19th Annual EPA Drinking Water Workshop: Small System Challenges and Solutions
Date
Monday, August 29, 2022 - September 1, 2022
- August 29, 5:00 pm EDT
- August 30, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm EDT
- August 31, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm EDT
- September 1, 8:00 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Location
Northern Kentucky Convention Center
1 W Rivercenter Blvd
Covington, KY 41011 (Greater Cincinnati, Ohio Area)
United States
Event Hosts
EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Office of Water (OW) in partnership with the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
Registration for the workshop is now open. You have the option of registering to attend in-person or registering to attend five select sessions that will be live streamed via webinar for virtual participation. Details and the preliminary online agenda are under the Agenda section on this page.
About the Workshop
EPA's free annual drinking water workshop, held in partnership with ASDWA, will take place in person on August 29 - September 1, 2022 and will provide in-depth information and training on solutions and strategies for handling small drinking water system challenges. The workshop will begin on Monday evening with networking opportunities and will end on Thursday afternoon with in-depth training sessions. Several of the sessions will be offered via live broadcast webinar for those unable to attend in person.
Primarily designed for tribal, state, and territory personnel responsible for drinking water regulations compliance and treatment technologies permitting, the workshop will provide current information, resources, and training needed to help in building systems capacity and sustainably and with providing equitable access to drinking water. System owners and operators, local and government personnel, academics, design engineers, technical assistance providers, and consultants may also benefit from attending workshop sessions.
Agenda
The workshop will be held in-person this year. So that anyone can benefit from some of the information that will be presented, select sessions will be streamed live.
In-person participation in the workshop will include the following opportunities:
- Ten technical presentation session options
- Three In-depth training session options
- Six breakout focus group options
- Ask the experts, models and tools demos, and posters session
- Plenary and closing sessions
- Networking opportunities
- Continuing education contact hours
Virtual participation (via live webinar broadcast) in the workshop will include the following opportunities:
- Four technical session presentation options
- Plenary session
- Certificates of attendance
The workshop speakers and group leaders will be experts in their fields from EPA and other federal agencies, state and local agencies, tribes, academia, and NGOs and associations. The technical sessions of the workshop will include distribution, source, treatment, water quality, and operations topics and the in-depth training will include sessions on corrosion, microbiology, and sanitary surveys.
Lodging
A block of rooms is reserved at the Cincinnati Marriott at RiverCenter; rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The group rate is $151.00 plus applicable state and local taxes (currently 12.36%) in effect at the time of check-out. Please note that the room block will close on August 8, 2022. Two ways to make a reservation at the group rate:
- Book hotel rooms online (dedicated site for workshop)
- Call Marriott reservations at (859) 392-3727 and mention the workshop name “U.S. EPA Drinking Water Workshop.”
Wireless internet is complimentary in the guest rooms and throughout the meeting space. Check-in time is 4:00 p.m. and check-out time is 11:00 a.m. If you need to cancel your reservation, please contact the Marriott.
If you have any trouble obtaining the group rate, please email 19thAnnualDWWorkshop@cadmusgroup.com.
Contact Hours and Attendance Certificates
Contact hours for in-person attendees In-person attendees will have the opportunity to earn approximately 15 continuing education contact hours for attending the entire workshop. Contact hour certificates are typically sent within three weeks following the workshop via the email provided at registration. Acceptance of contact hour certificates is contingent on state and/or organization requirements—EPA cannot guarantee acceptance of certificates or submit certificates to states or organizations.
Certificates of attendance for virtual sessions: Virtual attendees will have the option of receiving certificates of attendance for the sessions that will be broadcast live via webinar. Certificates are typically sent within three weeks following the webinar via the email provided at registration. Acceptance of attendance certificates is contingent on state and/or organization requirements—EPA cannot guarantee acceptance of certificates or submit certificates to states or organizations. Closed-captioned recordings of the sessions will be posted to the online agenda for later viewing and as a training resource; certificates cannot be provided for viewing recordings.
Inquiries and Special Accommodations
Inquiries about the workshop or lodging may be directed to Jill Connors of The Cadmus Group (contractor to EPA) at 617-673-7003 or 19thAnnualDWWorkshop@cadmusgroup.com.
If you require special accommodations, please contact Galen Laurence of The Cadmus Group (contractor to EPA) at 703-247-6054 or galen.laurence@cadmusgroup.com by August 5, 2022.
Workshop History
To support the efforts of state and local officials to assist small systems, EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Office of Water (OW), in cooperation with ASDWA, has held an annual workshop for the past 18 years to provide timely information on a variety of drinking water topics relevant to small systems. When the first workshop was held in 2004, it was by invitation only and designed as an educational opportunity for state staff working with small communities to install arsenic treatment technologies.
In 2008, at the encouragement of state agencies, the workshop was opened to the public and expanded to include multiple small drinking water system topics, including treatment technology options, infrastructure challenges and solutions, regulation implementation, compliance issues, and emerging contaminants.
In 2020, the workshop was held virtually for the first time in the workshop's history. In 2021 the workshop was held virtually again and attracted close to 3,000 attendees from all 50 states (including 23 Tribes) and 8 territories. Over 120 state/territory environmental and health agencies and over 170 water utilities were represented. See the highlight box on the right for the 2020 and 2021 agendas and session recordings.
About Small Systems
As of Quarter 4 of Fiscal Year 2020, there are 147,327 active public water systems in the United States (including territories). Of these, 95% (139,618) are considered small systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act, meaning they serve 10,000 or fewer people.
- Small systems serving 3,301-10,000 people: 5,246
- Small systems serving 501-3,300 people: 18,654
- Small systems serving 500 or fewer people: 115,718
While many of these active small systems consistently provide safe, reliable drinking water to their customers, many face a number of challenges in their ability to achieve and maintain system sustainability. Some of these small system challenges include lack of expertise to choose, operate, and maintain systems; lack of financial resources; aging infrastructure; limited options for residual disposal; and state agencies with limited resources to support the large number of small systems.
EPA's small systems research is developing tools, technologies, and approaches to help small systems lower costs and provide safe drinking water now and in the future. In addition to the annual workshop, EPA also holds a free monthly small systems webinar series to provide training and foster collaboration and dissemination of information. This series provides a forum for EPA to communicate directly with state personnel and other drinking water small systems professionals, which, in turn, provides state agencies with the information and resources they need to communicate the latest scientific advancements and current guidance to their small systems. The webinars are also providing EPA with invaluable information from the states on the problems they are currently encountering in their interactions with small systems. EPA scientists and engineers can then modify their research to solve real-world small system problems.