artefact_admin, Author at Tata & Howard

Game Night at Tata & Howard

Tata & Howard is a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company, and we firmly believe that teams who play together work better together. Teamwork is also one of our core values. Therefore, we participate in frequent team building events, sponsored by our ESOP Committee.

tata-howard-esop — The night started with some Wii games

On Thursday, December 15, team members participate in a game night that also featured fellow ESOP Harpoon Brewery’s beer. The Marlborough, Massachusetts corporate office enjoyed several rounds of Wii bowling and tennis, the iPhone game Heads Up!, and some assorted board games. The surprise of the night was Vice President Steve Landry soundly winning at Wii bowling! Everyone agreed that he must have played this before…

steve-landry-tata — Steve Landry’s first attempt landed him a strike

The Waterbury, Connecticut office played the western card game, Bang! Engineer Max Gilliam started as Sherriff but had to leave early and transferred duties to Engineer Will Grant. Will took a barrage of bullets early and limped through the rest of the game on life support. The conclusion came when Deputy and CAD Technician Steve Catuccio mistakenly took Will out, handing the game to Outlaws Tom Hoctor, Engineer, and Steve Rupar, Vice President. Resident Observer Jack Keefe participated as a Deputy, and Project Manager Dave Lombardo rounded the game out as a Renegade.

waterbury-ct-tata-howard — The Waterbury, CT office played the western card game, Bang!

The temps were down in the single digits, but the Portland, ME office stayed nice and warm as they settled in for a few rounds of Wii racing.

The Portland, Maine office settled in for some Wii racing — The Portland, Maine office enjoyed some Wii racing

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to future ESOP game nights!

Clean Air Day 2016 – Helping America to Breathe Easier Since 1963

Clean Air Day is an opportunity to acknowledge how important air quality is to our health. Since 1963, December 17 has been a day to celebrate one of the first environmental laws in the United States – The Clean Air Act. Through collaboration, the EPA works with both state and local governments to ensure clean air for everyone. Among the biggest threats facing this campaign are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Common in thousands of household products, VOCs are invisible to the naked eye and can have serious effects on human health.

VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals commonly found in household and industrial products such as paints, varnishes, cleaning products, cosmetics, fuels, and even dry cleaned clothes. The effects of VOCs on human health can include irritation of the nose, eyes, or throat, and some VOCs have been linked to causing organ damage and cancer. Knowing the dangers of VOCs can help you plan to reduce exposure. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors than outdoors. Indoor levels can be up to 1,000 times outdoor levels during, and for several hours after, certain activities such as paint stripping or using aerosol sprays.

The EPA provides many steps on how to avoid VOCs both indoors and outdoors. Simple and effective steps such as proper ventilation and reduced use of pesticides can greatly improve the quality of air inside your home or building. For potentially hazardous products such as varnishes or fuel, it is important to read all warning labels and practice safe storage and handling. The EPA also advises to keep minimum exposure to chemicals such as benzene and perchloroethylene, or “perc,” a chemical commonly used for dry cleaning. Currently, there is no federally enforceable standard set for VOCs in non-industrial settings such as a home or small business. To learn more about VOCs, including current guidelines or recommendations set by various organizations, visit Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Indoor Air Quality Scientific Findings Resource Bank.

Clean air, along with drinkable water, is one of the most precious resources on the planet. It is easy to find evidence of how air quality is impacting the health of millions of people around the globe. Unfortunately, you don’t have to live in the shadow of a smoke-spewing factory or next to a major freeway to be affected by polluted air. Even the interiors of businesses and residences can be subject to poor – and potentially dangerous – air quality due to VOCs. In some cases, VOCs have been detected in buildings from operations that occurred years before the site was repurposed. These sites often require mitigation to reduce concentrations of VOCs. Properties of closed gas stations and dry cleaners are among the most common examples of required VOC mitigation due to the volatile chemicals used for operations. The good news is that once the contaminated property — or brownfield — has been mitigated, it can often be used for any type of commercial or residential purpose, effectively turning it from a brownfield into a greenfield. In this way, mitigation has a real and tangible benefit to not only the property owner but also to the municipality in which the property is located and to the environment.

To preserve and improve the health of all humans and other life on Earth, we must defend the planet’s air quality. The Clean Air Act has provided the basis for an effective means of limiting dangerous air pollutants for the last half century. This Act and its enforcement by the EPA has undoubtedly saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and continues to set new standards for air quality management. Many western European nations have enacted similar legislation, which is a big step in the right direction for clean air!

