<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310</id><updated>2011-08-02T18:49:32.553-07:00</updated><category term='Pakistan'/><category term='H2Opportunity'/><category term='GAWP'/><category term='Funding'/><category term='conservation'/><category term='Award'/><category term='Infrastructure'/><category term='Safe Drinking Water'/><category term='Water Issues'/><category term='Jobs'/><category term='fertilizers'/><category term='college'/><category term='environment'/><category term='Spring Conference'/><category term='networking'/><category term='Environmental Engineering'/><category term='Miss Young Engineer in Training'/><category term='Flood'/><category term='Stockholm Junior Water Prize'/><category term='water wise'/><category term='job'/><category term='water'/><category term='organic lawn care'/><category term='Real Water Heroes'/><category term='Water Industry'/><category term='Water Lands First'/><category term='Water Professionals'/><category term='Storm water run-off'/><category term='Atlanta'/><category term='Scholarship'/><category term='water wastage'/><category term='Haiti'/><category term='career'/><category term='nutrient pollution'/><title type='text'>H2Opportunity</title><subtitle type='html'>The Georgia Association of Water Professionals has created an outreach program called H2Opportunity. The purpose of the H2Opportunity Program is to provide students in the state of Georgia with a renewed understanding of water issues within our state and highlight the benefits of a job in the water industry.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>21</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-8232388753730405088</id><published>2010-08-31T10:41:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-08-31T11:57:31.803-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Atlanta'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Flood'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Safe Drinking Water'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Pakistan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Water Professionals'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Infrastructure'/><title type='text'>What does it take to understand the benefits of safe water and wastewater system? Droughts, floods and famines?</title><content type='html'>Yesterday I found myself having one of those conversations that many in the water profession have.  We were talking about the privileges afforded to those of us who live in the United States and benefit from our extensive water and wastewater system.  I have to be candid I love those discussions.  I am one of those preachers of the Gospel of clean drinking water and sanitation.  There is a painting on my wall done by a co-worker depicting hundreds of India’s citizens drawing water from a near empty well with buckets.  I look at it frequently and think what an honor it is to do what we do.  &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;We were discussing the recent flooding tragedy in Pakistan and I was struck by the discussion, being not a quite a year from the floods that wreaked such havoc in Cobb, Douglas and Paulding Counties, I found the discussion illustrative of the differences in our countries.  The floods here were devastating; I was one of the fortunate.  My home was not affected, and I was not charged with the difficult task of speaking with our citizens who had seemingly lost everything.    I was fortunate to watch the technical skills, dedication, and technological advances we have put into action to avert a far greater tragedy than the loss of homes.  These professionals continued to provide safe drinking water and sanitation.  Yes, there were tragic effects; there were lives lost, there was massive property loss, and there were a few public advisories to boil water because systems had been washed out and compromised. The longest lasted 6 days.  We had wastewater treatment plants that went down or lost tertiary treatment, but plants were back on line in a week.  The amazing and largely unknown part of the floods was what did not happen.  As citizens fled the flood waters, water professionals remained at plants inundated with those same waters, were out running temporary services where lines had been washed out or making emergency repairs to ensure continued service.  Lastly, they deployed all the technical knowledge at our disposal with a level of dedication every citizen should know about to ensure that the foundation of our way of life, our water treatment and distribution system and wastewater treatment and conveyance systems, remained viable.   &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;It is often what we as American citizens do not know that would make the greatest impact.  Look at the reality and aftermath of the Pakistan floods.  We never had to call for 15 million water disinfection tablets and receive only 3 million.  We did not have to set up special medical centers to stem the outbreak of Cholera, a water-born disease.  Our citizens did not have to take to supply drop sites to find bottled water to slake their thirst.  &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;As a water professional I am often challenged by how we make the average citizen understand not the cost of water down to the penny of their bill, but the value of water to their very way of life.  Is the message in showing them what they don’t know?   The privileges they take for granted.  The talk we had yesterday went on for about a half an hour.  That means in the developing world 83 children died of water born diseases while we discussed the luxuries afforded to us by the water and wastewater profession in the US.  Do our citizens ever mark the time by thinking while I ate my lunch 166 children in the US grew, played, and went to school because of what water professionals do?  &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Kathy Nguyen&lt;br /&gt;Senior Project Manager&lt;br /&gt;Cobb County Water System&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-8232388753730405088?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/8232388753730405088/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=8232388753730405088' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/8232388753730405088'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/8232388753730405088'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-does-it-take-to-understand.html' title='What does it take to understand the benefits of safe water and wastewater system? Droughts, floods and famines?'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-3141103848168878119</id><published>2010-01-22T07:08:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-01-22T07:30:37.607-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Water Lands First'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Haiti'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Water Issues'/><title type='text'>Why Water? - A reminder in the Face of Tragedy</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/S1nEfgZ53XI/AAAAAAAAAGc/85-iwOp3eu4/s1600-h/Haiti_blog.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/S1nEfgZ53XI/AAAAAAAAAGc/85-iwOp3eu4/s320/Haiti_blog.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429586871325416818" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most of the citizens in the United States have been affected by the coverage of the devastation in Haiti resulting from the recent earthquake and aftershocks.  The loss is raw and devastating.  As a water provider I was struck by a recent article by the associated press on the relief recovery and staging at the Haiti Airport outside of Port Au Prince.  The article covers much of what anyone would expect.  The airport is not designed to accommodate the amount of air traffic arriving with medical aid and supplies, etc.  Within all the expected facts and figures on landings per hour, is a striking sentence and an important reminder for those who have chosen this profession.  The U.S. military coordinator, who has taken the role of relief air traffic controller, is discussing the priority landing schedule and simply says “planes carrying water and water purification land first.” &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This sentence was probably missed by most readers.  Those that noticed may even have thought, “well of course.  You can’t live without water.  We learned that in kindergarten.”  As an individual who chooses everyday to work in this field because of a deep sense of purpose, I sadly wonder how many of us who learned this years ago, live it today.  Haiti is an epic reminder of what the absence of water can mean (rioting in the street, desperation, violence, and even death) just some of what the Haitian people have suffered.  In the U.S. we have had glimpses of the importance of clean available water: severe droughts, recent floods, and Hurricane Katrina are just a few.  In the face of tragedy I believe people help and people learn what is really valuable.   The people of Haiti need water before medical supplies, before shelter, and even before food.  It is a good reminder for us to appreciate what we have as citizens of this country and it starts with and is built upon the water and wastewater treatment and conveyance infrastructure.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next time I am asked why I choose this profession I think the answer is simple “water lands first.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By: Kathy Nguyen, Cobb County - GA&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information on water issues in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake:&lt;br /&gt;http://www.medpagetoday.com/EmergencyMedicine/EmergencyMedicine/17997&lt;br /&gt;http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/haiti-earthquake-interview-100120&lt;br /&gt;http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/19117&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-3141103848168878119?