Summer is officially upon us, which means it’s time for tons of fun in the sun and a lot more time on your hands. What better way to spend that time than starting a DIY garden in the backyard?

At Aqua, we’re committed not just to providing water, but also celebrating the (sometimes literal) fruits of its labor. Planting an at-home garden this summer is not only good for the environment, but it also might even get the kids interested in eating their veggies.

In order to start you off on the right foot, we’ve laid out all of the best tips for planning your summer garden, watering it with care, and supporting Mother Earth at the same time. Grab your shovel—let’s dig in.

Selecting your seeds

Before you can enjoy your home-grown produce, consider which plants are best suited for your local environment and, of course, for your tastebuds.

While greens like lettuce and arugula thrive with 3–4 hours of sun exposure per day, broccoli and carrots require 4–6 hours, and summertime favorites like watermelon and tomatoes are happier with 6–8 hours of sunshine.

Keen on getting the kids involved? Impress the little ones with the ease of planting strawberries or the various shapes and sizes of potatoes. (Purple french fries, anyone?) Harvesting beets, digging holes, or even weeding can give children a sense of responsibility and pride at having contributed to a memorable summer.

When and what to water

Once you’ve picked which plants will work best in your garden, it’s time to lay down some ground rules. What’s most important is consistency. In order to ensure healthy, developing plants, it’s best to establish a routine in the frequency with which you water them and the amount of water you use.

For warm-weather plants, plan to do your watering in the early morning so the plants can soak up the water ahead of the afternoon heat. Overwatering can lead to fungus and other plant-related diseases, so an ideal watering will penetrate the soil but not leave it soggy. Don’t forget that the root systems of newer plants are not fully developed and will therefore need to be watered more frequently.

Using your green thumb

If organic produce and family fun isn’t enough to convince you to start digging, consider your impact on the environment. While it may seem like a small contribution, community gardens compose more than 25 percent of the trees in non-forest environments. Plus, growing your food at home means less air pollution from grocery delivery trucks.

Think back to elementary school science: Every plant undergoes photosynthesis, which actively converts carbon dioxide to valuable oxygen molecules. That means that more plants result in more oxygen and less carbon dioxide. Sounds like a win-win to us!

Don’t forget about the small critters that keep our ecosystems alive. Without gardens—even small, DIY ones—we run the risk of endangering essential insects and wildlife. Gardening plays a small but vital role in preserving our planet and the species that we know and love.

Planning an at-home garden this summer? Let us know how it goes on Facebook or Twitter—we want to hear all about your gardening adventures.

You may think that here at Aqua, our day-to-day operations revolve almost entirely around the intersection of science and engineering. We’re a water company, after all! 

What may surprise you, though, is that even though those fields are paramount to our mission to provide and protect Earth’s most essential resource, plenty of our work is intertwined with the worlds of finance and public policy.

Think about it: When Aqua acquires a water system from a municipality, we go through extensive legal processes in order to ensure the handoff goes smoothly. And one of the many factors that can improve those processes for all involved parties is the presence of municipal fair market value (MFMV) legislation. 

We spoke to Aqua Ohio President Ed Kolodziej to learn more about MFMV legislation and how it benefits both communities and customers. 

Ed Kolodziej (second from left) and colleagues at the opening of a new facility in Ohio

What’s the benefit to my town? 

In January 2019, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed legislation allowing companies like Aqua to pay fair market value for the purchase of water and wastewater systems. Before these changes, system values were determined by their depreciated original cost, which generally did not reflect a reasonable market value for those assets.

Think of it this way: If the value of a home was established under the old Ohio formula, you would only consider the original purchase price of the home and the cost of improvements you did, minus their depreciation over time. Under the new fair market value system, the value of a home also considers things like the recent selling prices of similar homes nearby, curb appeal, replacement cost, and desirablility of the neighborhood. All of these items can have a significant impact on the true value of the home.

When we apply this logic to the sale of water systems, it’s clear why local municipalities benefit from fair market value legislation. When Aqua purchases the system, themunicipality receives a reasonable market value in return, which can then go toward numerous other local projects, from schools to parks to fire departments. 

“By partnering with a regulated utility through a purchase agreement, an Ohio community can shed the burdens of utility operation and maintenance, immediately improve their financial position, and potentially create a new source of revenue for their general fund,” Kolodziej explained. “The regulated utility brings operational efficiencies and economies of scale along with sorely needed investment dollars to the table and therefore earns a return on their investments.”

What’s the benefit to customers like me? 

If you’ve been following our Aquastructure series since its inception, you know one thing for sure: better water infrastructure leads to better water quality. 

“Around our state, water and wastewater infrastructure is in disrepair, reliability is suffering, compliance with health and environmental regulations is at risk and government-owned utilities across the state are behind the eight ball,” said Kolodziej. 

“The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) says Ohio communities need to spend $26.78 billion on water and wastewater systems in the next 20 years. There are no easy answers, and most have no idea where the resources will come from.”

Kolodziej is right: The answers aren’t always easy. But that’s where Aqua can help. By working with municipal officials to acquire the municipal water and wastewater systems, we’re able to ease the burden of these necessary improvements for communities like yours. 

