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Best Tasting Drinking Water in New Mexico: City of Jal
New Mexico's Winner to Compete in National Competition in Washington, D.C.
For immediate release:
April 17, 2013
The New Mexico Rural Water Association (NMRWA) helps water systems provide safe, clean drinking water to their customers. Last week, water samples from all over the state were judged at the NMRWA 35th Annual Conference at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town to see which was the best. The City of Jal, NM was chosen as the Grand Prize Winner by a panel of judges including Graham Knowles, Bureau Chief of the New Mexico Environment Department Drinking Water Bureau; Chris Phillips, President of HydroPro Solutions, an organization focused on efficiency needs of water utilities; and Elizabeth Cervantes, Water Resource Supervisor for the Office of the State Engineer.
The City of Jal will represent all of New Mexico in a nationwide competition in Washington, DC at the annual National Rural Water Association (NRWA) Water Rally. The city's water system manager will receive airfare and hotel accommodations to travel to the Nation's Capitol, meet with New Mexico's congressional delegation and enter their water in NRWA's Great American Water Taste Test, courtesy of local engineering firm Bohannan Huston, Inc. Last year's winner was the Town of Estancia.
The Village of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin won the golden medal award for best tasting water in the nation during the most recent Great American Water Taste Test. Each state rural water association hosts a state-wide drinking water test and the winners are eligible for entry in the nation-wide test. "New Mexico has been in the top five on two occasions, but we have never won the gold medal," stated NMRWA Executive Direction Matthew Holmes. "Many people think water tastes basically the same, but we have had one system win our state competition four different times. Those are very long odds for mere coincidence. "
Manzano MDWCA won the "People's Choice Award," selected as the best tasting by the participants in the Annual Conference. Other top finalists were Pena Blanca MDWCA, Philmont Scout Ranch and Isleta Pueblo.
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EPA Funded Training & Technical Assistance Program
The New Mexico Rural Water Association can provide onsite training and technical assistance to all Public Water Supply Systems (including non-transient non-community systems) through this EPA-funded program. The main focus of this program is compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, operations and maintenance plans, and emergency response plans. Please contact the office if you need any assistance in these areas.
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New Trainings Posted for 2013
The New Mexico Rural Water Association is pleased to announce our 2013 training calendar, along with two new features. First, we are offering three opportunities to attend conference-style operator certification classes
immediately preceding NMED-UOCP exams. In addition to the exam prep classes scheduled during our 35th Annual Conference in April, we have also scheduled a NMRWA Fall Conference South in Las Cruces in October and a
NMRWA Fall Conference North in Taos in November. All three of these conferences have an exam session available on the fourth day.
Second, we have added 3 other exam prep trainings in January, May and July. Each will be 4-day, 30-hour "Boot Camp" sessions and will cover all the need-to-know content
for all levels of sampler and drinking water operator exams. Check out these new offerings, along with the other monthly training sessions, listed on our new training schedule.
Looking for sampler certification classes only? We offer 7.5 hours of sampler certification training on the first day of our Water Operator Boot Camp trainings, as well as during our Annual Conference and both Fall Conferences.
That's six sampler certification classes per year throughout the state!
Contact NMRWA if you are interested in hosting a training at your facility, or if you would like to volunteer as an instructor. We welcome your suggestions!
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NRWA Revolving Loan Fund
Take advantage of this easy loan for equipment purchases, pre-development cost and small construction projects. If you are eligible for a Rural Development loan, then you may access this quick loan process with up to a 10-year term and as low as 3% interest.
As part of the Rural Water Revolving Loan Fund, there is a new provision for a 90-day, interest-free emergency loan for equipment up to $100,000 to bring systems back on line as quick as possible.
This provision is designed specifically for declared national, state or local emergencies and is expedited by NMRWA recommending approval for systems. The goal of the emergency loan is to review the
emergency application and have the check in the system's hands within 12-48 hours. In most cases if the information is provided and a wire transfer can be performed it will be less than 24 hours.
Contact the NMRWA office or visit www.nrwa.org for more details.
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Map Your System
Did you know that NMRWA offers professional GIS Water & Wastewater Mapping Services to our members at very competitive rates? We have highly skilled staff that understand water and wastewater systems!
We can help you with:
Onsite Highly Accurate GPS mapping
Custom Wall Maps
Aerial Photos
Complete GIS Databases
Replace your out-of-date "as-builts" today with mapping tools that can grow with your system. Best of all - you own all data we collect, and we will make it available in a format you can use for future projects and planning.
Contact Janis Allen at 505-884-1031 for all the information you need to get started.
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Utility Management Certification Online
Water University certification programs are designed to recognize professional educational achievements of utility personnel and to help market their skills. Promote your professional future with a Utility Management Certification.
Info & Registration | Flyer
