“It’s a big one,” Chris Anderson shouted through his diver’s mask when he surfaced.

Indeed it was: an oyster 11.1 centimeters long, or about 4.37 inches. It was the second largest he had seen in nine years of hunting for Crassostrea virginica, wild oysters, on the bottom of the Hudson River.

Congratulations to Gary Biekert, Chief Operator for the Village of Mayville in Chautauqua County on his recent retirement.  Gary handled the water system for the village for the past three decades and oversaw many system improvements.  Gary plans to travel to a warmer climate for the winter months with his wife and their new RV.  From all of us here at the NYRWA, thank you Gary for a job well done and here’s to a long, happy, and healthy retirement!!!

A $10.8 million no-interest loan was awarded to the eastern Sullivan County Town of Fallsburg last week so it can upgrade a wastewater treatment plant.

The state Environmental Facilities Corporation’s board of directors announced the money will go toward improvements at the Loch Sheldrake Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was built in 1938 and last renovated in 1980. Upgrades will include a membrane bioreactor for secondary treatment at the plant and an ultraviolet light system for disinfection.

EPA has released the Interim Final version of the Revised Total Coliform Rule Assessments and Corrective Actions Guidance Manual.

The guidance manual is currently available online at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/tcr/regulation_revisions.cfm.

There is a free water loss control webinar that will review effective tools, policies, and programs. They will  discuss free software utilities can use to manage water loss; review policies that local and state governments can implement to encourage program adoption; and hear about the successful water loss control efforts of two utilities: the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) in California and the Water and Wastewater Aut hority of Wilson County (WWAWC) in Tennessee.

ALBANY –The Town of Rotterdam, Schenectady County, claimed the top spot in the New York Tap Water Taste Contest, held at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. The Village of Remsen in Oneida County was the runner-up.

The New York State Tap Water Taste Contest is a non-scientific, friendly competition intended to highlight the importance of taste and quality in drinking water, a vital public health resource.

Thames Water, the company that keeps sewers flowing freely under London, has released a set of disgusting pictures of a “fatberg” that took a week to remove from a 262-foot stretch of Shepherd’s Bush Road in West London. The water authority claims it was the size of a Boeing 747, if it was buried underground.

Village of Mexico and Town of Hastings to Receive Low-Cost Loans and Grants

The Board of Directors of the Environmental Facilities Corp. (EFC) today approved more than $3.87 million in low-cost financing to upgrade sewer infrastructure in the Village of Mexico and the Town of Hastings.