Sewer mains get damaged in a number of ways, including the intrusion of tree roots and the internal deterioration of the line due to grease, oils and other corrosive substances.

When mains are damaged, heavy rains can cause infiltration of groundwater into the sewer system. In the worst case scenario, it can cause a backup into a home or business.

The Prince William County Service Authority conducts video inspections of thousands of feet of sewer line each year to check on their structural integrity. If the Service Authority determines that a sewage backup could occur within five to 10 years, the utility will rehabilitate that damaged and aging sewer main with CIPP, or Cured-In-Place Pipe.

CIPP involves lining the inside of sewer mains with a substance made of polyester and resin. Once the lining dries, or cures, it is much more difficult for roots to burrow their way in and can more than double the life of the main. The average sewer pipe lasts about 40 years, while CIPP extends that lifespan to 90 years.

“If there are any cracks or roots in the line, it will make the pipe structurally sound again,” Inflow & Infiltration Supervisor James McCarroll said.

The CIPP program is also far less expensive than replacing sewer mains. Using this technology costs the Service Authority roughly $31 a foot, which costs around four times less than constructing a foot of new sewer main, said McCarroll.

In addition to the upfront expense of sewer line replacement, less infiltration and inflow into the sewer system ultimately helps the Service Authority maintain reasonable rates for its customers by reducing the amount of wastewater that has to be treated at the two area water reclamation facilities servicing Prince William. The H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility treats wastewater in the eastern part of the County, while the Upper Occoquan Service Authority Plant located in Fairfax County treats wastewater from western Prince William.

Before starting a CIPP project in an area, the Service Authority notifies residents and businesses through automated phone calls and meetings with Homeowners Associations. Once the community is made aware of the project, the process begins with re-checking the sewer main to see if any changes have occurred within the line since it was initially inspected.

Clay pipe, which is common in the Service Authority’s sewer system, tends to be weakest around joints, said McCarroll. That’s where problems usually occur. Typically, it takes an hour and a half for the CIPP material to harden and for service to be restored to customers in the area.

With no digging involved and minimal traffic disruptions, Service Authority Operations & Maintenance Director Don Pannell said the process of lining the pipe “is almost transparent to the customer.”

“We use this process to provide excellent customer service without disrupting their normal routine,” Pannell said.

“Homeowners are happier,” McCarroll added. “There are fewer blockages and less dig-ups.”

The Service Authority is nearing completion of CIPP projects in several sections of Lake Ridge, including Fort Craig Place, Flint Hill Place, Stoneford Drive and Foothill Street. Shortly thereafter, it will complete a CIPP project started last year in the Occoquan Forest neighborhood off Davis Ford Road.

The Service Authority will rehabilitate 22,000 feet of sewer line, an $870,000 project that will reduce the cost of operations and the potential for sewage overflows.

By the end of June 2014, the Service Authority will have video inspected more than 140 miles of sewer pipe in the County during the past year. The utility has more than 1,100 miles of sewer line throughout Prince William County, and the CIPP program makes inspecting such a large amount of pipe manageable.

“Once the CIPP is installed, our crews aren’t returning to the same pipe every three to six months to cut out roots or remove grease,” Pannell said. “They’re able to move on to other preventive maintenance activities.

A certificate program offered through an educational alliance between Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) and La Cocina VA, a nonprofit organization that generates workforce and economic development, will allow unemployed Hispanics to obtain skills in the food service industry and improve their employment opportunities.

La Cocina VA and NOVA recognize the additional challenges that the 2.2 million unemployed members of Hispanic communities often face in job attainment, such as low English proficiency and lack of access to training programs. Frequently, occupational training programs are not targeted toward groups who have limited English skills or low educational attainment. This further prevents Hispanic immigrants from gaining the skills they need to obtain a sustainable income and pursue a growing career path.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has identified training programs that provide language instruction contextualized for the workplace along with skills training as the most effective way to meet the needs of immigrant workers.

La Cocina VA has announced the opening of the Competency Certification Course for the fall of 2014. The program will have approximately 30 openings for students and offer 14 weeks of instruction in bilingual culinary skills, Servsafe Certification and Vocational English Instruction. The course also includes a 40-hour internship experience at local commercial restaurants and hotels.

Participants will earn double certification – one from NOVA through Continuing Education Units (CEU) for the Culinary Arts and Vocational English Instruction – and a Servsafe Food Manager Certification issued by the National Restaurant Association.

Patricia Funegra, executive director of La Cocina VA, emphasized that those graduating from the program will also receive placement support through partnerships with food service and hospitality businesses in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Funegra said that support from NOVA’s Workforce Development Division in designing and implementing this program is a key component of success and a solid contribution to generating sustainable job opportunities.

Funegra explained that participants will take 14 weeks’ worth of classes in four separate subjects.

April is Litter Awareness Month in Prince William County, which means that it’s officially time for spring cleaning to begin. There are several events planned throughout the month to help bring attention to the “dirty” topic of litter, which does not get much attention throughout the year.