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/3141103848168878119/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=3141103848168878119' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3141103848168878119'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3141103848168878119'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-water-reminder-in-face-of-tragedy.html' title='Why Water? - A reminder in the Face of Tragedy'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/S1nEfgZ53XI/AAAAAAAAAGc/85-iwOp3eu4/s72-c/Haiti_blog.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-5862791195637098692</id><published>2009-08-22T08:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-08-22T09:52:47.937-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='organic lawn care'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fertilizers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='environment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Storm water run-off'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nutrient pollution'/><title type='text'>What's it worth to have that 'chemically treated' lawn?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6160974"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 233px;" src="http://media.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2006/oct/pyrethroids/runoff400.jpg?t=1248630622" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt;   &lt;w:zoom&gt;0&lt;/w:Zoom&gt;   &lt;w:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;w:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;w:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;w:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/w:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;w:compatibility&gt;    &lt;w:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;w:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;w:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;w:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;w:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/w:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;w:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/w:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/w:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/w:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if !mso]&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"&gt;&lt;/object&gt; &lt;style&gt; st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;style&gt; &lt;!--  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal  {mso-style-parent:"";  margin:0in;  margin-bottom:.0001pt;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:12.0pt;  font-family:"Times New Roman";  mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink  {color:blue;  text-decoration:underline;  text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed  {color:#606420;  text-decoration:underline;  text-underline:single;} p  {mso-margin-top-alt:auto;  margin-right:0in;  mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;  margin-left:0in;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:12.0pt;  font-family:"Times New Roman";  mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.EmailStyle16  {mso-style-type:personal;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;  mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;  font-family:Arial;  mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;  mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;  mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;  color:windowtext;} @page Section1  {size:8.5in 11.0in;  margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;  mso-header-margin:.5in;  mso-footer-margin:.5in;  mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1  {page:Section1;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable  {mso-style-name:"Table Normal";  mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;  mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-style-parent:"";  mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;  mso-para-margin:0in;  mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:10.0pt;  font-family:"Times New Roman";  mso-ansi-language:#0400;  mso-fareast-language:#0400;  mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Who doesn't like a beautiful weed-free lawn in their front yard? &lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;u1:worddocument&gt;   &lt;u1:view&gt;Normal&lt;/u1:View&gt;   &lt;u1:zoom&gt;0&lt;/u1:Zoom&gt;   &lt;u1:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;u1:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;u1:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/u1:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;u1:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/u1:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;u1:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/u1:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;u1:compatibility&gt;    &lt;u1:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;u1:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;u1:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;u1:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;u1:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/u1:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;u1:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/u1:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/u1:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;u2:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/u2:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;We believe an attractive lawn earns us the approval of our neighbors. Dave Barry, the syndicated columnist said, “The average American home owner would rather live next to a pervert, heroin addict or communist pornographer than someone with an un kempt lawn.” &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;But the question is what is it worth to have that ‘chemically treated’ lawn or how large a price will we continue to pay for our manicured green carpets?&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;As Americans, we spend $40 billion per year caring for our turf and lawns- that’s ten times more than is spent on school textbooks! But it smells so good when it’s cut, it’s so pleasant to look at, it’s fun to roll and run on, it’s alive, it’s green and natural. Botanically speaking, a lawn is far from natural. Turf grass is a monoculture, developed to suppress, and out-compete all other species that would normally germinate in its place. If you choose to plant and maintain turf grass, you are essentially eliminating diversity in your home garden.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Well, I will keep the biological diversity issue for some later discussion but let’s focus on the nutrients and fertilizers that we have been applying to our lawns. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Did you know that : &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;The hazardous lawn chemicals are drifting into our homes where they contaminate indoor air and surfaces, exposing children at levels ten times higher than pre-application levels. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Of &lt;a href="http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/30health.pdf"&gt;30 commonly used lawn pesticides&lt;/a&gt;, 19 are linked with cancer or carcinogencity, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 15 with neurotoxicity, and 11 with disruption of the endocrine (hormonal) system. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Of those same &lt;a href="http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/30enviro.pdf"&gt;30 lawn pesticides&lt;/a&gt;, 17 are detected in groundwater, 23 have the ability to leach into drinking water sources, 24 are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms vital to our ecosystem, 11 are toxic to bees, and 16 are toxic to birds. With numbers like this, the only logical question becomes: is this really necessary and what can we do to stop or prevent this kind of contamination?&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Some 100 million pounds of pesticides are used by homeowners in homes and gardens each year, even more when commercial companies are added in. Suburban lawns and gardens are known to receive far heavier pesticide applications per acre than most other land areas in the &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;U.S.&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;, including agricultural areas. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;As far as I remember, storm water run-off from non-point sources (such as farms, residential lawns) contribute to anywhere from 60 to 80% of the nutrient loading in our streams. How? It is as simple as rain falling on the chemically treated and overly fertilized lawn and running down the roadside gutter to the nearest creek. Big rain events result in major nutrient and chemical ‘shock’ to the urban creeks and streams and result is really worrisome. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;The world is rapidly changing and with it are perspectives on the use of toxic lawn chemicals and the hazards they pose to our children, families, neighbors, wildlife, and drinking water sources? &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;I am NOT advocating against having a lawn or a green yard. Rather, they are important from preventing soil erosion. What I am advocating is putting a simple thought behind the ‘routine’ practices. Educate our selves and be more responsible about our actions for preserving our environment and be responsible for sustainable future for us and coming generations.