GMWEA is pleased to announce the launch of a new continuing education initiative that’s geared to people on the job. We call it Lunch and Learn because the sessions start at 12 noon and end within the hour. They’re presented online, so you can attend from anywhere, and they’re affordable – only $15 for GMWEA members!
Please join us on Tuesday, April 13, for Laboratory Procedures, by Eileen Toomey and Rod Lamothe of Endyne Labs (right). The virtual training will feature hands-on demonstrations of lab procedures as well as lecture, slides, and Q&A.
Credits: 1 Water TCH, 1 Wastewater TCH
Content: This session will cover some of the basic techniques used in the analytical laboratory, including procedures for using common lab tools such as balances, glassware, reagents, and essential instrumentation. We will review various analytical methods that relate to the typical water or wastewater laboratory such as BOD, TSS, turbidity, and others; finally, we will review the quality control requirements and personal protection in the laboratory. There will be a brief Q & A at the end of the presentation.
Cost: $15 for GMWEA members, $60 for nonmembers. (If you haven’t renewed or signed up yet, your registration fee will include 2021 membership dues!)
To register: For online registration and credit card payment, CLICK HERE. Or, contact Daniel Hecht at dan.hecht@gmwea.org for registration materials.
Lunch and Learn will be presented every second Tuesday of the month except May, when we’ll present our annual Spring Conference, and October, when we’ll hold the Fall Tradeshow. Visit www.gmwea.org for updates on future Lunch and Learn session topics!
PS: Speaking of Spring Conference: It’s on! Mark your calendar and please plan to attend this virtual event on May 20 and 21, for five hours of trainings, our annual Service Excellence Awards presentations, a keynote speech by Jeff Wennberg, and, tentatively, a special address by Sen. Bernie Sanders! Check www.gmwea.org for more information.
It’s New England Water Works Association’s annual conference, held this year in Stowe, Vermont. The four-day event starts on September 16, but you can register – and receive an immediate $100 discount – now!
The tour set off near the ECHO Center in Burlington, made a stop above the effluent pipe from the Burlington Main plant, and then headed north to the mouth of the Winooski River before returning to shore. During the tour, GMWEA members learned about some of the sampling conducted as part of research conducted by UVM and Sea Grant. The Melosira’s crew demonstrated use of their CTD (Conductivity Temperature and Depth) meter near the Burlington plant’s effluent pipe and then again at the mouth of the Winooski river. This instrument collects valuable water quality data for researchers as they continually assess lake conditions.
Also aboard was Joel Banner Baird, a staff writer for the Burlington Free Press. Joel had the opportunity to engage with GMWEA members and also learn a little more about the lake. In the article that he prepared for the Burlington Free Press he recapped, “Lake Champlain is much more vulnerable to terrestrial pollution than are the Great Lakes… The land area that drains into Lake Champlain, measured against the lake itself, is huge compared to the ratio of watershed to water of the Great Lakes. That unusually high ratio means that the consequences of what happens upstream can add up quickly.”