The acquisition process allows us to carefully assess the state of aging water and wastewater systems and then implement crucial upgrades, many of which are long overdue. Replacing water mains, service lines, main line valves, and fire hydrants are often among the first order of business. 

Because water infrastructure, water quality, and public health are inherently linked, these upgrades lead to delivering better drinking water, therefore leading to healthier communities as a whole. That’s something everyone can get behind. 

Anything else? 

Ohio is our sixth Aqua state to enact this type of fair market value legislation, joining states like Illinois and Pennsylvania in giving municipalities even more reason to ease the burden of water and wastewater operations. 

“I encourage elected leaders across the state, especially those with budget or environmental compliance challenges, to explore the new opportunities created by the new Municipal Fair Market Value rules,” Kolodziej added. “More and more communities are benefiting by unleashing the power of regulated utility investment.” 

To learn even more about how Aqua can help improve local finances in a community like yours, visit WaterByAqua.com.

National Volunteer Month, which is recognized during April each year, puts a focus on both spotlighting volunteers across communities, and encouraging volunteer efforts throughout the month. As a company, Aqua puts an emphasis on the importance of volunteerism. The Ripple Effect campaign was created in 2017, and has volunteerism as one of its four pillars, along with the Aqua charitable trust, work-life balance and knowledge sharing. Employees across Aqua's eight states take part in volunteer efforts year-round, but made an extra effort throughout April in honor of National Volunteer Month. Check out some of their efforts:

Illinois:

(Above) Aqua Illinois’ east central division employees helped pack food for the Food for the Children program, which provides meals to 450 students in the Danville school district, and participated in a Lake Vermilion bridge cleanup activity to keep the local drinking water source and the environment clean. (Below) Aqua Illinois’ central division traveled to Camp Shaw-waw-nas-see in Manteno to remove invasive honeysuckle, then shred it and use it for mulching paths. Aqua Illinois' North Maine division cleaned up debris at two sites – Apollo Elementary School and Heritage Pointe condominium complex in Des Plaines.

Indiana:

Aqua Central Indiana employees helped process more than 11,621 pounds of food and nonfood items (which translates to 7,747 meals) at Gleaners Food Bank. 

New Jersey:

Aqua New Jersey volunteers packaged more than 150 lunches for The Unforgotten Haven, whose mission is to help the less fortunate. 

North Carolina:

(Above) Aqua North Carolina employees helped package food at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina in Raleigh, and volunteered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. (Below) Aqua North Carolina employees volunteered at the Greensboro Urban Ministry Potter's House Community Kitchen, which provides free meals each day to those in need, serving nearly 200,000 meals every year.

Ohio: 

Pennsylvania:

(Above) Aqua Pennsylvania employees partnered with Brandywine Red Clay Alliance to clean up trash and debris along the stream via canoe. Among the findings were street signs, scrap metal, safety cones, patio furniture and water bottles, cans and glass, among other things. (Below) Aqua White Haven Division employees partnered with Luzerne Conservation District and members of the Hayfield Farms Homeowners Association for the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership to plant 400 trees along the East Branch of Harvey’s Creek.

Texas:

Aqua Texas is scheduled to once again contribute to the Carry the Load event, scheduled for May 24, which honors our nation’s military service members and emergency responders. Aqua will once again providing drinking water to attendees of the event using one of our potable water trucks. 

Virginia:

Aqua Virginia employees volunteered at Feed More Richmond, which is dedicated to providing healthy meals and hope to Central Virginians who face hunger. Aqua volunteers helped prepare food for the days' deliveries.

At Aqua, we’re always proud of our projects that help to improve water quality for our customers, but this week, we have a special reason to highlight these positive changes: It’s Infrastructure Week!

As we all know by now, water infrastructure greatly impacts both the quality of your water and the quality of your life. By investing in new infrastructure in our service areas, we’re making strides to change our communities for the better. That’s why our team has been hard at work implementing a new filtration system in Upchurch Place, a community in Raleigh, North Carolina.

What’s the deal with filtration?

Filtration systems, when necessary, are a crucial part of water infrastructure—after all, they help to remove unwanted naturally occurring minerals. Aqua has provided water to Upchurch Place since 2002, and we’ve built quite a relationship with our North Carolina community.

We spoke to Aqua North Carolina’s Michael Melton, engineering manager, and Amanda Berger, environmental compliance director, to learn more about the recently completed project. Melton noted that the goal of the new filtration system is the removal of iron and manganese. While both elements are naturally present in tap water, keeping their levels below the secondary standard is important.

Changes in Upchurch Place

After hearing reports of discolored water from customers in the Upchurch area, we identified the problem and got to work on implementing a solution.

“Since installing the new filters, the treated water has iron and manganese levels well below the secondary drinking water standard,” Melton said. “In addition, we’re proud to announce that Aqua is the first privately owned water provider in North Carolina to utilize a non-discharge backwash system.” (Aqua developed the first recycle water system in 2010.)

What’s a non-discharge backwash system? Long story short: It allows us to eliminate water loss in the filtration process, therefore upholding our mission to provide and protect Earth’s most essential resource. The best part is that our customers will only see a .70 cent increase in their annual water bill for this major improvement—and it’s well worth it.