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Resources are out there to help you out. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Mulching, planting native plants and shrubs, customizing the fertilizers per your soil / garden’s needs rather than blindly applying fertilizers, going ‘organic’ route for weed control and fertilizing are just a few simple ways to have environmentally friendly lawns.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;In most cases, doing ‘the right thing’ is economical is the long run and may be even short run. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Just give it a careful thought!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;Good resources for additional information are:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.organiclawncare101.com/"&gt;Organiclawncare101&lt;/a&gt;  and  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;a href="http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/organic/2004020829016580.html"&gt;Organic Lawn Care FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Links to the resources from which I received information for this post:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/797&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;http://www.ghorganics.com/Refuse%20to%20Use%20Lawn%20Chemicals.htm&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;http://www.losethelawn.com/lose_lawn_article.php&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Below are some additional resources to go ‘organic’ and have sustainable and environmentally friendly yard!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;a href="http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/organic/2004020829016580.html"&gt;Organic Lawn Care FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;http://www.ghorganics.com/products_currently_available.htm&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;http://www.ghlp.org/tips.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" &gt;http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Additional Information on this subject can be found at:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" &gt;http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/AppendixE.pdf&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG2923.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;http://www.westchestergov.com/HEALTH/JustSayLawnChemicals.htm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" &gt;http://www.yougrowgirl.com/lawns_gardens_convert.php&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"  &gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-5862791195637098692?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/5862791195637098692/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=5862791195637098692' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5862791195637098692'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5862791195637098692'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2009/08/whats-it-worth-to-have-that-chemically.html' title='What&apos;s it worth to have that &apos;chemically treated&apos; lawn?'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-8419304349070797320</id><published>2009-07-24T10:23:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-07-24T10:26:58.041-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='conservation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='water wise'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='water wastage'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='water'/><title type='text'>Let's have a debate....who is using that water?</title><content type='html'>So, I was on the flight back to Atlanta and started chatting with the person traveling next to me. His name was Jay and he was a project manager for a software consulting firm.&lt;br /&gt;Somehow our discussion on 'consulting' turned to 'water issues' in general.&lt;br /&gt;I was amazed how many very interesting topics we touched on....each one of them worthy of having a debate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am hoping to pose these questions and issues to the readers of this blog and I am inviting you to have a dialogue or at least express your opinion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First on the list is - Who is using that water?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jay mentioned to me that he recently moved to a community where he did not receive any water bill. Water and sewer charges were included as part of the HOA (Home Owners Association) fees.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At first, this sounds great.....no water bill! How wonderful...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Think about it for a moment and the picture becomes clear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although, there were no individual water meters on homes, the 75-home community had one common water meter and water bill was evenly distributed to all residents. Cost of the water and equivalent sewer bills were included as part of the HOA payment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I asked him...&lt;br /&gt;Does everyone in your community have a lush green yard?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The obvious answer was Yes. Beautiful lawns.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Second question, how many people do you have in your house and how about the next five houses on your street?&lt;br /&gt;Jay said - we are two but our neighbors on both sides have three kids.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And sure enough....he got the gist of where I was going with these questions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The point is....with such arrangements, people don't have any incentive to value water. Why would someone fix their leaky toilet at home? Fixing it might cost them close to $100 versus letting it run and the let everyone in the neighborhood pick up the tab for the water wastage.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What about an underground leak on the pipe within the neighborhood? No one would see if, no one would feel it (in form of water bill) - it will never get fixed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jay understood the issue very well and did make a note to bring this up in the next HOA meeting. Although, water is not a significant component of the HOA fees right now, it could and I would say....it would in a near future if the community continues to operate this way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He has quiet a few uphill battles to fight still. Installing a water heater on every home is a significant upfront cost. In some cases, water utilities / providers will charge anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 to tap the line and install a new water meter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, who would pay such upfront cost?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A lot of the water utilities (providers) have water conservation plans.&lt;br /&gt;However, my hunch is the water utility may not want to play ball in this case.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Installing water meters on individual homes will eventually lead to lesser water consumption. Less water they sell, less money they make. Every utility is virtually hurting for revenues and unless they increase the water / sewer rates.....they can't make up for the deficit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The other side of the question is - why would any utility (water provider) even allow such development?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whose responsibility is it to promote 'water-wise' development? How do you think this issue can be resolved?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Back to the bigger issue here...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Atlanta has very limited resources and water being the number one in my list. We are paying far too less for water to be thinking about it and preserving it. Drought of last three years had brought much needed attention to the value of water but......we are back to the 'same - old - habits' after the good rain in the spring this year.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-8419304349070797320?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/8419304349070797320/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=8419304349070797320' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/8419304349070797320'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/8419304349070797320'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2009/07/lets-have-debatewho-is-using-that-water.html' title='Let&apos;s have a debate....who is using that water?'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-5674486811963785936</id><published>2009-06-14T14:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-06-14T15:11:34.121-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Environmental Engineering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Miss Young Engineer in Training'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Water Industry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='GAWP'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Real Water Heroes'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jobs'/><title type='text'>Real Water Heroes - Ms. Young Engineer in Training</title><content type='html'>H2Opportunity program started a campaign to bring the REAL WATER HEROES in the lime light! With the official roll out of the H2Opportunity program in Fall 2008, animations paying tributes to 'real water heroes' were created.