“Litter looks bad,” said Prince William County Solid Waste Division Chief Thomas Smith. “If you’re jogging, riding a bike or walking, and you see litter, it just gives you a bad feeling. It gets into our lakes and our streams; and it affects animals and fish in our habitats. It’s just bad, not only for our community, but for our environment, as well.”

Several community clean-up events are planned across the county in April; including several dumpster days, road and river clean-ups, park spruce-ups, and contests.

Sponsored by Keep Prince William Beautiful and supported by the county, the events are designed to raise awareness about litter while at the same time helping people in the county get their neighborhoods and public areas squared away after a long winter.

“Every weekend in April, there are clean ups going on throughout our community. In addition, our Police Department will be taking special efforts to enforce litter laws. For example, it is a requirement that you cover your load on your vehicle or truck,” Smith said. “When you’re traveling, don’t throw litter out of your window. When they see that happening, they’re going to be stopping citizens and issuing citations.”

On April 5, people who are interested can participate in the 26th Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, the Yorkshire Dumpster Day or the Bristoe Station Battlefield Annual Park Cleanup. On April 12, there will be an Occoquan River Cleanup Day, a Town of Quantico Dumpster Day and the Rippon Lodge Cleanup Day. The Thousand Oaks Townhome Association Dumpster Day will be on April 19. CSX Railroad will host a U.S. 1 Cleanup Day on April 26. Activities during all of the clean-up events will run between 9 a.m. and noon. The Balls Ford Compost Facility will host a Compost Awareness Day between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 26.

Visit the Keep Prince William Beautiful website (www.kpwb.org/litter-awareness-month-campaign) or call 571-285-3772 for more information about how to participate in these activities.

Smith said he hopes people from across the county will participate in the cleanup events. “We want citizens to be aware, as well as get involved. We’d like you to get involved in your local community,” Smith said.

And he wants people to remember that you can help keep our community clean all year round. “Our hope is that they’ll remember throughout the year that litter is bad and is not good for our environment or our communities.”

 -Submitted by Prince William County

Folks who are looking to buy their first home or looking for a place to rent should attend the 2014 Northern Virginia Housing Expo on March 29, which is free to the public. Resources at the annual event, which will run between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, will include workshops and exhibits.

“We want folks to come in and ask, ‘How do I go about purchasing a home? How do I prepare to rent a home? How are my finances?’” said Elijah Johnson, Prince William County’s Housing and Community Development Director. “Those are some of the workshops that we’ll be having; teaching people that home-buying process.”

Exhibitors ranging from real estate brokers, to home builders, to lenders and apartment complex managers, will be at the event to help people who are looking for a place to live. Among other things, visitors to the event will be able to learn about the legal aspects of buying a home, the paper work involved in home buying, how to save and prepare for home ownership, and how to keep abreast of changes in the marketplace.

Johnson said everyone from potential first-time homebuyers and renters to seniors looking at reverse mortgages will be able to find useful information at the event. “The biggest thing is it’s going to bring that educational piece. It’ll educate people about how to go about that home-buying process.”

For more information, visit the Prince William Housing and Community Development Department’s website.

-Submitted by Prince William County

 Forty Under 40 Homepage

What do you get when you put cocktails, cupcakes, charities and the regions top young talent under the same roof? The best business social events in the region. Join the Potomac Local News Network's Forty Under 40 for an evening of charitable giving, networking, music, fun and of course "Cocktails & Cupcakes!" Tickets are $20 per person and include gourmet cupcakes and appetizers - cash bar. 100% of ticket admissions will be donated to the local charity of the evening.    Forty Under 40 Manassas Local Nomination Cocktails & Cupcakes After Hours Wednesday, April 16th 2014 4:30pm - 7:30pm Location: Okra's Cajun & Creole Restaurant  Benefiting: Final Salute Inc. Purchase Tickets  or Become a Vendor Exhibit Sponsor       Forty Under 40 Potomac Local Nomination Cocktail & Cupcakes After Hours Wednesday, April 23rd  2014  4:30pm - 7:30pm Location: Bahama Breeze Benefiting: The House, Inc. Purchase Tickets or Become a Vendor Exhibit Sponsor       Forty Under 40 Stafford Local Nomination Cocktails & Cupcakes After Hours -- This event has been canceled Wednesday, April 30th 2014 4:30pm - 7:30pm Location: Embrey Mill by Newland Communities -Embrey Mill House  Benefiting: S.E.R.V.E. (Stafford Emergency Relief through Volunteer Efforts). Purchase Tickets or Become a Vendor Exhibit Sponsor     Benefactors:              

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Date: Saturday, July 19th 2014

Host: Plaxico Burress, NFL All-Star (Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and New York Jets)

Chairman: Glenn Vickers

Location: Potomac Shores 1750 Dunnington Place Potomac Shores, VA 22026

Celebrity Golf Tournament Registration:  Register Here

Forty Under 40 Awards Program: Register Here

Become Event Sponsor: Register Here

 

Days Agenda:

8:30am – Celebrity Golf Registration/ Buffet Breakfast

10:00am – Shotgun Start

1:00pm – 2:15pm Forty Under 40 Honoree Presentation

3:00pm – VIP Social Lunch Reception (Must be registered to attend)

Enjoy a fun-filled day of celebrity golf, recognizing our regions top young professionals and network with views of the Potomac at every angle on Saturday, July 19th 2014.  Meet today’s celebrities and leaders that have already shaped tomorrow. This is the only program representing our next generation of leaders within the communities of Prince William County, Stafford County, Manassas City and Manassas Park.