Paul Howard Receives 2016 State Leadership Award from NEWWA

On December 15, 2016, the New England Water Works Association (NEWWA) presented Tata & Howard Senior Vice President and Co-Founder Paul B. Howard, P.E., with the NEWWA State Leadership Award for the State of Massachusetts. The award recognizes outstanding leadership and contributions to the advancement of excellence in the water works profession. A past president of the Massachusetts Water Works Association (MWWA), Paul has over 38 years of engineering experience, all of which have been exclusively in the water environment. Throughout his career, Paul has been actively involved in state and regional water associations and has been a champion for the advancement of the water industry. All of us at T&H wish to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Paul on this well-deserved award!

A DPW Director’s Guide to Improving Utilities with Limited Capital

Water systems today face a set of problems that are unique to this generation. While our nation’s buried infrastructure is crumbling beneath our feet as it reaches the end of its useful life, supplies are dwindling, budgets are shrinking, and federal and state funding is drying up. At the same time, regulatory requirements continue to increase as emerging contaminants are identified. Water systems often find themselves in the quandary of whether to upgrade treatment systems to comply with these new regulations or update assets that are long overdue for replacement or rehabilitation.

Savvy DPW directors recognize the need for thinking outside the box when it comes to water system management. Gone are the days of simply allocating annual budgets to the required maintenance of assets. Instead, careful planning, thoughtful operations, and superior efficiency are the new requirements for successful utility management, and can all be accomplished with limited capital investment.

Planning for the Future with Capital Efficiency Plans™

Asset management planning is critical to the health and maintenance of water utilities. Part of a successful asset management plan is the development of a planned, systematic approach that provides for the rehabilitation and replacement of assets over time, while also maintaining an acceptable level of service for existing assets. But how are utilities able to determine which assets should be prioritized? The answer is through a multi-faceted approach to asset management.

Our Capital Efficiency Plan™ (CEP) methodology is unique in that it combines the concepts of asset management, hydraulic modeling, and system criticality into a single comprehensive report that is entirely customized to the individual utility distribution system. The final report provides utilities with a database and Geographic Information System (GIS) representation for each pipe segment within their underground piping system, prioritizes water distribution system piping improvements, and provides estimated costs for water main replacement and rehabilitation. Because the CEP takes a highly structured, three-pronged approach, utilities can decisively prioritize those assets most in need of repair or replacement, and are able to justify the costs of those critical projects when preparing annual budgets.

Increasing Operational Efficiency with Business Practice Evaluations

In addition to addressing capital efficiency, water utilities of today must also address operational efficiency. Because water systems are required to do so much with so little, efficiency in all aspects of water system management is critical. Tata & Howard appreciates the unique set of challenges faced by water systems today, and we have experts on staff who understand the inner workings of a water utility – and how to improve them.

Our Business Practice Evaluation (BPE) was designed by James J. “Jim” Courchaine, Vice President and National Director of Business Practices, who has over 45 years of experience in every facet of water and wastewater management, operations, and maintenance. He is a certified Water Treatment and Distribution System Operator, Grade 4c (MA) and RAM-W (Risk Assessment Methodology for Water). He also taught courses at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell for ten years on water system operations. Jim does not approach utility operations from the perspective of an engineer; rather, he has deep experience in utility operations and management as an actual operator.

Our BPEs assess the health of a utility’s work practices by implementing a framework for a structured approach to managing, operating, and maintaining in a well-defined manner. The overall goal of the assessment process is more efficient and effective work practices, and the assessment includes documentation of current business practices, identification of opportunities for improvement, conducting interviews including a diagonal slice of the organization, and observation of work practices in the field. The BPE encourages utilities to operate as a for-profit business rather than as a public supplier, which results in more efficient, cost effective operational and managerial procedures — and an improved bottom line. Water systems that have conducted a BPE have found significant improvement in the operational efficiency of their utility.

Improving the Environment — and the Bottom Line — with Water Audits

Besides improving operational and capital efficiency, water systems of today must reduce non-revenue water. Non-revenue water is treated drinking water that has been pumped but is lost before it ever reaches the customer, either through real losses such as leaks, or through apparent losses such as theft or metering issues. In the United States, water utilities lose about 20% of their supply to non-revenue water. Non-revenue water not only affects the financial health of water systems, but also contributes to our nation’s decreasing water supply. In fact, the amount of water “lost” over the course of a year is enough to supply the entire State of California for that same year. Therefore, the AWWA recommends that every water system conduct an annual water audit using M36: Water Audits and Loss Control methodology to accurately account for real and apparent losses.