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A tribute to the 'Miss Young Engineer in Training' - one of the real water heroes - is posted here.&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="365" height="303" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-63ceb0e52acdab41" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/get_player"&gt;&lt;param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="flvurl=http://v3.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D63ceb0e52acdab41%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1331278862%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D50CD73AC894187B000726268F3D6291AC601A57.52FA8857F8A4D967C15451308A544140A5867B00%26key%3Dck1&amp;amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D63ceb0e52acdab41%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DDxncBXjdnMXU9RiWChQ9lcM_9IQ&amp;amp;autoplay=0&amp;amp;ps=blogger"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/get_player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"width="365" height="303" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v3.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D63ceb0e52acdab41%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1331278862%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D50CD73AC894187B000726268F3D6291AC601A57.52FA8857F8A4D967C15451308A544140A5867B00%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D63ceb0e52acdab41%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DDxncBXjdnMXU9RiWChQ9lcM_9IQ&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More 'Real Water Heroes' videos will be posted soon, so stay tuned and come back and visit us.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-5674486811963785936?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='enclosure' type='video/mp4' href='http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=63ceb0e52acdab41&amp;type=video%2Fmp4' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/5674486811963785936/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=5674486811963785936' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5674486811963785936'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5674486811963785936'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2009/06/real-water-heroes-ms-young-engineer-in.html' title='Real Water Heroes - Ms. Young Engineer in Training'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-315677776688292713</id><published>2009-03-23T12:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-23T12:41:00.100-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='college'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spring Conference'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='job'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='career'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='networking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='H2Opportunity'/><title type='text'>Surviving the Economic Drought</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/ScflZfQ95bI/AAAAAAAAAC8/GQFv2bDlue0/s1600-h/Surviving+the+Economic+Drought_GAWP+Spring+2009.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/ScflZfQ95bI/AAAAAAAAAC8/GQFv2bDlue0/s400/Surviving+the+Economic+Drought_GAWP+Spring+2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316470111186314674" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"&gt;&lt;link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Cashah%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C02%5Cclip_filelist.xml"&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"&gt;&lt;/o:smarttagtype&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:worddocument&gt;   &lt;w:view&gt;Normal&lt;/w:View&gt;   &lt;w:zoom&gt;0&lt;/w:Zoom&gt;   &lt;w:punctuationkerning/&gt;   &lt;w:validateagainstschemas/&gt;   &lt;w:saveifxmlinvalid&gt;false&lt;/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid&gt;   &lt;w:ignoremixedcontent&gt;false&lt;/w:IgnoreMixedContent&gt;   &lt;w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext&gt;false&lt;/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText&gt;   &lt;w:compatibility&gt;    &lt;w:breakwrappedtables/&gt;    &lt;w:snaptogridincell/&gt;    &lt;w:wraptextwithpunct/&gt;    &lt;w:useasianbreakrules/&gt;    &lt;w:dontgrowautofit/&gt;   &lt;/w:Compatibility&gt;   &lt;w:browserlevel&gt;MicrosoftInternetExplorer4&lt;/w:BrowserLevel&gt;  &lt;/w:WordDocument&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;&lt;xml&gt;  &lt;w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"&gt;  &lt;/w:LatentStyles&gt; &lt;/xml&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;!--[if !mso]&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"&gt;&lt;/object&gt; &lt;style&gt; st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;style&gt; &lt;!--  /* Font Definitions */  @font-face 	{font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; 	panose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; 	mso-font-charset:0; 	mso-generic-font-family:script; 	mso-font-pitch:variable; 	mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.EmailStyle15 	{mso-style-type:personal; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; 	mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; 	font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; 	mso-ascii-font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; 	mso-hansi-font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; 	mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; 	color:windowtext;} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;} --&gt; &lt;/style&gt;&lt;!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; &lt;style&gt;  /* Style Definitions */  table.MsoNormalTable 	{mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; 	mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; 	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; 	mso-style-noshow:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; 	mso-para-margin:0in; 	mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:10.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-ansi-language:#0400; 	mso-fareast-language:#0400; 	mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;/style&gt; &lt;![endif]--&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;GAWP is planning to host a special student networking event at the Spring Conference in &lt;st1:city st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:city st="on"&gt;Macon&lt;/st1:city&gt;, &lt;st1:state st="on"&gt;GA.&lt;/st1:state&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt; This event is hosted as part of the H2Opportunity program and themed as 'Surviving the Economic Drought'&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:city&gt;During this special session we will discuss the outlook for the water industry, the future of a career in the water profession and provide an opportunity for students to network with professionals.   Session is planned for Tuesday, April 14&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; from 1:00 – 2:30 pm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Industry experts from all segments (consulting, utilities, academia, etc) will be present at this session. Students and Young Professionals will be able to ask direct questions and get career guidance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;st1:city style="font-family: arial;" face="arial" st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:city&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;The fee for students is $ 25 and will include:  Tuesday registration at the Spring conference, lunch, etc.  See the attached flyer. Students are also encouraged to bring their resume along to get posted on the bulletin board as well as on the H2Opportunity website.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:&amp;quot;;" &gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-315677776688292713?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/315677776688292713/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=315677776688292713' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/315677776688292713'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/315677776688292713'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2009/03/surviving-economic-drought.html' title='Surviving the Economic Drought'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/ScflZfQ95bI/AAAAAAAAAC8/GQFv2bDlue0/s72-c/Surviving+the+Economic+Drought_GAWP+Spring+2009.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-3237279362802687792</id><published>2009-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-11T08:05:42.522-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Scholarship'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Funding'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='H2Opportunity'/><title type='text'>GAWP Scholarships and you!</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;With current state of economy and market conditions, a lot more people are going back to school to get further educations and students are taking longer to graduate. School enrollments are approaching new highs. However, with dwindling funds, the school endowments are also dropping fast. Research grants have been cut back and a very few students are getting assistantships or funding.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In such tough times, students' should seek various innovative ways to get the funding for their education.