American Water Intelligence.

American Water Intelligence does a profile on George in its latest issue.

• DC Water chief: right place, right time (American Water Intelligence, November 2010)

Federal Government, Stormwater Fee

Along with the District Department of the Environment and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, George weighs in on the federal government's refusal to pay its stormwater fee.

• DCEN Report: Why the Federal Government Should Pay the District's Stormwater Fee (DC Environmental Network, 11/10/2010)

Patch.com and Clean Rivers

Patch.com's Shaun Courtney did a nice job explaining the $2.6-billion long-term control plan, otherwise known as the DC Water Clean Rivers Project.

• Where Your Water Goes: Part II (Georgetown Patch, 11/15/2010)

Private Hydrants

After a fair number of positive comments recently, nothing like the reality of the job to come storming back. Many cities in our country have the challenge of private hydrants - those installed by private developers outside the jurisdiction of the public system. Typically, this step is taken by the developers to push a development forward without needing to give the easements to a public entity that are required for access and maintenance in the public system. Yet, years later, home and business owners are often surprised they are being served by private hydrants. See the attached story, which in my humble opinion lets off the developer almost without comment - which is a huge disservice to understanding the story.

• Fox 5 on Private Hydrants

Global Water Summit

Excerpt from recent post on the Water Summit in Washington, DC from Global Water Intelligence:

"We have a rock star in the house: George Hawkins, boss of DC Water. He is a Princeton and Harvard educated lawyer who wears his DC Water staff shirt wherever he goes. As a child, he watched Ohio's Cuyahoga river burn, and made water protection his mission. What he didn't sign up for was the parlous state of the capital's water infrastructure: high profile main breaks punctuate his life with alarming regularity. It has made him the most passionate advocate for investment in water infrastructure. If all of America's public water utility leaders could make such an articulate case for spending on water, there would be none of the current pessimism which hangs over the industry."

• Post from the Global Water Intelligence on the recent Water Summit in Washington, DC.

The Bloggers Return.

DC Water recently had the privilege of hosting a group of District bloggers for an open house at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. Tom Bridge of We Love DC has a great recap.

An excerpt:

Listening to DC Water General Manager George Hawkins talk about Blue Plains is to watch an artist talk about his studio, or to watch a salesman in his showroom. Hawkins loves talking about his work, and his mastery and command at the statistics and knowledge around the subject of water and wastewater pumping is deeply impressive. This isn’t a man doing a functionary job, this is a man who loves what he’s doing.

• DC Water's Blue Plains (We Love DC, 11/09/2010)