A water audit helps water systems identify the causes of water loss, as well as the true costs of this loss. An effective water audit will help a water system reduce water loss, thus recapturing lost revenue. Water loss typically comes as a result of aging, and deteriorating infrastructure, particularly in the northeast, as well as policies and procedures that lead to inaccurate accounting of water use. Water audits are the most cost-effective and efficient solution to increasing demand, and, like BPEs, water audits usually pay for themselves in less than a year.

In Conclusion

Today’s DPW Directors are faced with the burden of increasing regulations along with decreasing supply, budgets, and funding. For water systems to continue to effectively function, they must remain profitable, which means they must implement efficiencies on all fronts. CEPs, BPEs, and water audits are all low-cost methodologies that improve efficiency with an extremely short return on investment. In addition, water systems that proactively plan for the future will more easily weather the threats of climate change and population growth. Capital and operational efficiency combined with identifying and addressing sources of non-revenue water will position water system to continue to provide safe, clean drinking water for future generations.

Tata & Howard Announces Leadership Changes

Karen L. Gracey, P.E., and Jenna W. Rzasa, P.E., have been named co-presidents of Tata & Howard

Tata & Howard, Inc. has named Karen L. Gracey, P.E., and Jenna W. Rzasa, P.E., current vice presidents, as co-presidents of the firm. Current president Donald J. Tata, P.E., was appointed Chief Executive Officer and will be working in a reduced capacity while he focuses on his battle with cancer, with which he was diagnosed this fall. Gracey and Rzasa will be working closely with the firm’s senior leadership team to successfully run Tata & Howard in Tata’s absence. The appointments are effective immediately.

“Tata & Howard’s succession plan has been firmly in place since the company became a 100% ESOP in 2014,” stated Mr. Tata. “Karen and Jenna have taken on increasing responsibility in both operational and client-facing aspects of the company over the past few years, and I have absolute confidence in their combined ability to continue to successfully implement our strategic plan while adhering to our core values and furthering our shared mission of providing unsurpassed solutions in the water environment.”

As part of the company’s comprehensive leadership and transition planning, Gracey and Rzasa, who have been with the firm since 1998 and 1997 respectively, have been slated to assume leadership of the company for several years. They were named to the board of directors in 2013 and have headed up the firm’s business development and financial operations since that time. The company noted that while Tata’s illness has expedited their appointments to co-president, Gracey and Rzasa are well positioned to seamlessly assume their new roles.

“Tata & Howard’s strategic plan is centered on sustainable growth through innovation, efficiency, teamwork, and uncompromising integrity, and we — including not just Jenna and myself, but the whole Tata & Howard team — have already assumed full ownership of the company’s vision and values,” added Ms. Gracey. “The firm will be in excellent hands while Don focuses on returning to full health.”

Senior Vice President and firm co-founder Paul B. Howard, P.E., remains actively involved in managing all technical aspects of the firm, and Vice Presidents Patrick S. O’Neale, P.E., and Steven J. Landry, P.E., will continue to provide strategic and operational support to Gracey and Rzasa.

Tata was diagnosed with cancer in August of 2016, and made the announcement to employee-owners in early September. Tata & Howard stated that while it is still too soon to know the timing of his return on a full-time basis, Tata is aggressively fighting the disease with the help of the world-renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.

Lunchtime Mentoring: How a Drowned Orifice Works

We take mentoring very seriously here at T&H! During a lunch break, Senior Project Engineer James Hoyt, P.E. demonstrated to some of our junior engineers how a drowned orifice works as a connection between two adjacent tanks. The goal of the experiment was to prove that as long as the velocity through the connection remained low, the head loss through the connection would be low, and therefore the level in the first tank would not be significantly higher than the level in the second tank. This experiment was completed utilizing paper cups, straws, and chewing gum. We love to teach – and learn!

Thanksgiving Food Drive 2016

Tata & Howard’s annual Thanksgiving food drive is always a big success, and 2016 was no exception. Our company goal was to donate at least 350 pounds of food, and we ended up collecting and donating 451 pounds of food to local food banks and pantries. In addition, a friendly interoffice competition took place where the office that donated the highest number of pounds of food per person would win. Congratulations to the Portland, Maine office that won the team competition by donating over 18 pounds of food per person!