Potomac Local Network has selected 40 of our region’s brightest, most promising professionals under the age of 40 to be honored and published in the  award-winning winning  PotomacLocal.com. Click here to see who made the list. 

 

Forty Under 40 Homepage

Thank you for your interest in becoming a sponsorship for the Regional Forty Under 40 Awards presented by Potomac Shores.

We would like to give a special thank you to all of our sponsors for their incredibly generous support of this year’s Regional Forty Under 40 Awards presented by Potomac Shores. With their enthusiastic support, dedicated young professionals are able to come together to honor the professional contributions of their peers while also greatly assisting in reinvesting in our community and local charities.  We appreciate every level of our sponsors’ involvement and we ask that you support them as they have supported us.  A special thank you to all of our amazing 2014 sponsors!

To learn more about sponsorships for the 2014 Regional Forty Under 40 Awards presented by Potomac Shores, contact PotomacLocal.com Publisher Uriah Kiser at [email protected] or download the sponsorship packet.

Forty Under 40
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Presenter Sponsor (Stafford Local)	Available
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Engineering, Architecture and Design	Available
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Contact us today to become a sponsor [email protected]

Forty Under 40 Homepage

Forty Under 40 Awards Chairman:

Glenn Vickers, Leadership Prince William

Forty  Under 40 Selection Committee Chairs:

Betty Covington, Prince William County School Board

Cydny Neville, Neville Empowerment Network

Enica Russell, Financial Inroads, Inc.

Eric Williams, Exit Choice Realty

Eugene Brown, Northwestern Mutual

Jennifer Harper, ECPI University

Laura Sellers, Stafford County Supervisor

Lee Mergler, Advance Title & Settlement

Lovely Lall, Toastmasters 

Martha Perea, Capital Caring

Margo Schlossberg, Home Towne Tire

Micheal Pulver, Hylton Boys & Girls Club

Nancy Kyme, Tackett’s Mills Center

Phim Gilberry, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center 

Pastor Rick Sarmiento, Chapel Springs Church – Stafford (formerly Manassas Assembly of God (MAG)

Preston Banks, Manassas Park City Council

Sarah Knopp, INTotal Health – An Inova Health Plan

Vincent Consumano, Freshy Sites

Wendy Rogers, IKEA Woodbridge

 

 

Submitted News

The Prince William County Service Authority’s (PWCSA) H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility (AWRF) has been honored with two major water reclamation industry awards for excellence in environmental stewardship and safety – the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) Gold Peak Performance Award and the Virginia Water Environment Association (VWEA) 2012 Safety Award.

NACWA recognizes water reclamation facilities each year for outstanding compliance of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit limits. The H.L. Mooney AWRF achieved 100% compliance of its NPDES permit limits during 2012.

VWEA presented its 2012 Safety Award to H.L. Mooney AWRF in recognition of the Service Authority’s outstanding efforts to protect the health and safety of personnel at the H.L. Mooney AWRF.

The Service Authority provides drinking water and water reclamation services to more than 250,000 customers in Prince William County.

 

Submitted News

Military Advanced Education (MAE) has awarded Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) the designation of a Top Military-Friendly College in its 2014 Guide to Military-Friendly Colleges & Universities, just released in print, and available online at www.mae-kmi.com.

From community colleges to state universities, online universities and nationally known centers of higher learning, MAE’s 2014 Guide to Military-Friendly Colleges & Universities provides potential students with information about institutions that go out of their way to give back to men and women in uniform.

Among the attributes considered in evaluating this year’s institutions for inclusion in the Guide are the flexibility of online learning options, extent of transfer credits accepted by degree level, on-campus ROTC, Servicemember Opportunity Colleges (SOC) participation, on-campus active duty/veteran assistance, the support provided to the families of service members, faculty trained in veteran reintegration issues, presence on military installations, and full-time counselors trained in veteran-specific mental health concerns, to name but a few.

“Our staff used strict criteria to evaluate the submissions of the respondents, and we had a record number of schools participating this year. We believe the Guide serves as an invaluable tool for both education services officers and transition officers when advising service members about their educational opportunities,” said Kelly Fodel, MAE’s editor.

Visit www.mae-kmi.com for online access to the 2014 Guide to Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities, or pick up a copy of the December issue of Military Advanced Education.