Out in the Community
As part of its standard to forge and maintain long-term, positive and proactive relationships with members of the local community and greater water industry and to be transparent about its operations and programs, OCWD board members and staff speak regularly before groups and at events. We recently participated in the following:
- United States Congressman Gil Cisneros visited OCWD for a briefing and tour of the GWRS. General Manager Mike Markus provided the tour and OCWD Directors Vicente Sarmiento, Ahmad Zahra and Jordan Brandman were in attendance. KPCC Reporter Jill Replogle joined the tour as she was interviewing the Congressman about his plans as a new member of Congress.
President Sarmiento provided an interview regarding OCWD’s participation in the OC Public Works’ Adopt A Channel program which was part of a new Adopt A Channel video that debuted at the OC Water Summit.- Mike Markus also provided an OCWD briefing and GWRS tour to a Japanese delegation that included the Consulate of Japan and members of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). The delegation was especially interested in learning about OCWD’s leadership in water treatment and recycling.
- Executive Director of Water Quality & Technical Resources Jason Dadakis, Director of Public Affairs Eleanor Torres and Legislative Affairs Liaison Alicia Dunkin provided a briefing on PFAS contaminants and OCWD’s activities regarding this issue to staff from the offices of Senators Tom Umberg and Ling Ling Chang, Assemblymember Tom Daly, and Congressman Harley Rouda.
- Eleanor Torres also attended the League of United Latin American Citizens 72nd Annual Convention hosted in Garden Grove. She staffed a table and provided information about OCWD and its projects and programs.
- OCWD hosted a joint meeting of the South Coast Geological Society and Groundwater Resources Association Southern California Branch. Chief Hydrogeologist Roy Herndon gave a presentation on the history of seawater intrusion in Orange County and how it has been kept in check, along with recent findings in the Sunset Gap that could warrant a future seawater barrier.
- OCWD hosted a meeting of the American Water Works Association CA-NV Section.
- Principal Scientist Jana Safarik and Scientist Han Gu presented at the North American Membrane Society 28th Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Penn. Jana’s presentation was on the Kennedy Jenks/OCWD/WBMWD collaborative project funded by the California Energy Commission, “Field Demonstration of Real-Time Colloidal Particle Monitoring to Improve MF and UF Membrane Performance.” Han’s presentation titled “Pilot Evaluation of Closed-Circuit Reverse Osmosis (CCRO) for Treatment of RO Concentrate for Potable Reuse” covered the field pilot evaluation and results of Desalitech’s CCRO technology to recover water from RO concentrate.
- Jana Safarik also gave an invited presentation at the OCACS Environmental Group Bimonthly Meeting on ATP monitoring for RO integrity. The title of the presentation was “Adenosine Triphosphate as an Online Surrogate to Monitor Reverse Osmosis Performance and Integrity in Reuse Applications.”
- Principal Hydrogeologist Dave Mark provided a presentation to OCWD Laboratory staff on the status of the North Basin remedial investigation/feasibility study addressing groundwater contamination in the Anaheim/Fullerton area.
Senior Communications Specialists Crystal Nettles and Diane Pinnick participated in the Santa Ana Zoo’s Party for the Planet where they staffed a table and provided information about OCWD and its projects and programs.