&lt;br /&gt;One such way is to get a 'scholarship'. Some of the scholarships may not be significant in amount, but in a tough economic drought, every drop counts!&lt;?xml:namespace prefix = o /&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;GAWP offers a variety of scholarships to full time students. A list of available scholarships is provided below:&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;• GAWP’s Undergraduate Scholarship &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;• GAWP’s Frontline Undergraduate Scholarship &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;• GAWP’s Graduate Scholarship &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;• GAWP’s H2Opportunity Undergraduate Scholarship &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;• William J. Green Hr. Scholarship Fund &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;• Philip R. Karr, III Scholarship Fund &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;•Scholarships from Gerogia Section of AWWA (two). &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;A lot of these scholarships have potential for continuation/extension for a second year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;For scholarship information and eligibility criteria &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gawp.org/pdf/EligibilityRequirements-Scholarships2009.pdf" target="_parent"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;http://www.gawp.org/pdf/EligibilityRequirements-Scholarships2009.pdf&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt; &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;For Scholarship application forms &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gawp.org/pdf/Application-Scholarships2009.pdf" target="_parent"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;http://www.gawp.org/pdf/Application-Scholarships2009.pdf&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt; &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Deadline for submitting applications is &lt;u&gt;February 28th 2009&lt;/u&gt;. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;So, act soon and take your best shot!!&lt;br /&gt;Good luck!&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-3237279362802687792?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/3237279362802687792/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=3237279362802687792' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3237279362802687792'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3237279362802687792'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2009/02/gawp-scholarships-and-you.html' title='GAWP Scholarships and you!'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-449657427513402092</id><published>2009-01-21T18:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-21T19:50:32.029-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Award'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Stockholm Junior Water Prize'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='H2Opportunity'/><title type='text'>U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SXfsbHKg5EI/AAAAAAAAACk/PUruZ3_TZLg/s1600-h/sjwp_trophy_lowres.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 264px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SXfsbHKg5EI/AAAAAAAAACk/PUruZ3_TZLg/s320/sjwp_trophy_lowres.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293959837521077314" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id="Radeditorplaceholdercontrol1"&gt;The International Stockholm Junior Water Prize is world's most prestigious youth award for a water-related science project. The prize taps into the unlimited potential of today's high school students as they seek to address current and future water challenges.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The international Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition brings together the world’s brightest young scientists to encourage their continued interest in water and the environment. Each year, thousands of participants in over 30 countries join national competitions for the chance to represent their nation at the international final held during the World Water Week in Stockholm. During their time in Stockholm, winners of the national competitions receive an opportunity to meet and learn from the present leaders of the global water community and make life-long friendships with international compatriots who share a passion for water and science.  &lt;p&gt;The national and international competitions are open to young people between the age of 15 and 20 who have conducted water-related projects focusing on local, regional, national or global topics of environmental, scientific, social or technological importance. The international winner receives a USD 5,000 award and a crystal sculpture. As a result of the competitions, thousands of young people around the world become interested in water.&lt;/p&gt;Last year, &lt;span id="Radeditorplaceholdercontrol1"&gt;Joyce Chai of United States went on to win the US as well as International Stockholm Junior Prize. More information on her winning research can be found at&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wef.org/NewsCenter/SJWP+News.htm"&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If Joyce can, then so can you and kids around you!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information, be sure to check out these links:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.siwi.org/sa/node.asp?node=75"&gt;Stockholm International Water Institute&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.worldwaterweek.org/prizesandawards/stockholmjuniorwaterprize.asp"&gt;Stockholm Junior Water Prize&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(anup)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-449657427513402092?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/449657427513402092/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=449657427513402092' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/449657427513402092'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/449657427513402092'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2009/01/us-stockholm-junior-water-prize.html' title='U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SXfsbHKg5EI/AAAAAAAAACk/PUruZ3_TZLg/s72-c/sjwp_trophy_lowres.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-5186041823937330649</id><published>2008-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-12T11:36:18.298-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Wednesday, November 12th</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuYoOcM3I/AAAAAAAAABM/ZtXKUp-Pqrk/s1600-h/IMG_2915.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuYoOcM3I/AAAAAAAAABM/ZtXKUp-Pqrk/s320/IMG_2915.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267855189789651826" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Dr. Mao (SWARTA), Mohammed Dahab (University of Nebraska) and Ken Kirk (national Association of Clean Water Agencies)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are meetinng with Dr. Mao Wei De today.  He is the Secretary- General of the Shanghai Water Reclamation Trade Association (SWARTA).  It was founded in 2005 and acts as kind of a mediator (for water/ wastewater issues) between the government and businesses- similar to GAWP or WEF.  Dr. Mao was great fun and gave us a history of wastewater in Shanghai.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuY00tYsI/AAAAAAAAABU/lU8GXpuqUNI/s1600-h/Shanghai.JPG"&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuY00tYsI/AAAAAAAAABU/lU8GXpuqUNI/s320/Shanghai.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267855193171387074" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;(Waterfront in Shanghai at the "Bund"- notice the floating billboard)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Currently 75% of the city's wastewater is treated and they hope to reach the goal of 80% by 2010.   The Chinese government will invest the equivalent of $ 7 billion dollars in the next 3 years to improve water source protection.  They have come a long way but still have a long way to go in protecting the public health of the people and protecting their environment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuZQ3l9cI/AAAAAAAAABc/vmnWFGW6zR0/s1600-h/Manhole.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuZQ3l9cI/AAAAAAAAABc/vmnWFGW6zR0/s320/Manhole.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267855200699676098" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-5186041823937330649?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/5186041823937330649/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=5186041823937330649' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5186041823937330649'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5186041823937330649'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/wednesday-november-12th.html' title='Wednesday, November 12th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRsuYoOcM3I/AAAAAAAAABM/ZtXKUp-Pqrk/s72-c/IMG_2915.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-3381518626657481158</id><published>2008-11-11T07:18:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-11T07:18:27.968-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Tuesday, November 11th</title><content type='html'>I have to say that I am disappointed that we are leaving Guilin today.  Before we leave for the airport, I run out to the waterfront area of the Li River and watch the locals perform their morning exercise of Tai Chi.  It is awesome!  We are off to the big city of Shanghai!