National Philanthropy Day 2016 – Building a Culture of Philanthropy

Millennials blur the line between work and life and truly appreciate a culture of philanthropy

Corporate philanthropy has changed dramatically over the past decade. First and foremost, millennials have entered the workforce in droves, and they play a major part in company influence. While Generation X and Baby Boomers tend to make a clear delineation between work and life, millennials maintain fluidity in all aspects of their lives and expect far more out of their employers. Therefore, employee engagement has become paramount to the success of today’s companies, and one of the best ways to foster employee engagement is through a culture of philanthropy.

Building a culture of philanthropy requires a concerted effort from senior management and human resources. Gone are the days of holding an annual food drive at Thanksgiving or toy drive during the holiday season. Today, year-round involvement in charitable ventures and the community is almost expected, through both volunteerism and financial commitment. National Philanthropy Day, which falls on November 15, is an exemplary time for corporations to truly examine their philanthropic culture – or lack thereof.

Where to Start?

Creating an authentic culture of philanthropy requires three key ingredients. First and foremost, leadership involvement is essential. Employees, particularly millennials, know when an employer is fully committed and when they are just going through the motions. A true culture of philanthropy requires both buy-in and participation from leadership.

Second, workplace giving programs and volunteerism should be an integral part of a company’s corporate identity – which again comes down to support from leadership. Because culture always trickles down from the top, involvement from leadership is an absolute requirement. While a company can say that giving of money and time are important, senior management’s actual participation in a company’s charitable ventures provides authenticity through leading by example. Without leadership involvement, employee engagement programs will appear superficial and perfunctory and are likely to fail.

Fellow ESOP Gardener's Supply Company created Company Farm to grow and distribute potatoes to local food pantries — Fellow ESOP Gardener’s Supply Company created Company Farm to grow and distribute potatoes to local food pantries

Third, charitable programs must align with both employee interests and corporate goals. For example, Gardener’s Supply Company in Vermont is a retail and online gardening supply company that offers everything from seedstarting supplies and garden furniture to flower supports and garden carts. Like Tata & Howard, they are also 100% employee-owned. In 2013, a group of employees at the Burlington location started Company Farm. Their goal was to grow potatoes to donate to people in need. In the first year alone, employee-farmers grew over 300 pounds of potatoes on a set of thirty 4×6-foot raised beds just off the company’s main parking lot. All of these potatoes were donated to support need in the local community, and Gardener’s Supply plans to increase their output as well as encourage other companies to also turn some of their lawns into farms.

How to Get Involved

A culture of philanthropy is not just for large companies – small-to-mid-size companies are becoming increasingly involved as more and more millennials enter the workforce. While larger companies are able to support a variety of charitable ventures, smaller companies need to be more strategic in their philanthropy. Several ways in which companies of all sizes are fostering an engaged workforce include providing paid time off specifically for volunteerism, 100% company matches on all employee donations to 501(c)3 organizations, and company-sponsored charitable events and initiatives that align with the company’s mission, vision, and values. At the core of a true culture of philanthropy is the encouragement and participation at all levels within an organization to give their time, money, and talent.

T&H employee owners participated in the 17th Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup. The even was organized by a millennial and supported by senior management — T&H employee-owners participated in the 17th Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup. The event was organized by a millennial and supported by senior management.

At Tata & Howard, we are passionate about clean water, so we have forged a partnership with Water For People, a non-profit whose mission is to promote the development of high quality drinking water and sanitation services, accessible to all, and sustained by strong communities, businesses, and governments. Water For People is our charity of choice, and employee-owners are able to donate directly to the organization through payroll deductions, which the company matches 100%. In addition, Tata & Howard employee-owners participate in other charitable events that complement our corporate philosophy, including river clean-ups, cancer research fundraising, food drives, and the Navajo Water Project, to name a few. Supporting charitable organizations and events that have a direct tie to a company and to its employees is key to true employee engagement.

Looking Ahead

Because of the changing face of our workforce, building a culture of philanthropy is no longer considered either incidental or superfluous. In fact, the most engaged companies have substantial and clear policies in place that support philanthropic ventures at all levels within their organizations. And the payoff is clear: reduced attrition, greater productivity, higher profits, and also a positive team environment that makes the world a kinder, gentler place.

