IWEA Awards

The 20-Year Club award is given to those industry professionals who have been involved with the water environment for at least 20 years.

Submission Deadline: May 1st

Requirements:

• Candidate for election must have a continuing interest in one or more fields of water pollution control. Such interest  may be as an operator, supervisor, superintendent, chemist, or other employee directly associated with a wastewater treatment plant; professor, instructor or student in sanitary engineering or related field; designer; consultant; sales or sales service (if a substantial portion of sales is in wastewater treatment or control); regulatory; or other related activity.
• An applicant must be an active, corporate or dual member of IWEA at the time of an election.
• The election shall be by the Executive Committee. A unanimous vote of those attending a duly called meeting of the Executive Committee shall be required.

Applications are currently closed.

The Laboratory Excellence Award is given in the form of a plaque to be awarded for outstanding achievement in the implementation of laboratory technique and administration. The awards may be given to municipal facilities for each classification (I, II, III, IV [a] < 10 MGD and IV [b] > 10 MGD).

Submission Deadline: February 22nd

Requirements:

Candidates for the award shall be determined by the Laboratory Committee and is based upon a graded evaluation of their criteria. Candidates must complete the Laboratory Excellence Award Application and be inspected by a member of the Laboratory committee to be eligible for the Laboratory Excellence Award. To receive the Laboratory Excellence Award each analyte must receive a score of 70% or higher, each section 85% or higher, and an overall score of 90% or higher.

Annually, a member of the Laboratory Committee will travel to labs around the State to conduct thorough lab audits. These audits are similar to the audits performed by IDEM inspectors except these audits are conducted only in labs who voluntarily participate. The audits serve as an excellent tool for hands-on consulting in your actual laboratory.

• Laboratory Inspection Applications must be submitted to the Lab Committee chair by mid-February of the current year.
• For questions regarding the Laboratory Excellence Award, please contact the chairperson, which you can find here.

Applications are currently closed. 

This Award is intended to recognize those WRRFs which exhibit excellence in operations and maintenance by incurring zero violations of its NPDES Permit, reflecting exemplary performance by its operations and maintenance staff. By basing the award on each WRRF’s individual NPDES Permit and Class category, it provides a more even playing field for receiving the award.

The type of award plaque will be determined based upon the number of awards to be presented (individual plaques versus large wooden plaque with plate for each year)

Submission Deadline: March 31st

Requirements:

The Award must be submitted by an IWEA member

The Award will be presented to a municipal public, semi-public, or private Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) with zero violations of its NPDES Permit during the previous calendar year.

Divided into 4 categories based on WRRF Class size (1, 2, 3, 4)

Materials to be submitted:

• Description stating/certifying the WRRF had zero violations of its NPDES Permit for the calendar year of 2018
• Copies of MROs for the entire calendar year
• Copy of NPDES Permit
• The deadline to submit is March 31st of each year

*Violations will not necessarily eliminate a nominee. The committee would be interested in cause and the procedures taken to remedy the violation. Please describe.

Applications are currently closed.

The John M. Craddock Award, in the form of a plaque, is to be awarded for outstanding contributions in the field of industrial wastewater. Nominations may be made for either an individual or a facility. Award winners shall be limited to no more than two (2) per year – one individual and one facility – regardless of the number of nominees. The award need not be given every year and the sponsoring committee need not make nominations each year.

The John M. Craddock Award may be presented to any industrial employee, university student or professor, consulting engineer, governmental personnel or any other individual or facility deemed to have made an outstanding contribution in the field of industrial wastewater treatment or pretreatment program administration by the Pretreatment Committee.

Submission Deadline: May 1st

Requirements:

Outstanding contributions shall be considered to be those contributions that enhance and improve the quality of the environment and/or the health and safety of the public. Examples of outstanding contributions may include earning the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Five Star Award, developing or modifying a technology or process that significantly contributes to the improvement of the quality of, or the reduction in the quantity of, wastewater discharged by an industrial user and/or the compliance status of the facility, assisting in streamlining or implementing other administrative or operational methods in local pretreatment programs that directly result in significantly improved water quality, or other similar activities. Each nominee will be considered on the merits of the contribution made.

Nominations shall include the name of the nominee, the name of the nominating person, and a brief outline of the contribution made by the nominee.

Nominees need not be an IWEA member. Nominations may be made by persons other than members of IWEA or the Pretreatment Committee, but all nominations must be made to the Pretreatment Committee and must include all required documentation.

Nominations are currently closed.

The purpose of the IWEA Adopt a School award is to recognize Indiana elementary, middle, and high schools and educators who demonstrate an exceptional level of dedication to educating students on the importance of protecting and improving our water environment. The award may be given annually, at the discretion of the Public Communication & Outreach (PCO) Committee, based on the previous school year. Recipients may be individual classes or an entire school, at the discretion of the nominating individual (Sponsor) and the PCO Committee.

