This second post highlights the dampener system manufactured by Blacoh Fluid Control. This display caught our eye and no wonder – the vendor, Marcus, told us that they won an award at the show for having such an awesome booth! Here's a quick video showing how a regular pulse metering pump doses chemical in short…
Awesome Products/Demos from the ACE2010 Expo – Part 1
Today a coworker and I had the chance to attend the ACE 2010 Expo put on by the American WaterWorks Association (AWWA). We learned a lot about traditional products and some new innovations. Fortunately I brought my Flip camera and thanks to some great vendors was able to get short videos of their products to…
Civil Engineering Blogs
Civil engineers often get a bad rap for being poor communicators. But this is probably due more to the nature of the business rather than actual skills. Our typical work involves peering into sewer manholes, measuring roads, inspecting concrete pours, drawing plans, calculating water flows, and discussing the cool, new fire hydrant design; not necessarily…
The Promise of Data.gov
Last month I had the incredible opportunity to participate in several Gov 2.0 events. One of the greatest take aways for me was finding all the people who are either working directly on the Data.gov project or involved in related initiatives. Data is a big deal for local government – particularly for those of us…
Bryan’s Consumer Confidence Report on Stage at Gov 2.0 Expo
Each year, water utilities all over the U.S. have to prepare and distribute Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) to their customers. Usually these documents are sent out as two or three page sheets of tiny text filled with standard, required language reporting on water sources and chemicals found in drinking water. My guess is most Americans…
Radon and Wastewater
On Tuesday the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) will hold a public hearing for the purpose of enacting a new regulation concerning radium in land application of biosolids. I tried to find out from their Web site and Facebook and Twitter pages about the ruling, but it was not prominently displayed. Finally I found it here: Licensing…
A Brave New Grid – Post 2: The Virtual Plan
In the first post of this series, I explained my decision about moving my efforts related to building government/public works/engineering sites in virtual worlds from Second Life to OpenSim. And I invited anyone interested to read along or visit as I make this move. From here on out, I will continue to write about the…
A Critical Lesson from the Gaming World
The momentum for using games in a workplace environment seems to be building. The topic is showing up in conference programs, blogs, forums, and now in a TEDTalk. People are realizing what the game industry figured out long ago – it’s possible to create something that consistently encourages and trains people to perform specific tasks…
Augmented Reality for Public Works
Augmented reality (AR) has been gaining ground over the last couple years—most likely as a result of an increasing number of applications incorporating AR and an increase in the capabilities of supporting technology. But while the advances have been useful and impressive, I have not seen much related to the public works industry. This surprises…
A Brave New Grid – The Decision
Last month I decided to close down the Public Works Group island in Second Life. Over the last 2 1/2 years, the island allowed many people the opportunity to see and explore how virtual worlds could enhance the public works industry. The site also provided a place for people to meet and experience virtual worlds…