| The Gold Standard: Committee members work behind scenes
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The Gold Standard: Committee members work behind scenes

By Ann Espinola

Does the name Fred Hinker ring a bell? Or how about Wayne Brunzell, Betsy Reilley or David Mazyck?

Perhaps not – and that’s just fine with them. They are among the 1,400 volunteers on AWWA’s Standards Committees who labor not in secret, but in near anonymity to develop hundreds of standards that utilities throughout North America rely on every day to provide safe drinking water.

“There’s not a lot of glory, but that doesn’t bother me,” said Paul Olson, senior manager of standards, during an interview in his office in the basement of AWWA headquarters in Denver. “It’s like the water industry itself. If things are going smoothly, you don’t hear about us.”

Oldest cornerstone

Standards BookAWWA standards, the oldest cornerstone of AWWA, are documents that serve as guides for planning, design, manufacture, and specifying and purchasing water works products and services. To date, there are 172 standards on topics ranging from distribution pipes and disinfection of facilities to plant equipment and pumps.

“The documents are very valuable to the water industry,” said Olson, who received the 2015 Archie Becher Award for staff accomplishments at June’s AWWA board meeting. “They are the basis for what a lot of utilities do every day. It’s very satisfying to know what we do will have an impact on public health and providing safe drinking water.”

Due to the growth of the water industry and expansion of products and technologies, the committees have added nearly 50 new standards in the past 15 years. That extends a rich history that included a mention of standards development in one of AWWA’s first documents in 1882. The first standard was adopted in 1908.

There are currently 30 new standards in development – including reverse osmosis & nanofiltration systems for water treatment, magmeters, and inspection of water storage facilities, to name a few -- and another 50 standards under review at any given time, Olson said.  Existing standards are updated every five years.

Wide range of expertise

Volunteers bring a wide range of expertise and experience to the development process, Olson said. They include engineers, designers, product producers, distributors, and installation contractors, among others.

“We lose some to retirements and career changes,” Olson said, “so we’re always looking to fill that pipeline.”

Experts interested in serving on the committees state their interest in a resume and email it to Olson. About three out of every four applications are accepted as Olson tries to balance committees with a mix of utility personnel, producers and general interest, which includes consultants, regulators and academicians. The producer group is limited to no more than one-third of the members, mainly to offset any commercial interests.

A standard starts as a formal request proposed to the 24 members of the Standards Council, who decide whether to pursue developing a standard. Once they give the go-ahead, the real work begins.  The council assigns the proposed standard to a committee that produces a draft after much discussion, email correspondence, conference calls and meetings.

Sometimes, lively and not-so-lively debate ensues.

“It can be very deliberate and meticulous, arguing where a comma should go and how a sentence should read,” Olson said. “It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure.”

Consensus building

At the core of the standards process is consensus. On first ballot, the vote has to be unanimous for it to be approved. Any objections must be considered. The standard can be approved with two thirds of the committee members, which usually takes at least two or three ballots to achieve.

“I take the most pride in being able to face these extremely knowledgeable volunteers and help bring them to a true water industry consensus,” Olson said.

The time commitment for volunteers is four to 10 hours per month. The entire process, from a standard proposal to completion, can take years.

Betsy Reilley, who joined the standards program nine years ago and chairs the disinfection of facilities committee, said her standards work enhances her own professional development.

“I get a good view of what’s going on in the industry,” said Reilley, who is the director of environmental quality, water and wastewater at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

She added, “I do feel like I’m making a contribution. I can supply some of my own work experience and I like being able to see that used in a bigger way, on a national scale.”

Fred Hinker, a retired chief mechanical engineer for a consulting company, joined the standards committees 28 years ago when he was in his early 40s. Today, he’s 70 and estimates that he’s volunteered more than 3,000 hours over the years.

He sits on several committees, including those that research butterfly valves, ball valves, slide gates, and polyelectrolytes. He chairs the resilient-seated eccentric plug valve committee and the power actuating devices for valves and slide gates committee.

“It can be like herding cats and ducks sometimes, to get everybody on the same page,” Hinker said of leading committee discussions. “People can hold positions that they are very passionate about.”

Hinker doesn’t plan to retire from committee work anytime soon.

“You don’t get anything monetary out of it, but there’s satisfaction in having a role of achieving some kind of agreement on technical issues,” Hinker said. “I’ve seen how valuable and necessary standards are for the guy in the field and in the design offices trying to design a system and build it. The standards are really, really important.”


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