Waterline: Spring 2025

Editor:
Stew Thornley

Staff:
Noel Hansen, Erin Culver, Bob Smude, David "Hollywood" Rindal

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On this page:

• Metro School to feature big-name speakers
• New at MDH: Seth Ledet
• Resources for early care and education facilities
• Reminder to all water operators
• Calendar

Metro School to feature big-name speakers

The 2025 Metro District Water Operators School will be held Tuesday, May 6 to Thursday, May 8 at the Eagan Community Center.

The keynote speaker will be Mike Max (pictured). Normally the sports guy at WCCO-TV, Maxey took on another role in 2020, covering the unrest in Minneapolis after the murder of George Floyd. His topic will be Inside the 2020 Riots: How It Has Changed the World. Another special speaker will be the “Safari Dude,” Steve Fredlund, who will help us unlock extraordinary performance with his approach, which he calls, “The Unright Thing.”  

The product expo on the final day will be held inside and outside with hands’ on opportunities, and a special supervisor’s forum will be included as part of the day.

Good food, good speakers, good networking make the 2025 Metro School a scene you should make.

More AWWA District Schools

The spring is loaded with water operator schools hosted by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Minnesota Section of American Water Works Association (AWWA).

• Southeast School, Tuesday, March 11 to Thursday, March 13, Rochester International Event Center. The keynote speaker will be Dave Williams with How Leadership and Culture Will Impact Employee Retention.
• Northeast School, Tuesday, April 15 to Thursday, April 17, Timberlake Lodge, Grand Rapids. A presentation on Legionella in Grand Rapids followed by a tour of the Grand Rapids water treatment plant with a focus on what was done to overcome Legionella.
• Southwest School, Tuesday, April 29, Redwood Area Community Center, Redwood Falls. Cybersecurity and sanitary survey inspections will be among the topics.

Brian Rivers of MDH was in Peru recently to help with local water projects. Brian will be speaking on water and his experiences in Peru at some of the schools.

List of schools

Registration

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New at MDH: Seth Ledet

Seth Ledet is the new district engineer for the Rochester District. He was born and raised in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and got his degree in civil engineering from Louisiana State. He then moved to New Orleans and worked at the Waterford 3 Nuclear Power Plant.

Seth has a wife, Caroline, and no kids or pets. Since coming to Rochester, he has enjoyed cooking in his spare time along with cycling, refereeing soccer, and going to Wild and Minnesota United games.

He also tries to return to his native state to participate in Mardi Gras.

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Resources for early care and education facilities

By Anna "A. J." Schliep

MDH works to make sure that Minnesota’s children have access to safe drinking water at home, at school, and while in child care. Minnesota licensed child care centers and public and charter schools are required by state statute to test for lead in drinking water and to report results to MDH. When lead is detected at 5 parts per billion or higher, a facility must take that fixture offline until it is remediated. MDH is required to make the results and remediation actions reported to us available.

We are pleased to announce our interactive map tool available on our Results and Metrics page. Explore the map (shown at right - link below). You can search for a charter school, public school, or licensed child care center. Check back as we continue to add more information to the map as more facilities test and report. Together we strive to make sure our kids have safe drinking water and healthy environments where they can learn and grow.

MDH continues to offer the Minnesota Lead Testing in Schools and Child Care in Drinking Water program to provide a free option to test for lead in drinking water.

Public Water Systems often get questions from these facilities about lead in water. You can share information with the schools and child care providers they serve by providing educational materials to these locations or crosslinking our materials on their page.  

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More information and resources

Results and Metrics for Early Care and Education Settings

Drinking Water in Schools, Child Cares, and Head Start Programs

Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Grant

Flyer for Testing for Lead in Drinking Water (PDF)

Flyer for Lead in Drinking Water in Early Care and Education Settings (PDF)

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Reminder to all water operators

When submitting water samples for analyses, remember to do the following:

• Take coliform samples on the distribution system, not at the wells or entry points.
• Write the Date Collected, Time Collected, and Collector’s Name on the lab form.
• Attach the label to each bottle (do not attach labels to the lab form).
• Include laboratory request forms with submitted samples.
• Do not use a rollerball or gel pen (the ink may run).
• Consult your monitoring plan(s) prior to collecting required compliance samples.

Notify your Minnesota Department of Health district engineer of any changes to your systems.

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Calendar

Operator training sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota AWWA will be held in the coming months.

• Minnesota Water Operators Training Schedule

Register for schools and pay on-line:

• MN AWWA Community Calendar

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