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-3381518626657481158?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/3381518626657481158/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=3381518626657481158' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3381518626657481158'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3381518626657481158'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/tuesday-november-11th.html' title='Tuesday, November 11th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-3188641550265651069</id><published>2008-11-11T07:17:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-11T07:17:55.613-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Monday, November 10th</title><content type='html'>Today we visit the Guilin Water System Construction and Development Company, Ltd.  They share with us a project to connect the 2 rivers (Li &amp;amp; Peach Blossom Rivers) with 4 lakes (Rong, Shan, Gui &amp;amp; Mulong Lakes).  The purpose of the project was to improve the water quality of the lakes and to beautify the city to increase tourism.  It was quite astonishing to think a project of this scale, that displaced over 3,000 residents and multiple industries, separated combined  sewer and added additional wastewater mains, was completed in less than 3 years.  We took a tour of the river/ lake system and it was really beautiful.  I can see why this area has a successful tourism industry.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-3188641550265651069?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/3188641550265651069/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=3188641550265651069' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3188641550265651069'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/3188641550265651069'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/monday-november-10th.html' title='Monday, November 10th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-5280291866062378928</id><published>2008-11-11T06:54:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-11T07:24:34.413-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Sunday, November 9th</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRmjQPDrFTI/AAAAAAAAABE/ywhCuAoHx6g/s1600-h/IMG_2650.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRmjQPDrFTI/AAAAAAAAABE/ywhCuAoHx6g/s320/IMG_2650.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267420738501678386" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today we take a cruise down the Li River.  This area is such a contrast to the ocean of skyscrapers we experienced in Beijing.  As we cruise down the river, we see all kinds of agriculture, villages and fishermen.  On the way back to town we stop at a local village where we see farmers harvesting crops next to the river and a newly married couple taking pictures in the fields.  What great timing!&lt;br /&gt;More photos to come...&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRmduNMDhfI/AAAAAAAAAA8/KujSa6K3a-8/s1600-h/IMG_2094.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 141px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRmduNMDhfI/AAAAAAAAAA8/KujSa6K3a-8/s320/IMG_2094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267414656326272498" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyways, as it turns out in China, the tap water and drinking water are different.  I am trying to find out what is the difference but the information does not seem to be forth coming....something to ponder upon..&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-5280291866062378928?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/5280291866062378928/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=5280291866062378928' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5280291866062378928'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/5280291866062378928'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/sunday-november-9th.html' title='Sunday, November 9th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRmjQPDrFTI/AAAAAAAAABE/ywhCuAoHx6g/s72-c/IMG_2650.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-145783330473917849</id><published>2008-11-11T06:51:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-11T06:52:06.272-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Saturday, November 8th</title><content type='html'>We travel from Beijing to Guilin, which is located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the southern part of the country.  This area is one of the most popular vacation destinations for the Chinese people.  It is a green and lush region with the convergence of two rivers (the Li &amp;amp; Peach Blossom Rivers) adjacent to four lakes (the Wooden Dragon Lake, Gui Lake, Rong Lake and Shan Lake).  The limestone karst hills give a dramatic background to this region&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-145783330473917849?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/145783330473917849/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=145783330473917849' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/145783330473917849'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/145783330473917849'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-november-8th.html' title='Saturday, November 8th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-1996550764834975570</id><published>2008-11-10T07:52:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-10T07:53:43.138-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Friday, November 7th</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRhZAiLHuBI/AAAAAAAAAA0/cQYs5fmiXS4/s1600-h/IMG_2390.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRhZAiLHuBI/AAAAAAAAAA0/cQYs5fmiXS4/s320/IMG_2390.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267057629918115858" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today is a "cultural day" so we get to see some of the sites of Beijing.  We spend most of the morning at Tian'anmen Square, a special gathering place for the people of China (as well as the site of the student protest in he early 90's).  Next to the Square we walk to the Forbidden City, the imperial palace for 600 years.  This is an incredible piece of history that reminds me how young our history as Americans really is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have been eagerly awaiting our visit to the Great Wall.  When we arrive, we only have about 2 hours so my husband and I huff and groan as we the climb randomly spaced stairs up 2,500 feet of elevation change.  I can't find the words to describe how awesome the wall is.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-1996550764834975570?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/1996550764834975570/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=1996550764834975570' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/1996550764834975570'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/1996550764834975570'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/friday-november-7th.html' title='Friday, November 7th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRhZAiLHuBI/AAAAAAAAAA0/cQYs5fmiXS4/s72-c/IMG_2390.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-4560175459592435656</id><published>2008-11-10T07:49:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-10T07:52:00.138-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Thursday, November 6th</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRhYboAec5I/AAAAAAAAAAs/nbfjT6NDFqc/s1600-h/IMG_2143.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRhYboAec5I/AAAAAAAAAAs/nbfjT6NDFqc/s320/IMG_2143.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267056995828921234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This morning we visited the Gaobeidian Wastewater Treatment Plant.  It is the largest treatment plat in China with a capacity of 1 million cubic meters per day.  There are 9 WWTP in Beijing, with a combined capacity of 2.54 million cubic meters per day.  Approximately 53% of the plant's effluent is reused through irrigation, cooling towers, car wash, etc.  Bio-gas power generated through methane gas from sludge digestion supplies 25% of the plant's energy needs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the afternoon, we went to a hutong village, which is a traditional type of community housing, and met with staff from the Global Village Beijing.  We heard from several volunteers including journalist, Wang Yongchan, who spoke with us about the environmental struggles China faces with their water caused by pollution, development and global warming.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-4560175459592435656?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/4560175459592435656/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=4560175459592435656' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/4560175459592435656'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/4560175459592435656'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/thursday-november-6th.html' title='Thursday, November 6th'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRhYboAec5I/AAAAAAAAAAs/nbfjT6NDFqc/s72-c/IMG_2143.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-521049770405745523</id><published>2008-11-06T14:27:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-06T14:31:45.312-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Wednesday, Nov 5th (Afternoon)</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRNv2Ji0UsI/AAAAAAAAAAk/akWnQS_114Q/s1600-h/China1+002.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRNv2Ji0UsI/AAAAAAAAAAk/akWnQS_114Q/s320/China1+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265675365391815362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This afternoon we met with staff &amp;amp; students from the Dept of Environnmental Science &amp;amp; Engineering (DESE)at Tsinghua University.  