!! I am quite sure thatall of these scenarios still exist in ourstate, country, and world to this day,however, at least in our country, their fre-quency is diminishing.

With the expansion of rural waterlines throughout our country, many havebeen relieved of the chore of haulingwater or of maintaining wells. The infra-structure of water lines throughout ourcountry is surely one of the impressive‘pieces of the puzzle’ that makes ourgreat land so great, and I am reminded ofhow truly blessed we all are to live in sogreat a country as the U.S. of A.

Now that I have a family of my own,with children who don’t really compre-hend the hardships endured by genera-

tions gone by, I havetried to impart asense of appreciationand conservation inmy children. Thebest way which Ihave found toaccomplish this hasbeen on our familycamping trips. Wehave enjoyed many

of the beautiful campgrounds which thestate of Illinois has to offer, from theMississippi Palisades State Park in NWIllinois to Cave-In-Rock State Park in SEIllinois. Whether ultra-modern or rela-tively primitive, these campgrounds haveoffered us an excellent opportunity tostudy and learn to appreciate the waterfrom our tap, and have encouraged thepractice of conservation of one of ourmost precious natural resources, water.

As I travel through our great state ofIllinois, I enter many different sizes oftowns and cities. I am always struck bythe prominence of the water tower in anygiven community, and I can’t help butwonder if those in that community havemuch of an appreciation, if any, of theaccessibility and quality of the water ineach of their homes. The infrastructurethat exists in most of our communities istruly worth its weight in gold, but unfor-tunately, is usually not something thatmost of us ever consider. Not until, thatis, there is a reason to issue a boil waterorder for a few days. It seems that, atleast in my family, this also is an occa-sion to appreciate what we all take forgranted most of the time and an opportu-nity to realize the importance of invest-ing time and resources into the mainte-nance and upgrading of our water sys-tems. It is only through this pro-activestrategy that these water systems willcontinue to operate properly and provideour children, our children’s children, andus with wholesome, potable water formany years to come. As BenjaminFranklin once said, “Only when the wellis dry will we know the worth of water.”Let us all keep his words in mind, andenlist the assistance of all citizens to pro-tect and maintain our public water supplyso that our wells will never run dry.

Water: Our Most Precious and by John Mone, Most Under-Appreciated Natural Resource District Manager, IL, IA

Ford Meter Box Co., Inc.


Not to be left out, things were just asvolatile in Springfield this past year. Theyear started off as any other and therewas really no indication of the tumul-tuous times to come. About midwaythrough the legislative year Democraticpowerhouses started bickering (that’sputting it mildly) among themselves.This bickering quickly turned to an allout war of words as accusations weretossed about like a hot potato. (To thisday the bickering continues – but Idigress.) Throughout all of the budgetbattles other pieces of legislation werebeing held hostage – including one thatwould greatly benefit the not-for-profit(NFP) water companies that provide avaluable service to a large portion ofrural Illinois.

Negotiating for the “release” of ruralwater’s bill was Jim Reimer ofGovernmental Consulting Solutions with

offices in Springfield. When this bill(SB 1360) was introduced, few peoplegave it a chance to survive. ThroughJim’s guidance and hard work, it not onlysurvived, but it passed out of both houseswithout a single dissenting vote.Leaving nothing to chance, Jim also vis-ited with the Governor’s office to ensurethat there was no confusion on what thebill was attempting to do. StartingJanuary 1, 2008, NFP water providerswill be exempt from paying most salestaxes. Job well done Jim!

Still climbing upwards, best describesattendance as a record number of partici-pants attended both IRWA conferencesthis past year. The Northern Conferenceheld in Rockfordenjoyed a 25%increase in atten-dance and theexhibit hall had a

waiting list of vendors wanting to displaytheir products. Likewise, the annual con-ference held in Effingham had a largeturnout of water and wastewater opera-tors who enjoyed visiting with vendors inthe sold out exhibit hall. IRWA has com-mitted to making next year’s conferencesbetter than ever by providing qualitytraining opportunities presented byknowledgeable speakers.

As one year comes to a close andanother is poised to begin, I suppose Ihad best tighten my seatbelt; as the rollercoaster is about to depart the gate foranother ride. Hope to see you all inEffingham next Month.

Roller Coaster continued from page 4


3305 Kennedy Rd.P.O. Box 6049Taylorville, Illinois 62568

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

Springfield, ILPermit No. 137

water ways volume iv • winter 2007-2008

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