Infrastructure Week 2016 kicked off today with a national tour of innovators in the water sector organized by the Value of Water Coalition. The Local Innovators Tour celebrates and spotlights innovative solutions to the nation’s water infrastructure crisis, and participating cities will “tell the story about why water infrastructure matters to their communities and the nation.”
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia will host a groundbreaking ceremony today for a new wastewater pump station, which will replace a facility that was first built in 1945.
On Tuesday, American Water and the City of Camden, N.J. will announce a major milestone in a public-private partnership to improve water and wastewater services and provide workforce training and skill development in the community.
Behind-the-scenes tours for press and elected officials, also scheduled for Tuesday, will demonstrate how Alexandria Renew Enterprises (Virginia) transforms 13 billion gallons of wastewater each year into reclaimed water, clean energy, and nutrient-rich soil amendment. The tour will also preview the new LEED Platinum Environmental Center and innovative nutrient management facility and adjacent athletic field, the only one of its kind in the country.
A day of open houses on Saturday is scheduled at six of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago's water treatment plants across the Chicago region. The open houses offer a look at plant operations and stormwater management practices.
Last Wednesday, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District hosted “Someone Forgot to Pay America’s Water Infrastructure Bill” as part of the Innovators Tour. The program included a personal sewer walk for media, a green infrastructure tour for elected officials, and a "Sewer U" seminar series for the general public.
Infrastructure Week 2016 is led by a steering committee consisting of the AFL-CIO, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Building America’s Future, Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Value of Water Coalition.
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