Author: Anna Kleeberg

T&H Nominated Sponsor of the Year from NEWWA

Tata & Howard Honored by the New England Water Works Association

Karen L. Gracey accepts Sponsor of the year award from NEWWA.HOLLISTON, Mass. – Tata & Howard recently received the 2022 Sponsor of the Year Award from the New England Water Works Association (NEWWA), the region’s largest and oldest not-for-profit organization of water works professionals.

The Sponsor of the Year Award was established in 1995 to recognize the outstanding efforts of service provider members who support NEWWA through financial contributions, in-kind materials, and volunteer resources.

Tata & Howard has been a NEWWA member since 2004 and is a NEWWA Gold Sponsor. They are Recycle Sponsors at the Spring Conference, consistently sponsor the Annual Golf Tournament, supported the 2021 Virtual Technology Campaign, and have participated as an advertiser in the Source newsletter.

Tata & Howard supports the involvement of their staff in NEWWA as volunteers, including Co-President Karen Gracey, who has been involved with the Program Committee as a campaign manager and moderator for the Spring and Annual Conferences for the last six years.

Tata & Howard was recognized with this award on September 18, 2022, during NEWWA’s 141st Annual Conference in Newport, RI.

Lead and Copper Rule Revision

An EPA mandate under section §141.84 of the Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) requires all municipalities to develop and submit for review a lead service line (LSL) inventory plan, including public and private side, by October 16, 2024.

Over time, lead in drinking water builds up in the body, causing damage to the brain, red blood cells, and kidneys. The most significant risk is to young children and pregnant women, as lead in the body can slow the normal mental and physical development of growing bodies.

With the EPA’s October mandate rolling out in 2024, municipalities across America are working on developing or refining an LSL inventory tracking system to quickly identify and replace lead service lines for public and private water connections.

T&H’s Justine Carroll, Vice President, published an article titled “How to Start an LSL Inventory Tracking System,” which provides guidance on the necessary information that should be collected for a complete database. You may review the full article here. 

LSL Blogs and News

LSL Projects

How to Start an LSL Inventory Tracking System

by Justine Carroll, Vice President, Tata & Howard, Inc., October, 2022

For the first time since the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency has mandated all municipalities, under section §141.84 of the Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR), to develop and submit for review a lead service line (LSL) inventory plan including both public and private side. Municipalities’ inventories servicing 50,000+ populations must be available on the municipality’s website, allowing residents and business owners to access information online to determine if the line on public or private land contains lead. The EPA administration is encouraging early plan submissions allowing review and revision time to meet the October 16, 2024, deadline.

The following planning structure serves as a guideline for an LSL inventory plan. The shared information provided is not all-encompassing, allowing individual municipalities to customize their inventory plan to their needs.

Start preparing an LSL Inventory

Find and organize internal data such as metered accounts, assessors’ data, record files, service cards, building permit records, work orders, and field excavations. Create a customer survey using mailings or mobile applications to help identify LSL materials for homes or businesses. Develop public education programs to notify private owners and residents through invoicing, email, and notices.

Structuring the database – Categories, Subcategories, and Service Indicators

The next step in developing an LSL plan is to assign categories and subcategories to identify and report quickly. Data fields can include sampling locations, connection material, current and past service line material, installation date, classification, building type, building installation year, plumbing material, and service line replacement status. Template spreadsheets are available at the state level; using them allows for universal fields and drop-down menus for continuous data input.

The inventory will identify services with service lines categorized as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, or lead status unknown; consider installation and home construction dates, service line size, and water-main installation year when actual dates are unavailable.

Base your starting point with the 1986 EPA Lead Ban and local ordinances to determine when lead installations were not allowed in the public water system. Services with unknown materials should be ranked for verification by indicating high priority of lead, medium priority of lead, or low priority of lead.

Create a public LSL replacement program to eliminate known lead service lines and work with private owners to replace necessary lines; often, monetary incentivized programs are available. Next, develop a verification process consisting of customer surveys, home inspections, water quality sampling, or mechanical excavation.

Lastly, internally link the database to a shapefile in your GIS or other mapping software to identify service line materials quickly; data can be made public for communities with more than 50,000 people.

To contact Justine M. Carroll, Vice President, Tata & Howard, Inc.
jcarroll@tataandhoward.com  |  Direct ((508) 219-4018
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn 

Article featured: MWWA H20 Pump Newsletter, October 2022, Edition N0. 224, featured sponsor, page 9.

Salvatore Longo, V.P., Retires

Farewell to a great team member, Sal Longo! Enjoy your retirement Sal!

We wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to Sal Longo for his many years of service.  Sal has been with Tata & Howard since 2014 when Haestad Engineering was acquired.  Prior to 2014, he spent the entirety of his career at Haestad.  With his easy-going demeanor and superior engineering skills, Sal has been the go to person for many clients in Connecticut because of his expertise in everything water, specifically safe yield analyses and pump station designs.  Not only is he retiring but he is also leaving Connecticut and heading to Maine.  We wish Sal the best of luck in this next chapter and hope that he can relax and enjoy some needed time off.  The entire Tata & Howard team wishes Sal the very best in his retirement!  Wishing you many fun adventures!