The award shall consist of a mounted or framed certificate as well as a $50 grant to the nominee to purchase educational materials relating to the water environment from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) Bookstore or a similar vendor, at the discretion of the Committee.

Submission Deadline: May 1st

Requirements:

The eligible entity must be located in the State of Indiana and nominated by a current member of IWEA (Sponsor). The nominee does not need to be affiliated with IWEA. To be eligible for the award, nominees shall complete a minimum of three (3) Eligible Activities in the proceeding school year. An Eligible Activity is defined as an educational program, lesson, or activity that is consistent with the objectives of IWEA in promoting an understanding of the importance of protecting and improving our water environment, as judged by the PCO Committee. The Committee shall prepare and maintain a list of Eligible Activities that will be available on the IWEA website and upon request. Educational programs, lessons, or activities can be added to the list of Eligible Activities at the discretion of the Committee. Sponsors and Nominees are encouraged to propose new Eligible Activities for inclusion on the list.

When deemed advisable by the PCO Committee, more than one award per year may be given. If, in the opinion of the PCO Committee, there are not a sufficient number of nominations submitted or the quality of the nominees does not warrant an award, then no award shall be granted.

Applications are currently closed.

The purpose of the awards program is to recognize significant contributions in the development and implementation of cost-effective, environmentally safe, and publicly acceptable biosolids beneficial use practices, which recycle nutrients, improve soil conditions, or otherwise conserve valuable natural resources.

Awards may be presented in the following categories:

1. Operating Projects for Class A (large >=1650 dry tons/year and small <1650 dry tons/year) and Class B (large >=500 dry tons/year and small <500 dry tons/year). Outstanding, full-scale, beneficial use technologies, and public acceptance.
2. Technology Development Activities. Significant technological improvements that have been developed and fully proven at the operational level; these may be pilot or full-scale activities.
3. Research Activities. Studies that have substantially contributed to an improved understanding of biosolids beneficial use practices, improved public acceptance, and/or advanced the technology.

Submission Deadline: May 1st

Requirements:

1. Operating Projects (4 categories)
   1. Class A >=1650 dry tons/year  (large)    < 1650 dry tons/year (small)
   2. Class B >=500 dry tons/year  (large)      < 500 dry tons/year (small)
   3. Significant recycling/reuse of natural recourses (e.g., nutrients, organic matter, and energy)
   4. Substantial, full scale, proven operation over time
   5. Constant, cost-effective operation
   6. Public acceptance
      1. Demonstrated increases in both public acceptance and public demand. The term “public” is meant to include regulatory agencies, agricultural organizations, water quality professionals, public health officials, environmentalists, academic institutions, and the news media as well as the general public. Indicators of “demand” include such factors as waiting lists and user paying for biosolids.
      2. Characterized by a dedicated and successful individual and team efforts.
      3. Demonstrated willingness to share information and approaches for gaining public acceptance.
      4. Proactive successful approaches for working the press and other groups explaining the benefits of biosolids use, cultivating and gaining allies, and educating against unfounded alarmist stories that may arise.
      5. Excellence in local information transfer and training efforts that have made a positive local difference, (e.g., on-site demonstrations and collaborative efforts involving municipalities citizens, universities, and others)
      6. Characterized by managers who work with all stakeholders to identify and utilize critical control points for ensuring sound management and community-friendly practices.
   7. Compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local regulations.
   8. Management of nutrients, and control of nuisances such as odor, dust, and traffic.
   9. Excellence in project management, and particularly management that fosters close communication and coordination among stakeholders from generators to end users as well as project neighbors and the public.
2. Technology and Innovation or Development Activities
   1. Sustained excellence in advancing our knowledge of technologies that recycle biosolids
   2. Technology that has the potential to advance many other areas across the nation
   3. Operationally proven
   4. Resolved previous biosolids management or utilization problems and have helped gain public acceptance
3. Research Activities
   1. Greatly improve our understanding of the environmental effects associated with the beneficial use of biosolids
   2. Substantial contribution toward the development of improved technological designs and operations
   3. Key information generated for the development of improved biosolids regulations and guidance
   4. Greater public acceptability of biosolids recycling

Applications are currently closed.

Safety Awards of Merit may be given to municipal facilities for Class I, II, III, IV, and industrial facilities. This program is designed to give recognition to all plants which grade high in merit points to such an extent that a plant may sustain a minimum of lost-time accidents and with a good point record could still be eligible for a safety award.

Submission Deadline: March 1st

Requirements:

To be eligible for this award, a plant must complete the Safety Inspection Form and receive an inspection from a safety committee member. The safety experience of each plant will be compiled by the committee and recommendations for awards shall be based on merit points and by accident experience of each plant recorded by the plant superintendent on the year-end safety report.

Applications are currently closed.