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President's Message (C Factor)

Happy Independence Day!
By Mike Darrow
Posted: 2019-07-01T14:49:00Z

On July 4, 1776, our counties founders put their John Hancock (signature) on a very importance document declaring Independence from Great Britain and King George III. The document declares it is the right of the people to oppose trinary, to separate from monarchy rule, and establish a new government, which after debate in the new congress. The new Government formed would be a Constitutional Republic; made thru the people, by the people, for the people. The document holds some famous crafted words that are the beginning and foundation of our nation. In the document is:

 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness       Thomas Jefferson and committee.

 

Our role as Water Professionals centers around the word “Life”. Water brings life to us all every day! It is used in many different ways, from our own health and welfare, to industry, and agriculture producing food or products with it.  We Water Professionals do our part to make water better for public health or the environment around us.  We observe water conditions and characteristics in quality at our facilities and make adjustments or repairs to improve them. We look for new technologies or operational techniques to improve our process efficiency and quality for the betterment of the people we serve and for a better quality of Life.  Overtime, we have been advancing the methods and ideas for purity in our waters. We have been providing and treating safe / reliable potable drinking water and treating wastewater to help the environment around us for our lifetime.  It is thru these efforts that we can have economic success and stability for the people we serve. Water professionals protecting public health is essential for life. Which, in turn, helps develop our great nation, were one can then pursuit Happiness!

 

Thousands of people across Florida will be at BBQ’s Picnics, Family gathering, Parade’s, Fireworks and flying American Flags during that time.  FWPCOA’s membership takes pride in our country and our community that we live and work in.  I like to fly the flag at our home and at the wastewater plant where I work in Plant City. I encourage all members to so the same and show support of our wonderful nation.

 

As we celebrate Independence Day, I wanted to thank all you fine Operators, Mechanics, Technicians, Coordinators, and Engineer’s in our profession for doing your part in helping serve the people in your community and the nation!   This August is Water Professional Month for the State of Florida and will be proclaimed by the Governor DeSantis.  Phil Donovan our publicity chair and our Board of Directors are working on another campaign to bring light to our daily efforts to bring life to all. So make sure you work on your proclamations in your community or Region.  My thanks for your efforts.

 

Happy Independence Day! And May God Bless America and Your community!

 

FW&PCOA – Fall / Summer State Short School  

 

Even though the renewal cycle just ended in April. It’s time to get a head on your licensing requirements, or better yet,  increase you knowledge base by learning something new or move to the next level of learning in your craft.  The Fall State School we be held in August and now is the time to sign up!  The FWPCOA State School will be on August 12th to 16th 2019 in Fort Pierce at the Indian River State College.

 

Course work activities at this year’s state short school are in the areas of System Operations for Water Distribution, Wastewater Collection, Stormwater Management, and Reclaimed Water Distribution levels.  Treatment Operations for Facility Management and Supervision, Process control and Troubleshooting.  Technical and Utility Maintenance Practices for Backflow Repair and Tester, Basic Electrical and Instrumentation, and Utility Maintenance levels.  Customer Service training for Utility Customer Relations levels. Contact Shirley for more information at training@fwpcoa.org  or our website www.fwpoca.org  . 

 

There will be a State Board of Directors meeting open to all members on August 11 2019 at 9:30am.  Also the FWPCOA annual award luncheon on August 14th. Our awards committee will again this year find it challenging selecting this year’s recipients, with so many talented folks out there.   We hope to see you there!

 

 

Online Institute Update

 

The FWPCOA’s Online Institute finished the 2019 renewal cycle with a strong. Thanks to the leadership of Tim McVeigh and our course enrollment from Members!  Welcome to the 2021 license renewal cycle!

 

Bolstered by 10 Wastewater Collection C Online course enrollments from Collier County, April set a revenue record for the last two renewal cycles. There are 94 courses presently offered at the Online Institute and 436 registered students.  With the start of the 2021 renewal cycle, the Online Institute deactivated 38 courses that have served two license renewal cycles.  The program has identified an additional 5 courses for reactivation that are worth 0.5 CEU each. The following is a link to the course listing:

 

http://fwpcoa.clubexpress.com/docs.ashx?id=259919  or Email Tim for questions at: Prog-Admin@fwpcoa.org

 

Some popular online short courses include:  Stormwater C, Wastewater Collection C, and Water Distribution Levels 2 and 3.  Wastewater Class C treatment Plant Operators course, Class C Drinking Water Treatment Plant Operator and the new Class B Drinking Water Treatment Plant Operator course, side note: Wastewater Class B treatment Plant Operators course is soon to be released.