Classroom Learning Fun For Stanley Elementary School

Stanley Elementary School’s third graders learn how behaviors impact the water cycle

Project Engineer Molly Caruso, P.E. and Project Manager James Hoyt, P.E. presented to 3rd graders at the Stanley Elementary School in Waltham, MA. The students are learning about the water cycle and the importance of conserving water and protecting our water resources. Molly and James spoke about how our behaviors impact the water cycle. They also discussed what environmental engineers do and how their work solves problems and helps provide access to safe drinking water. Molly and James loved hearing the thoughtful ideas and questions from some of our future engineers!

LET’S CONNECT

Molly E. Caruso, P.E., Project Engineer
mcaruso@tataandhoward.com
Direct: (508) 232-6242

James Hoyt, P.E., Project Manager
Jhoyt@tataandhoward.com
Direct: (508) 219-4011

Combined Pump Station Chemical Feed Building

Kirsten Hummel, E.I.T., is performing Resident Project Representative (RPR) responsibilities at the Combined Pump Station Chemical Feed Building for the Town of Marion, MA. The contractor, Barbato Construction Co., is exposing an intersection to tie in the raw and finished water mains.
Anticipated Project Completion Date: September 2022.

LET’S CONNECT

Matthew V. Morganelli, P.E., Project Mgr.
mmorganelli@tataandhoward.com | Phone: (508) 232-6238 

LET’S CONNECT

Kirsten M. Hummel, E.I.T.
khummel@tataandhoward.com | Phone:(508) 232-6252

Cornhole Tournament at T&H

Our Cornhole Tournament was a Hole-In-Many! It was a great afternoon filled with friendly competition, food, laughs, and camaraderie! The sky was blue, and the warmth of the afternoon sun was perfect for the tossing arm. Next step: cornhole league!

Hey! I am first heading line feel free to change me

Nothing is better than the sounds of laughter!

T&H Engineers Participate in “Fight For Air Climb” 2022

Team Unum Montis Champions "Fight For Air Climb" Competition With
Overall Lowest Time and Second Highest Fundraising Efforts!

Kudos to Team Unum Montis!

On Saturday, May 7th, Tata & Howard team members Robert Sims and Matt O’Dowd participated in the “Fight For Air Climb” at Pierce Memorial Stadium, Providence, RI. The “Unum Montis Team,” which included Robert and Matt, alongside Meagan Heslin, Shawn Giatas, and Wiktor Tomkiewicz, won the team competition (lowest total time of 5) by over 5 minutes.

In the eighth year of fundraising for the American Lung Association’s (ALA) “Fight for Air Climb,” the Unum Montis Team increased fundraising efforts finishing at $4,630. Congrats Team!

Robert Sims

Matt O'Dowd

For more than 115 years, the American Lung Association (ALA) has been the champion of lung health. The fundraising monies contribute 90 cents of every dollar to program services, impacting more than 20 million Americans each year.

  • Defeating lung disease
  • Championing clean air for all
  • Improving the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families
  • Creating a tobacco-free future.

Let’s Connect

Robert P. Sims, P.E.
Project Manager
rsims@tataandhoward.com
Direct: (508) 219-4017
Cell: (508) 320-4767

Matt O'Dowd

Let’s Connect

Matt O’Dowd
Assistant Project Engineer
modowd@tataandhoward.com
Direct: (508) 386-9352

Employee Spotlight: David Lombardo

Employee Spotlight #7 – It is our pleasure to shine the spotlight on David J. Lombardo, P.E., Associate.

David’s career in engineering began in 1994. Directly out of college, he started a job with Roald Haestad, Inc., learning the water and wastewater aspects of civil engineering with a specific emphasis on Pump Station designs and construction oversight. In 2014, Tata & Howard acquired Roald Haestad, Inc., and David joined the Tata & Howard team.

His experience with Pump Station designs has been extensive, ranging from small to very large and complex. David summed up his experience by saying, “the unique challenges of the modern-day pump station design always comes down to the fact that no two pump station designs are identical; each has its own parameters and challenges.”

He shared that project considerations are many when designing a pump station beyond the water demands and pump capacities; other factors such as space availability, safe access, durability, low maintenance, upgradeability, etc., while balancing the client needs and staying on budget.

David shared that one pump station design project was particularly challenging due to limited land availability; Eventually, a house foreclosure in the area allowed the project to move forward. The design maintained the outer façade of the house with interior modifications that included gutting the inside and casting concrete floors to convert the interior into a potable water pumping station complete with four pumps, associated piping, electrical equipment, instrumentation, and controls.

The design included converting an attached garage into a standby power generator room equipped with acoustic louvers in the walls for cooling and combustion and lined with sound deadening insulation to minimize generator noise from reaching the neighbors. This above-ground replacement pump station allows easy access and enhanced safety while blending in with the neighborhood aesthetics.

David’s passion and experience for pump station designs continue to expand, building upon what he shared at the beginning of this spotlight, “the unique challenges of the modern-day pump station design always comes down to the fact that no two pump station designs are identical.” Thanks for sharing David!

Let’s Connect:
David J. Lombardo, P.E., Associate
37 Brookside Road, Waterbury, CT 06708
E – dlomardo@tataandhoward.com     |     P – 203-528-0263