TOP OPS is a popular Jeopardy-style competition for waterworks operators. The 2008 Preliminary and Championship challenges will be held on May 15 & 16, 2008 respectively during the Plant Operations Conference in Virginia Beach . Now is the time to put your team together and register for this year's competition. Remember that team members do not have to be all from the same utility. If you would like to register a team, please complete and send in or fax the 2008 TOP OPS registration form. The registration deadline is Monday, May 5, 2008.

VA AWWA/VWEA Water For People Committee and the
Water for People Peninsula Campaign will be holding the Herb Evans Memorial Golf Classic at multiple sites across the commonwealth of Virginia on May 15th, 2008 to raise money for safe drinking water, improved sanitation and hygiene education. Wherever you live, come enjoy a day of golf and support Water For People. See flyer for further details. Please complete and send in the Golf Registration form for the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club or register online for the Gauntlet and Hanging Rock Golf Clubs.

Gauntlet Golf Club in Fredericksburg, VA
Hanging Rock Golf Club in Salem, VA and
Golden Horseshoe Golf Club Green Course in Williamsburg, VA

AWWA News Releases:

Membrane Technologies Focus of AWWA Webcast
Water Utilities Plan for Climate Change at AWWA Seminar
Career Fair Returns at ACE08 to Connect Water Job Seekers, Employers

The 2008 Student Design Competition will be held April 3-4, 2008 in conjunction with the VWEA 2008 Virginia State Operations Challenge in Fredericksburg, VA.  This event is sponsored by the VA-AWWA and VWEA in partnership with New Kent County Department of Public Works.  If you are interested in volunteering please contact Jessica Waibel Hou at jhou@gfnet.com.  Click on the calendar for further details.

The VA AWWA Distribution Committee held its popular Seminar and Rodeo on May 5-7, 2008 in Newport News, Virginia. The results of the Rodeo competition, including times or distances, were as follows.

Buried Treasure

1. John Goforth, Caroline County, 6"
2. Howard Demarsh, Bedford County PSA, 8 5/8"
3. Steve Gunnett, Spotsylvania Utilities, 9 1/2"
4. George Rivera, Chesterfield County Utilities, 11"
5. Lori Mulkey, Newport News Waterworks, 13 5/8"
6. Kendall Hinkle, City of Winchester, 17 3/4"

Also competing in the Buried Treasure event were Nathaniel Thomas, County of Henrico; David Childress, Caroline County; Russell Aylor, Stafford County Utilities; Wesley Brinkley, City of Norfolk; Larry Langston, City of Chesapeake; Richard Cabell, City of Lynchburg; Mark Graham, Blacksburg, Christiansburg,VPI and Michael Wilson, City of Virginia Beach.

Rapid Tappin'

1. City of Virginia Beach, 1:17.88
2. Spotsylvania County Utilities, 1:19.78
3. City of Falls Church, 1:45.12
4. Chesterfield County, 2:05.28
5. Fairfax Water, 2:06.69
6. Newport News Waterworks, 2:08.46
7. City of Chesapeake, 4:13.30   

Top: Dave Burnett – Copper-man, Mike Johnson – Captain, Larry Grimstead, Jr. – Star-man, Mike Sherwood – Crank-man; . Bottom Left: On the way to a record-breaking run of 1-minute, 17-seconds. Bottom Right: Judge Joe Dawson (Ferguson Supply, Lynchburg) looks on: the water flies as the team installs the valve.

Splish Splash

1. Mike Gentry, Spotsylvania County, 21.28
2. Jason Lamoy, Spotsylvania County, 23.43
3. Dave Burnett, City of Virginia Beach, 30.38

Meter Madness

1. Ronald Baker, Spotsylvania County Utilities, 37.06
2. Michael Dunavant, Spotsylvania County Utilities, 38.02
3. Steven Mitchell, Spotsylvania County Utilities, 43.02

Also competing in the Meter Madness event were Taylor Hicks, Caroline County; Breon Burnham, City of Virginia Beach; Michael White, City of Lynchburg; Mike Randolph, Caroline County; Michael Mitchell, Spotsylvania County Utilities; David Childress, Caroline County; Steven Hellman, City of Chesapeake;
Ronnie Jenkins, City of Falls Church; Teresa Ludwick, City of Virginia Beach; Christopher Whorley, Chesterfield County; Sharon English, Newport News Waterworks; James Sidney, City of Falls Church;
Shalita Green, City of Chesapeake; Russell Aylor, Stafford County Utilities; Greg Boyd, City of Winchester; Walter Norman, City of Chesapeake; Leonard Tatum, City of Virginia Beach; Timothy Woolard, Newport News Waterworks; Greg Chestnut, Western Va. Water Authority; Eric Schaidt, City of Winchester; Brian Whitenack, Western Va. Water Authority.

VA AWWA was well represented at the 2007 National Meter Madness Competition, held during AWWA ACE in Toronto. Ronnie Baker, from Spotsylvania County Utilities, placed 2nd in this year's national competition, and Mike Dunavant, also from Spotsylvania, placed 5th. Congratulations Ronnie and Mike!

On August 5th, 2006, Nelson Gentry, the 2006 AWWA Virginia Section State Champion in the “Buried Treasure” event, competed in the 5th Annual International Utility Locate Rodeo held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.  This competition draws top-notch locators from across the nation to show off their skills locating underground utility lines.  Competitors have 12 minutes to review a utility map of the locate area, unpack and connect the locator, mark and record measurements on a chart, totally pack the locator back in the case and return all marking chips to the judge.  Nelson finished 2nd out of 18 contestants in the Water Division in this competition.

Competitors from all divisions also competed in a bonus event in which they are given 3 minutes to locate an unknown utility line with their choice of locator. This is the most difficult line of the competition to track—the utility is unknown, there are no plans to review, and the line is in an area congested with other utility lines that can interfere with the tracking signal.  Since the utility line is unknown, the best frequency to use on the transmitter is no more than a guess.  Out of 100+ competitors, Nelson finished in 2nd place in this event! Nelson works for the Spotsylvania County Utilities Department.

Top: Nelson Gentry performs a locate.       
Bottom: 2nd Place Water Division trophy.

The top competitors from the Virginia Section Seminar and Rodeo went on to put Virginia on the map at the national competitions held at ACE in June! In the national Rapid Tappin' competition, Spotsylvania County placed second. In Meter Madness, Michael Dunavant finished second, Mike White third, and Christopher Whorley fourth.

Top: Michael Dunavant performs his first Meter Madness run. Bottom Left: The Spotsylvania tapping team in action at nationals. Bottom Right: The 2006 Spotsylvania County delegation with trophy - L to R: AWWA President Katie McCain, Ronnie Baker, Billy Bowers, Michael Dunavant, Roddie Acors.