Several Weston & Sampson team members are presenting at the New England Water Works Association’s 2022 Spring Joint Regional Conference & Exhibition, taking place April 6 - 7, 2022 at the Worcester DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Wednesday Afternoon, April 6th
Session 8 - Young Professionals
2:00 PM — “City-Wide Cross-Connection Survey and Device Testing Program in Lowell, MA”
Jeffrey Melomo, PE, Project Engineer, Weston & Sampson, Reading, MA and Aurora Bas, Lowell Regional Water
Lowell has a rich industrial history with many old mills and factories that have been repurposed over the years. Lowell Regional Water Utility is undergoing a city-wide program to survey all non-residential facilities for compliance with MassDEP cross-connection regulations and to help realize additional revenue. The program also seeks to identify and test new backflow devices not presently accounted for. This presentation discusses the development of this City-wide cross-connection program, as well as challenges and lessons learned during implementation.
Thursday Morning, April 7th
Session 13 - Asset Management & Data Integration
9:30 AM — “Integrating Data and Departments to Optimize Asset Management: A Case Study”
Dan Shinnick, GISP, GIS Team Leader, Weston & Sampson, Reading, MA and Steve Locke, Special Projects Engineer, Dedham-Westwood Water District, Dedham, MA
The Dedham Westwood District in a continuing effort to meet its mission statement embarked on an effort to integrate data from various departments. With funding help from a state revolving fund (SRF) reimbursement grant, an operations management system was implemented and integrated with the District’s water GIS, the central asset data repository. The project helps continue cross departmental integration of information and reduce/eliminate inconsistences within the District’s data to improve asset management.
Session 14 - Workforce Challenges
9:30 AM — “Building a Sustainable Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program”
Margaret McCarthy, PE, Vice President, Weston & Sampson, Reading, MA
Weston & Sampson’s strategy for developing a sustainable diversity, equity and inclusion program was to structure a plan that would become an integral part of our culture. An Inclusion Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) Action Plan was developed to align with our company’s mission, vision and core values to achieve a win-win for our employees, clients and business partners. This presentation will discuss our strategies around awareness/education, cultural, financial, metrics, process & procedures, and talent management along with providing lessons learned.
Session 15 - Regulatory
9:30 AM — “Tackling PFAS, One Step at a Time”
Sara Francis, EIT, Engineer, Weston & Sampson, Reading, MA
The MacPherson Well Site in Devens, Massachusetts, has been treating for PFAS since 2019. The groundwater well is one of three that serves Devens community. With PFAS6 levels over the Massachusetts MCL of 20 ppt, Weston & Sampson worked with MassDevelopment and Suez to implement short-term and long-term solutions at the well site. This presentation will explore both solutions, discussing nearly 3 years of operational data and the construction and startup of the new permanent facility.
Thursday Afternoon, April 7th
Session 20 - Groundwater
1:30 PM — “Groundwater Doesn’t Always Flow Downhill?”
Jill Getchell, Hydrologist, Weston & Sampson, Portsmouth, NH
This presentation discusses the development and results of a numerical groundwater model to evaluate sea level rise induced groundwater rise for the design of a resilient 60-acre coastal park in Boston. Challenges in model calibration resulted from heterogeneous fill that was dredged from the harbor and subsurface utilities both old and new throughout the site. Ultimately the model was used as a foundational tool to test current and future landscape design alternatives for the park.