| New corrosion control training supports lead reduction planning
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New corrosion control training supports lead reduction planning

To help water utilities comply with recent and potential regulations intended to better protect communities from lead exposure in drinking water, the American Water Works Association and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators are launching a new corrosion control certificate program.

Water treatment plant pipesThe training program includes four eLearning courses, the first of which is available now. The others will be released in the next few months. Philip Brandhuber, David Cornwell and Rebecca Slabaugh led the course development, with significant support from Melinda Friedman, Richard Giani, Steve Via, Alan Roberson, Kay Coffey, Melanie Criswell, Tyson Ingels, Stacy Jones and Ashley Voskuhl.

“With the recent announcement of the Biden Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan, water utilities need targeted and credible resources to help craft the best lead reduction plan for their specific community, including strategies for corrosion control,” said Brandhuber. “This training guides participants through a decision process that experience has shown to be successful in developing corrosion control strategies.”

The four courses in the certificate program range in length and are designed to be self-paced and completed in order. Each course provides participants with access to instructors during interactive “office hour” sessions to review course content.

“From a review of corrosion fundamentals to practical recommendations for collecting and interpreting field data and pilot studies, the courses provide important and useful information for water quality managers, engineers, operators and regulators,” said Friedman.

The eLearning courses include:

  1. Corrosion Control Theory and Treatment Options
  2. Assessing Need for a Corrosion Control Evaluation
  3. Performing a Corrosion Control Evaluation
  4. Using a Corrosion Control Evaluation to Help Meet the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR)

“With the LCRR now in effect and more changes on the horizon, it is expected that many systems will need to revisit or implement a new corrosion control strategy,” said Slabaugh. “Course 3 covers the nuts and bolts of corrosion control evaluations and can help guide a system through planning a corrosion control treatment evaluation and ultimately implementing the recommended strategy.”

The courses include examples of actual data sets gathered and analyzed by the course developers over the last two decades. They present specific considerations and potential pitfalls that practitioners may face when conducting corrosion studies.  

“The LCR/LCRR defines whether a utility has to revisit an existing CCT or establish a new one when a certain exceedance occurs,” said Cornwell. “In addition to explaining how to perform a corrosion control study, this training also provides a fundamental understanding of when a water quality or treatment change should drive a CCT evaluation, which can be useful to regulators and utilities alike.”

Additional information is available on AWWA’s lead resources page. Learn more about AWWA’s eLearning courses at awwa.org/eLearning.


 

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