Care to share? We’d love to hear how your company celebrates National Philanthropy Day and promotes a culture of philanthropy!

Election 2016 – Vote to Invest in Infrastructure

This year’s presidential campaign trail has been unique. The two leading candidates challenge convention in numerous ways, and have fostered one of the most heated election years in decades. While many issues and facts have fueled both the passion and the divisiveness of this year’s presidential election, there is one issue on which all parties agree: the urgent need to invest in infrastructure.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Just as important as our roadways is the buried water and wastewater infrastructure beneath it

Because our nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure is buried underground, it is often forgotten. After all, safe, clean drinking water is ours at the turn of the tap, and wastewater disappears instantly with the flush of a toilet. This buried infrastructure is one of the key components of modern-day civilization, without which our society would cease to function properly – if at all.

Alarmingly, our national water and wastewater infrastructure is in desperate need of upgrading. The ASCE 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gives our water and wastewater infrastructure a D grade, and the EPA notes that about 30% of large system pipes are 40-80 years old, and another 10% are over 80 years old. In the northeast, this statistic only goes up, with some pipes being well over 100 years old. Our nation’s infrastructure is arguably reaching the end of its useful life. Currently, we lose about seven billion gallons of clean, treated drinking water every single day from leaky pipes, which is enough water to supply the daily needs of the entire state of California. Considering that many communities, including the State of California, have been under drought watch for years, this water loss is deeply concerning.

In addition to our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure, many of our nation’s water service lines are made of lead. To avoid catastrophes like the Flint, Michigan lead crisis earlier this year, the lead service lines that are still supplying seven to ten million American homes need replacement. Also, many of our nation’s wastewater treatment plants were constructed following the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1974, and they are now 30-40 years old and very much in need of rehabilitation or replacement.

Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Infrastructure

2016 Presidential hopefuls Donald Trump (R) and Hillary Clinton (D)

To improve our water and wastewater systems before they reach failure, it is imperative that our elected leaders push for legislation to invest in infrastructure. Yet because our nation has so many other pressing issues and needs, our buried infrastructure is often overlooked. However, in the wake of this year’s Flint, Michigan lead crisis, our nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure has come to the forefront of the minds of American citizens and legislators, with some funding and improvement already being implemented. It is crucial that we elect leaders who will continue this momentum.

At the presidential level, both candidates have promised increased funding for our buried infrastructure. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has proposed a plan which includes spending $250 billion over the next five years on all types of infrastructure, including not only water and wastewater systems but also roads and bridges, broadband, passenger rail systems, airports, levees, and dams. In addition, her plan includes $25 billion in seed money to establish a National Infrastructure Bank, which would provide funding for local infrastructure projects. She has said that the bulk of her $275 billion plan would be funded by business tax reforms.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has proposed a decade-long, $1 trillion plan that was drafted by economic advisors Peter Navarro and Wilbur Ross. Unlike Clinton’s plan which depends on additional taxes, Trump’s plan relies heavily on private funding and tax credits for investment. Trump’s belief is that taxes collected from laborers and from companies working on these projects would offset any costs incurred by the government in the form of tax credits to investors. In addition, projects that receive tax credits would be required to have a dedicated source of revenue, such as tolls for roads or water bills for utilities, that would guarantee a source of cash flow back to investors and better attract private investment.

Voting for the Future of our Nation

Be sure to vote on November 8, 2016 - every vote counts! — Be sure to vote on November 8, 2016 – every vote counts!

Besides the presidential candidates, there are numerous elections for Senate and Congressional seats that will play a key role in the future of our nation’s infrastructure. Because the president is only as effective as the Senate and Congress that support him or her, it is critical that we as a nation elect legislators who will champion plans of action and funding to rehabilitate and replace our nation’s buried infrastructure both now and in the future. Whether the investment comes from taxpayers, private investors, or a combination of the two, the fact remains that the clock is ticking on our nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure and the time to invest in infrastructure is now. Happy voting!

Unidirectional Flushing Programs – A Yearly History Lesson Whitepaper

ABSTRACT: A unidirectional flushing (UDF) program when properly performed can provide a unique chronological account of flow through the distribution system. While a UDF program cleans the loose debris from individual mains, it also identifies closed and/or malfunctioning valves and provides data relative to pipe friction factors. Performed year after year, a UDF program can identify the effect of recent system improvements or deterioration through comparison of annual data.

Author: artefact_admin