Aaron Keck, Katie Harrold and Emily Rajappan

This week on “Wonderful Water,” join WCHL’s Aaron Keck in a conversation about water quality with Katie Harrold — a water treatment plant lab supervisor with OWASA — and Emily Rajappan, a high school sophomore and graduate of OWASA’s Youth Water Academy.

OWASA went through a comprehensive battery of tests in 2018 for all steps of the process that gets water from sources to homes across Orange County, and the report card encapsulates the results of those examinations and the work being done by everyone from distribution collection teams to plant operators.

The report card is a snapshot of the current state of OWASA’s water quality, and a useful tool for OWASA customers to get a closer look at where their water comes from, what makes it safe to drink, and how it gets in and out of their home.

As for the Youth Water Academy, seven students from high schools in Carrboro and Chapel Hill participated in lessons and activities to educate themselves on the process of protecting, sourcing, treating and delivering water to a community. Through tours of treatment centers, lessons on regulation and finance, hands-on experience with engineer and distribution and more, Rajappan and six other students earned the title “OWASA Water Ambassador.”

 

 

Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents use roughly 7 million gallons of water a day, and “Wonderful Water” is a monthly conversation sponsored by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority highlighting its work to keep our community growing and water flowing.

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Wonderful Water: OWASA Infrastructure Improvements, New Meters and More
This week on Wonderful Water, join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Todd Taylor, general manager of operations at OWASA. In the course of providing water to its community, OWASA treats more than 2 billion gallons of water over any given year and flows all of that water to local businesses and […]
Wonderful Water: Care to Share
This week on “Wonderful Water,” join Aaron Keck for a conversation with Denise Battle, customer service manager for OWASA, and Kristin Lavergne, community services director with the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, about OWASA’s Care to Share customer assistance program and Care to Share Day! A significant portion of households in Chapel Hill and Carrboro — […]
Wonderful Water: OWASA, UNC Reclaim Water Together for More Than 10 Years
This week on “Wonderful Water,” join Aaron Keck for a conversation about conservation with OWASA wastewater treatment plant and biosolids recycling manager Monica Dodson and Brad Ives, the chief sustainability officer at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Over the last 15 years I’ve worked my way through [OWASA’s] laboratory,” said Dodson. “Then I was actually the operation supervisor […]
Wonderful Water: Mary Tiger & Agua Vista
This week on “Wonderful Water,” join WCHL’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Mary Tiger, the sustainability manager for OWASA. You can listen to the full interview below, and check back next month for another conversation about the community’s water system! OWASA is a public service, non-profit entity that, according to Tiger, is “responsible for […]
OWASA to Resume Standard Collection Practices on June 1
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority will resume its standard collection practices beginning June 1, the agency announced in a release Monday afternoon. The move aligns with Orange County ending its state of emergency order for the COVID-19 pandemic, with the declaration expiring on Sunday. OWASA had maintained a moratorium on service disconnections and collection […]
Wonderful Water: Wastewater Treatment and the Annual Report Card
This month on “Wonderful Water,” join 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell for a conversation with Wil Lawson, the operations supervisor at OWASA‘s Mason Farm wastewater treatment plant. Lawson discussed the annual OWASA Wastewater Report Card, which was just released for 2021. Each year, the report informs community members how well the treatment plants are meeting […]
Wonderful Water: Allison Spinelli for Wonderful Water
In the newest edition of Wonderful Water, learn about the Orange Water and Sewer Authority's capital improvement projects. OWASA's Capital Projects Engineering Manager Allison Spinelli joins 97.9 The Hill's Brighton McConnell to share more about her team and several ongoing and upcoming projects in the community.
Wonderful Water: Stephen Winters
As budget season continues across our local government, the same is happening at the Orange Water and Sewer Authority. Director of Finance and Customer Service Stephen Winters joins 97.9 The Hill's Brighton McConnell to speak about how OWASA's proposed budget came together and how the community can share their thoughts on it.
Wonderful Water: Preparing for Board Appointments
For this edition of “Wonderful Water,” two members of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority’s Board of Directors joined 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell on the air. Chair of the board Ray DuBose and Vice Chair Bruce Boehm shared details on how people interested in representing the community on OWASA’s board can get involved. The […]
Wonderful Water: Care to Share Day
This month on “Wonderful Water” join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Denise Battle, OWASA’s customer service manager, about the second annual Care to Share Day — happening on November 19 — and the opportunities the day provides to help those in our community who need it. “OWASA has been preparing for […]
›