The Safe Drinking Water Program operates under a Culture of Health umbrella. We take our responsibility seriously and make every effort we can to support public water systems and the operators that help make safe tap water available to the public every day. Among the services we provide are coaching and training for water systems and operators. During the COVID-19 pandemic these services almost always had to be done remotely. There are many advantages to this learning modality including reduced travel time and convenience. But some people learn better in person and some topics are better covered in person also. As the pandemic subsided we shifted to mixed modes of offering coaching and training services in our Local Assistance Unit. We believe this shift fits with our Culture of Health by maximizing opportunities for water systems and operators to get the coaching and training they need in the most efficient and effective manner for them and our staff. The information below summarizes some recent activities in our Next and Better Normal way of doing things.
Summary of recent coaching and training services late 2022:
- The team provided a “Monitoring and Operating for Regulatory Compliance” webinar training session on September 7. The webinar training was attended by 8 water professionals from 7 drinking water systems. The team provided a “Monitoring and Operating for Regulatory Compliance” in-person training session on October 5 in Limon. The in-person training was attended by 16 water professionals from 12 drinking water systems.
- The team provided a “Building Resilience in your Water/Wastewater System” in-person training session on September 20 in Steamboat Springs. The in-person training was attended by nine water professionals from five public water systems.
- The team provided a “Sanitary Survey Preparation” in-person training session on September 21 in Steamboat Springs. The in-person training was attended by ten water professionals from nine drinking water systems. The team provided a “Sanitary Survey Preparation” webinar training session on October 19. The webinar training was attended by 13 water professionals from 11 drinking water systems.
- The team provided a “Monitoring and Operating for Regulatory Compliance” webinar training session on November 2. The webinar training was attended by 26 water professionals from 22 drinking water systems. The team provided a “Monitoring and Operating for Regulatory Compliance” in-person training session on December 7 in Trinidad. The in-person training was attended by 8 water professionals from 6 drinking water systems.
- The team provided a “Building Resilience in your Water/Wastewater System” in-person training session on December 8 in Colorado Springs. The in-person training was attended by 5 water professionals from 4 public water systems.
- The team provided a “Sanitary Survey Preparation” in-person training session on November 15 in Ft Morgan. The in-person training was attended by 23 water professionals from 20 drinking water systems. The team provided a “Sanitary Survey Preparation” webinar training session on December 21. The webinar training was attended by 24 water professionals from 24 drinking water systems.
The division has been tracking the number and cumulative total one-on-one coaching and group training events for more than a decade. The graph below summarizes these data. Since we have about 2,100 public water systems in Colorado, and not all have received coaching assistance, we obviously get a lot of “repeat customers.” You will notice a decline in one-on-one in-person events due to the ramp up of the webinar approach (the blue bar). We believe that our overall approach is greatly enhanced since incorporating the lessons learned from the pandemic.
The division also tracks water systems that make performance improvements after receiving coaching assistance services from us. The data for 2022 as so far reported through December are summarized below. The 2022 annual running monthly average is 82% of all systems that received one-on-one assistance are making at least one improvement.
To request customized one-on-one on-site coaching assistance or other training assistance from the local assistance unit Google search “CDPHE training opportunities” and click on “Training opportunities, recognition, and resources for water systems” or click here to visit https://cdphe.colorado.gov/dwtrain.
➽ Ron Falco, P.E. Safe Drinking Water Program Manager
➽ Armando Herald, Local Assistance Unit manager