This is the first dept establsihed in China dedicated to the research of environmental problems. (www.env.tsinghua.edu.cn)  We had a great exchange of information about industrial waste, regulations and economic growth. China has seen such an incredible economic boom with industry in the past 15 years.  But much like the U.S. in the 1960's, the emphasis seems to be on the economics and not on the environmental impact.  Dr. George Wong Chog, one of our delegates from North Carolina, gave a powerful declaration as he does not want China to make the see environmental mistakes that we made prior to the Clean Water Act.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the photo above are Professor Zhang Xiaojian from the DESE and our delgation leader, Dr. Mohamed Dahab from our meeting with the University faculty and students.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The discussion with the delegation seem to consistently come around to enforcement of regulation.  There are government regulations on industrial disharge here, however enforcement seems to be a primary issue.  There is a disconnect between the local officials and the central government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BTW, I spoke to a student afterward and put a plug in for GA Tech for a studet looking to come to the states for Environmental Studies.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-521049770405745523?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/521049770405745523/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=521049770405745523' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/521049770405745523'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/521049770405745523'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/wednesday-nov-5th-afternoon.html' title='Wednesday, Nov 5th (Afternoon)'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRNv2Ji0UsI/AAAAAAAAAAk/akWnQS_114Q/s72-c/China1+002.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-7395726422226946839</id><published>2008-11-06T07:04:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-06T07:07:20.550-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Settling down with other water loving professionals...</title><content type='html'>Wednesday, November 5th&lt;br /&gt;Today we had our first in country briefing and met all of the delegates from the States.  There are 40 Water Professionals and 18 guests.  The professionals represent 29 States and a variety of backgrounds from Engineer to Operator to Activist.  We have a diverse group and you can feel the excitement for our journey the next 10 days and a shared love for our profession in the water industry.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-7395726422226946839?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/7395726422226946839/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=7395726422226946839' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/7395726422226946839'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/7395726422226946839'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/settling-down-with-other-water-loving.html' title='Settling down with other water loving professionals...'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-6157223019076598875</id><published>2008-11-06T07:01:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-06T07:04:36.911-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Enroute to China</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRMHc7BIHSI/AAAAAAAAAAc/xd3WvGe2958/s1600-h/China1+001.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 165px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRMHc7BIHSI/AAAAAAAAAAc/xd3WvGe2958/s320/China1+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265560582786391330" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monday, November 3rd - Tuesday, November 4th We left Los Angeles at 12:00 am on Monday morning.  Our plane had to make a stop in Korea to refuel due to strong head winds.  I am fine with that.. running out of fuel would not make for a good flight!  However, this stop caused us to miss our connecting flight so we had a 6 hour layover in Hong Kong. By the time we made it to Beijing, it had taken us 26 hours of continuous travel.  We were exhausted and passed out once we finally made it to the room.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-6157223019076598875?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/6157223019076598875/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=6157223019076598875' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/6157223019076598875'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/6157223019076598875'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/11/enroute-to-china.html' title='Enroute to China'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SRMHc7BIHSI/AAAAAAAAAAc/xd3WvGe2958/s72-c/China1+001.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-695516881569307590</id><published>2008-10-30T15:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-12T12:55:02.191-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Kim's Tour Diary from China</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SQoJ_QXr6LI/AAAAAAAAAAM/MAzQ6QvtMJc/s1600-h/great-wall.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SQoJ_QXr6LI/AAAAAAAAAAM/MAzQ6QvtMJc/s320/great-wall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263030096866568370" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;                           &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Global Water Environment Professional Delegation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;                           to The People’s Republic of China&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;                                                                                                                                                              &lt;table style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" id="table2" border="0" bordercolor="#111111" cellpadding="2" width="100%" height="266"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;                           &lt;td style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; padding-bottom: 10px;" width="100%" height="39"&gt;                            &lt;p align="center"&gt;                             Delegation Leader: Mohamed F. Dahab, PhD, PE, BCEE&lt;br /&gt;    &lt;em&gt;2006-2007 President, Water Environment Federation&lt;/em&gt;          &lt;/p&gt;            &lt;p align="center"&gt;            Program Dates: November 2 - 14, 2008          &lt;/p&gt;                                    &lt;/td&gt;                         &lt;/tr&gt;                         &lt;tr&gt;                           &lt;td   style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" width="100%" height="38"&gt;                           &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;A delegation of professionals specializing in water environments has been selected to participate in bilateral exchanges with their professional counterparts in China, under the auspices of People to People Ambassador Programs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Our very own Kim Holland will be traveling to China as part of the People to People program. Kim would use this blog to document her tour journal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information check out this link:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.ambassadorprograms.org/upcomingprograms/science_tech/dahab-mohamed_11-2008.asp"&gt;People to People Program&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We would also like introduce the 'Ask Kim' feature. You can email and submit any questions related to water policies and practices in China to Kim (h2opportunity@gmail.com) and Kim would try her best to get the answers for you. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ashah/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ashah/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-695516881569307590?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/695516881569307590/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=695516881569307590' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/695516881569307590'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/695516881569307590'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/10/kims-tour-diary-from-china-day-1.html' title='Kim&apos;s Tour Diary from China'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SQoJ_QXr6LI/AAAAAAAAAAM/MAzQ6QvtMJc/s72-c/great-wall.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-2153114740868973936</id><published>2008-10-30T14:49:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-12T12:54:29.400-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Keep Blogging for H2Opportunities</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;For so many years, we –  the water industry professionals – have been quietly doing our job in the  background and keeping clean water flowing through our taps and rivers. Now, it  is our time to bring our profession to the limelight and much needed focus to  this industry to attract new talent. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;The Georgia Association of  Water Professionals’ outreach program - H2Opportunity – is meant to do just  that. The purpose of the H2Opportunity Program is to provide students in the  state of &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;Georgia&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt; with a renewed understanding  of water issues within our state and highlight the benefits of a job in the  water industry. There are many positive aspects to a career in the water  industry such as job availability, job stability, health care and retirement  benefits which need to be highlighted. