en-us http://www.gongol.net News on water, wastewater, and the environment, especially in Iowa, Nebraska, the Upper Midwest and Great Plains Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:38:02 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2009/01/02/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2009/01/02/ People living near Kingston, Tennessee, are understandably concerned and upset after a coal impoundment spilled a billion gallons of water and coal ash over hundreds of acres of land and into a river. The EPA is monitoring and reporting on the water quality in the area, with special concern paid to the arsenic levels in the water in the area. We can help you with geomembranes for spill containment and geotextiles to reinforce dams and levees, as well as portable pumps for emergency use. Please feel free to contact us with your questions. Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:38:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2009/01/01/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2009/01/01/ Happy new year -- we warmly welcome 2009, and look forward to serving you throughout the year. Our office will be closed on New Year's Day, but we will be open on Friday. Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:17:03 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/31/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/31/ The Iowa DNR has issued a boiling advisory for Creston due to a high level of turbidity created by a clarification problem. Since the Creston water treatment plant also serves much of the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association with its water, SIRWA customers in many places are being advised to boil their water before consumption as well. The advisory is likely to remain in place for a few days, since the clarifiers need to be cleared out and the distribution system flushed before the water will be approved for direct consumption. We can help you with water-treatment products, including turbidity monitors. Please feel free to contact us with your questions. Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:17:02 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/19/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/19/ QCEC has a helpful description of their new QLS/Quick Lift Sampler that does a fine job of detailing how the new sampler system self-calibrates. We offer a wide range of samplers from QCEC, and they are available in the sampler section of our online store. Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:17:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/18/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/18/ The Platte River is now officially designated as "fully appropriated" or "over-appropriated" from one side of Nebraska to the other. The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources just made the preliminary designation, and with the new designation, most of Nebraska is now designated as using most of its natural water resources. Municipal water systems are still likely to be allowed to drill replacement wells, but agricultural and industrial water users may find themselves restricted. Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:09:02 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/12/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/12/ The results of November's elections included a new $5.5 billion package for water and soil conservation in Minnesota and the elimination of a $20 million annual limit on stormwater-control spending in Missouri. We often see the results of new legislation in neighboring states affecting what happens in Iowa and Nebraska, so we will in particular be watching for new stormwater issues to gain prominence in Iowa and Nebraska over the next few years. Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:09:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/11/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/11/ Nebraska's state regulators are hoping to get $33 million for wastewater and $10 million for drinking water projects if an economic-stimulus package including funds for infrastructure investment goes through. We can help you with water and wastewater projects in Iowa and Nebraska, and our online store serves the entire country. Please feel free to contact us with your questions. Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:52:02 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/23/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/23/ An arbitrator has handed down a preliminary ruling that Kansas can only seek payment for the damages it actually has suffered from Nebraska's over-use of the Republican River allotment (if any can be shown), and is not eligible to place a claim on what Nebraska may have gained from the use. If arbitration fails, though, the case could go to the US Supreme Court. The damages, in either case, could start at $31 million. We can help you with tools for farm use and irrigation as well as water conservation. Please feel free to contact us with your questions. Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:52:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/22/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/22/ The Rock Island District of the US Army Corps of Engineers has been trying to complete 38 levees and other flood-control projects in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, after this past summer's historic flooding damaged many flood protection systems. But of those 38, only three are finished. Bad weather, including the early and cold start to winter, has been part of the problem, but funding and administrative delays were also involved. Nationwide, the Corps says that dozens of levees in important locations nationwide would not be expected to stand up to flooding. Many of the projects here in Iowa will cost millions of dollars and take some time to complete. We have been and will continue to be involved in a wide range of flood-control projects, with equipment ranging from portable flood-cleanup pumps to permanent stormwater pumping stations, from flood-control gates to the geotextiles that hold levees together. Please feel free to contact us with your questions. Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:38:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/17/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/17/ One of the reasons we have had such a long and solid relationship with the Gorman-Rupp Company is that their pumps and packaged pumping stations are built by people who have pride in their work and who are invested in the long-term quality of the products they build. Gorman-Rupp helps build that sort of corporate culture in part through its generous 74-year-old profit-sharing plan and its employee stock-ownership plan. As a result, the people working at Gorman-Rupp have an unusual amount of incentive to ensure that the company serves its customers right. Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:31:02 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/16/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/16/ The city of Postville, Iowa, built a wastewater treatment plant to help the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant meet regulatory compliance. But the company is going to bankruptcy court and is already behind on payments to the city for the use of the plant. If the company goes under, then Postville may be forced to pay back the balance on the Federal loan it used to build the plant, but without the revenues it anticipated receiving to cover the bill. Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:31:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/15/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/15/ Consider this recipe for trouble: An ice storm in New England has disrupted electrical power supplies to 400,000 homes and businesses. Because of the ice and the fallen power lines, the roads are unsafe for travel. People are stuck at home and cannot go out for supplies -- yet they still need clean water and still use things like showers, toilets, and sinks. Most clean-water booster pump stations and sewage lift stations are run on electricity. If the power goes out, the pump stations do, too -- which means they have to rely upon either portable gas- or diesel-driven pumps, expensive generator backup systems, or internal power backups. We have helped several communities install lift stations with built-in engine backup units. They tend to cost less than their equivalents using generator backups, and they can operate without the on-site intervention required with portable engine-driven backups. Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:30:02 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/10/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/10/ In case the President-elect's proposal for a national infrastructure-spending package comes to fruition, towns like Grand Island and Hastings are preparing Christmas-style wish lists of projects they'd like to undertake if new funding becomes available. It's no surprise that projects like wastewater treatment improvements and new bridges are among the items being listed. Popular Mechanics magazine says that water issues should be the top priority under any infrastructure plan. The need for funds just to comply with EPA regulations on stormwater and sanitary sewer separation is significant. Cities like Des Moines and Omaha are being told to spend on pump stations and sewer-separation gates, and in order to do so, they will either need to raise fees locally or rely upon assistance from the Federal government. Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:30:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/09/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2008/12/09/ A case can be made for a new infrastructure-investment program, though not as a short-term way to boost employment. Instead, infrastructure-investment projects are valuable as tools for ensuring that the rest of the economy can grow. Sewers and dams and bridges aren't particularly sexy, but they make it possible for the rest of the economy to function. Many Iowa towns still recovering from massive summertime flood damage can especially attest to the importance of having functional infrastructure investments in place. From sewage lift stations to clean-water booster stations to the gates that control flood waters, please feel free to contact us with your questions.