ASDWA Announces Webinar Series with Washington State on Drinking Water Data Integrity


ASDWA will be hosting a series of three webinars with the State of Washington on Drinking Water Data Integrity in January and February 2018. The webinar speakers are Nancy Feagin and Steve Deem with the Washington Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water. The webinars are free and the first two are open to anyone who is interested and would like to attend. The third webinar will be for states only and ASDWA will send a separate registration link to our members via email. Please see the following dates, times, topics, and descriptions of the webinars, along with the registration links for the first two webinars, along with the speaker biographies.
Webinar Title:  Unlocking the Black Box – Exploring Turbidity Data Integrity at Water Treatment Plants

  • Date:  Monday, January 8, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm (eastern)
  • REGISTRATION LINK
  • Description:  This webinar will review project findings, recommend instrument settings, and identify best practices to ensure that the turbidity data is correct, and that the filtration plant is providing effective treatment. This information will be based on Washington’s study of turbidity monitoring, recording and reporting practices in 25 rapid sand filter plants located in the Northwest Region of Washington where deficiencies were found in all 25 plants that could or did affect the accuracy of the turbidity data reported to the state.

Webinar Title:  Opening Pandora’s Box – Disinfection Data Accuracy for Water Systems

  • Date: Monday, January, 22, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:30pm (eastern)
  • REGISTRATION LINK
  • Description:  This webinar will share study findings and explore ways to improve utility practices. This information will be based on Washington’s Disinfection Data Integrity Project that investigated disinfection measurement, recording and reporting practices in 33 surface water treatment plants located in the Northwest Region of the state.

Webinar Title:  Shining the Light on Data Integrity: a State Perspective

  • Date:  Monday, February 5, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm (eastern)
  • REGISTRATION – will be forthcoming in an email to ASDWA Members
  • Description:  This webinar is for states only and will include a brief recap of findings from the first two webinars and focus on implementation issues from a state regulatory agency perspective. Topics will include lessons learned, dealing with limited resources, follow up activities and potential compliance / public health issues that can arise during a research effort.

Speaker Biographies:
Nancy Feagin is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience with the Washington State drinking water program, where she coordinates statewide implementation of surface water treatment rules.  Three years living among the Mossi people in the Sahel region of West Africa sparked a lifelong interest in safe drinking water.  She received her MS degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University and her BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington.
Steve Deem is a professional engineer with 29 years’ experience in water and sanitation issues. He works for the Washington State drinking water program and is a consultant for Water 1st International, a non-profit water and sanitation development organization. His experience encompasses a myriad of settings, from the Kurdish refugee camps in Northern Iraq to post-war rehabilitation in Bosnia Herzegovina, and from simple pipe systems in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to development efforts on onsite non-potable water systems for urban buildings in the USA. He received his MS degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington and his BS in civil engineering from Marquette University.