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;As part of H2Opportunity  program, we have created an online blog to document &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;YOUR&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt; H2Opportunities.  We welcome your  thoughts, ideas, articles and industry related experiences for the  H2Opportunities blog. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Symbol;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;¨&lt;span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:'Times New Roman';" &gt;        &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;What attracted you to this  industry? or &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Symbol;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;¨&lt;span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:'Times New Roman';" &gt;        &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;How did you get the first  job in the water / environment business? or &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Symbol;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;¨&lt;span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:'Times New Roman';" &gt;        &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;You thoughts on the  current water issues or the drivers that keeps your job / work in this industry  interesting.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;We would love to hear from  you. Please send an email to &lt;a title="mailto:h2opportunity@gmail.com blocked::mailto:h2opportunity@gmail.com" href="mailto:h2opportunity@gmail.com"&gt;&lt;span title="mailto:h2opportunity@gmail.com"  style="color:black;"&gt;&lt;span title="mailto:h2opportunity@gmail.com" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;h2opportunity@gmail.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; with your  posts and we will publish them to the Blog. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;&lt;a title="http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/" href="http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tbody&gt; &lt;tr style="height: 28.5pt;" height="38"&gt; &lt;td style="padding: 1.5pt; width: 100%; height: 28.5pt;" width="100%" height="38"&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;To kick things off, we  have Kim Holland doing the ‘journalistic reporting’ on her H2Opportunities from  &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;China&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;A delegation of  professionals specializing in water environments has been selected to  participate in bilateral exchanges with their professional counterparts in  &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;China&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;, under the auspices of People  to People Ambassador Programs.  Our very own Kim Holland has travelled to  &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;China&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt; as part of this program. Kim  has been documenting this ‘H2Opportunity’ using this blog. If you’re curious  about Kim’s travel and &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;China&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;’s water policies then you can  check out the H2Opportunity Blog at &lt;a title="http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/ blocked::http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/" href="http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;span title="http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/"  style="color:black;"&gt;&lt;span title="http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;Please take an active role  in this initiative to share ideas and stories on why you and so many other  individuals are passionate about this industry and what is so unique about it.  &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Comic Sans MS;font-size:85%;"  &gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Comic Sans MS';"&gt;Help us spread the word  and Keep blogging away for the future of our industry&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-2153114740868973936?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/2153114740868973936/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=2153114740868973936' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/2153114740868973936'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/2153114740868973936'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post.html' title='Keep Blogging for H2Opportunities'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8718795021283645310.post-2851154686932672592</id><published>2008-10-30T11:59:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:44:47.438-07:00</updated><title type='text'>H2Opportunity</title><content type='html'>&lt;img src="http://www.h2opportunity.net/images/aboutus.gif" alt="About Us/Our Mission" width="349" height="60" /&gt;        &lt;table border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="7" width="682"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;       &lt;td colspan="2"&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;  &lt;a href="http://gawp.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.h2opportunity.net/images/gawplogo.jpg" alt="GAWP" align="left" border="0" width="215" height="99" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP) is a not-for-profit professional Association founded in 1932 and has grown into a membership of well over 5,000 operators, owners, contractors, manufacturers' representatives, engineers, elected officials, industry representatives and others concerned with Georgia's water resources. GAWP is dedicated to exceptional professional education, dissemination of sound technical principles and scientific information, increased public understanding, and promotion of valid public laws and programs. Our chief purpose is to assist those who have an interest in water, wastewater, and related topics in the State of Georgia. For more information, go to our website: www.gawp.org&lt;br /&gt;     &lt;br /&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;         &lt;p align="left"&gt;The Georgia Association of Water Professionals has created an outreach program called H2Opportunity. The purpose of the H2Opportunity Program is to provide students in the state of Georgia with a renewed understanding of water issues within our state and highlight the benefits of a job in the water industry. There are many positive aspects to a career in the water industry such as job availability, job stability, health care and retirement benefits. You should also know that with a career in the water industry you achieve a level of personal satisfaction because:&lt;br /&gt;         &lt;br /&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;       &lt;/tr&gt;     &lt;tr&gt;       &lt;td valign="top" width="18%"&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.h2opportunity.net/images/arrow.gif" alt="Protecting and Preserving" width="8" height="13" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;       &lt;td width="82%"&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;         &lt;h3&gt;As a professional in the water industry, you will be directly involved in protecting and preserving the health of your local community and environment&lt;br /&gt;               &lt;/h3&gt;       &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;     &lt;/tr&gt;     &lt;tr&gt;       &lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.h2opportunity.net/images/arrow.gif" alt="Protecting and Preserving" width="8" height="13" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;       &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;         &lt;h3&gt;The industry provides direct involvement in environmental issues, i.e. "going green"&lt;br /&gt;               &lt;/h3&gt;       &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;     &lt;/tr&gt;     &lt;tr&gt;       &lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.h2opportunity.net/images/arrow.gif" alt="Protecting and Preserving" width="8" height="13" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;       &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;         &lt;h3&gt;Careers in the industry can provide a sense of purpose for the lives of the professionals engaged in it&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://WWW.H2OPPORTUNITY.NET"&gt;WWW.H2OPPORTUNITY.NET&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8718795021283645310-2851154686932672592?l=h2opportunities.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/feeds/2851154686932672592/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8718795021283645310&amp;postID=2851154686932672592' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/2851154686932672592'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8718795021283645310/posts/default/2851154686932672592'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://h2opportunities.blogspot.com/2008/10/h2opportunities.html' title='H2Opportunity'/><author><name>H2Opportunities</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13744548564804810394</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='30' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FEm1KLiDaW8/SUe9a-7nIOI/AAAAAAAAABo/TnNpYUwewRY/S220/H2Opp+Logo.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
