IAMU is once again offering the Electric Utility System Operation Short Course (EUSO) presented by Skip Collier of Professional Training Systems, Inc.

Skip is highly regarded and has an extensive background in electric utility design, construction, maintenance and operation.

EUSO Short Course:  July 23 – 25

The EUSO Short Course is designed for any employee whose job performance will benefit from a basic understanding of the operations side of the business.  This includes those from legal, rates, engineering, purchasing, computer application, marketing, customer service, inventory control, finance, accounting, safety, risk analysis as well as those from generating plants.  One goal for this class is to have students leave with the ability to easily identify all of the electrical equipment they see in a substation as they walk by, along with all the equipment found on the poles in a residential area.  Non-electrical engineers are often at a disadvantage in the electric utility environment due to a lack of familiarity with technical issues.  The better you understand the utility’s product – electrical energy – and how it is created and distributed, the better you can serve the utility and your customers.  This course assumes no electrical background, and builds on the basics to provide a comprehensive understanding of the equipment and operations.

*Line Maintainer apprentices will receive 21 Basic OJT hours for taking the EUSO Course.*

Registration fees for the course are below.

(*If you are planning on sending more than one participant from your organization, please make sure to share this with multiple departments so that you qualify for the reduced cost with the initial registration.)

• EUSO Course - $950 for a single registrant OR $850 each for two or more participants from the same utility/organization

For additional information and to register, please click HERE.

IAMU recently sent out a salary survey to our water members. IAMU often gets requests for salary information, so we developed a short survey to collect basic starting salary information for water and wastewater system employees (electric and gas ones were done earlier this year). Although no two systems are the same and there are many other benefits to consider, the survey numbers will give members a starting point when evaluating their wages.

Once we have the information compiled, IAMU will share it with members by posting it on the IAMU website and providing it upon request.

If you have any questions or didn’t receive the survey in your email inbox, please feel free to contact Jill Soenen at jsoenen@iamu.org or by phone at 515.289.1999.

Please have your survey completed by June 3. Everyone who completes the survey will be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift card.

From Julie Sievers, Senior Environmental Specialist, DNR Field Office 3 - Spencer

Any time a water system has a main break or depressurization event, there are two goals – to always protect the public health and safety and to restore normal water service. These two goals, in the order listed, must always be the focus. In 2016, the Iowa Main Break Guidance was updated to incorporate the changes from revised American Water Works Association (AWWA) Standard C651-14. 

Recently, EPA Region 7 advised Iowa DNR staff to require acute (immediate) public notice for water systems with manganese levels above 0.3 mg/L (ppm) due to recent health studies. In response, a committee was formed to update the Iowa Main Break Guidance. This committee included representatives from the Iowa Section of AWWA, Iowa Association of Water Agencies, Iowa Rural Water Association, Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, and Iowa DNR Water Supply Operations, Water Supply Engineering, and Field Offices. 

Revisions to the Iowa Main Break and Depressurization Guidance were completed earlier this month. The major revisions include the use of bottled water rather than boil water advisories for systems with elevated or unknown manganese levels, and advice for customers to not drink or cook with colored water. This document has been approved and is now being implemented. A copy of it is available on the Iowa DNR Public Notice webpage.  Look for the “Main Break and Depressurization Guidance” section in the lower right side of the webpage.

To be prepared, systems are encouraged to sample for manganese at their Source Entry Point(s) so they know the manganese levels in their system. If the manganese levels are unknown and the system has an incident that necessitates an advisory, the advisory will be a bottled water advisory. Systems with known low levels of manganese (less than 0.22 mg/L), nitrate (less than 7 mg/L as N), and nitrite (less than 0.7 mg/L as N) will issue a boil water advisory. It is very important for operators to know the levels of these three contaminants in their systems when they call the DNR for assistance, especially if they call after hours.

The guidance includes specific information about the four categories of main breaks, guidance about repair of each, when boil or bottled water advisories are recommended or required, and specific information when bacterial sampling is recommended or required following depressurization events. Included in the guidance are templates for a main break log, a communication plan including boil and bottled water advisory templates, and a one-page summary of the procedures for each main break type.

Watch for training opportunities about the guidance and contact your Iowa DNR Field Office with specific questions.