Aqua’s commitment to excellence

Providing our Upchurch customers with a new and improved filtration system was no small feat.

“On average, a filter project like the one in Upchurch can take up to nine months to engineer and construct,” Melton said. “At Aqua, we also make it a priority to work with local financial and environmental regulators to improve every aspect of our service and reliability.”

“This project is a good example of how Aqua is working with its stakeholders to achieve the goal of improving our customer’s water quality,” Berger added.

Although these projects take a good amount of time, money, and resources, they’re necessary in order to improve the state of our country's infrastructure. As water providers, it’s our goal to supply our customers with safe and reliable water—and it doesn’t hurt that we’re helping to restore our nation’s infrastructure in the process.

Stay tuned for our next Aquastructure blog to see what we’re up to next, and in the meantime, we’re wishing our customers and professional peers a very happy (and productive) Infrastructure Week!

During the first week of March, Villanova University engineering students and professors traveled with Aqua North Carolina President Shannon Becker, Aqua Pennsylvania Vice President, Distribution Mike Fili and Electrical Maintenance Manager Joe Gallagher to Wacuco, Panama to work with Panama-based partner Father Wally to improve water delivery and quality in the community. The trip marked Aqua and Villanova’s fourth service visit to the country since 2016. This year the Aqua and Villanova team worked together on multiple projects including water quality testing, rehabbing water tanks and upgrading a steel bridge in the community.

To provide employees with an inside look at their experience in Panama, Becker, Fili and Gallagher shared their thoughts on this year’s trip.

Tell us about what you and the team were doing in Panama.

• Becker: Since this was my first trip, I didn’t really know what to expect. I wanted to help in any way that I could, including spending this time getting to know the Villanova engineering students. One of the projects I worked on was to add a layer of concrete to the surface of a bridge that Father Wally previously installed using a railroad car. The Villanova students did whatever was needed, and the local residents even came down to help shovel gravel. The students not only got to use their brains on this project, but also discovered muscles they didn’t know they had as they worked side-by-side with the local residents who were so appreciative. The sense of community and desire to help was amazing!

• Fili: We worked on a few projects. One of our major projects was repairing water tanks. Not only were we going in to repair them, but we also wanted to teach the local operators who work with Father Wally how to perform these repairs in the future, so they could continue to maintain them on their own. The Villanova students were so eager to help and finished the first tank project much quicker than expected – they completed the repairs in one day! Overall, we were down in Panama to provide labor and knowledge.

• Gallagher: There were members of Villanova Engineering Service Learning {VESL} and a senior design team that came along this year. I specifically worked with this team, which had the task of trying to modify existing PVC straight pipe that, once heated, would mimic a cast iron coupling. The students created a prototype that we were able to put to test and refine in the field.  As a result, they are making some modifications based on their learnings and expect to deliver the prototype to Father Wally for use this coming summer.  It was great working with these bright students and bouncing ideas off each other.

What was the main goal of this trip? 

• Becker: The primary objective was to help Father Wally and the community accomplish the repairs to the water tank and provide on-going knowledge. For me, I was looking forward to getting my hands dirty and just being part of this overall effort while connecting with the engineering students. I wanted to share knowledge with them, be a good role model, and provide career advice wherever possible. This experience helps provide the students insight into the real world, outside of a textbook. I wish I would have had an opportunity like this VESL project while in school.

• Fili: For me, the main goal of the trip was meeting and working with the students and having a positive relationship with them. It was an incredible group of young people; they were extremely motivated, talented and intelligent. It was also great being able to work with the Villanova leadership and my fellow colleagues.

• Gallagher: For the Senior Design project, the main goal was to get the device to work and prove that it is functioning, which we were able to accomplish. Before we left Panama, we also sat down with Father Wally to go over other items he may need help with in the future.

What was the biggest challenge or obstacle during the trip?

• Becker: Personally, I think the biggest challenge was the language barrier. Unfortunately, I did not take Spanish in school and had to rely on a translator to communicate.  It would have been nice to be able to speak to the local residents and workers to better understand who they are and how they live. 

• Fili: For me, the challenge was language. I thought it was great that there were people in the group who were fluent in Spanish and were able to help translate. When we would go into the stores for materials, it was hard to communicate with the employees to try and get what we needed because of the language barrier.

• Gallagher: The one challenge was the language difference. The crew that Father Wally has working with them is very helpful, but I was only able to interact with them a little bit. So, I would say the interactions with the locals was a little bit of a challenge.

What has surprised you most about Panama?

• Becker: I was surprised to see what Father Wally has been able to do with so little. It was astounding to see what they fixed and repurposed by turning a useless item into a useful tool.  It was eye opening to see the conveniences we take for granted and the different lifestyles. Haircuts were $3 and you could buy fresh meat on the side of the road – goats and chickens just waiting to be purchased on the way home for dinner!

• Fili: I think the language barrier stood out to me the most. I wish I was able to communicate better with the locals because they were fantastic and very nice. Everyone was very welcoming with the projects and were there to help us with whatever we needed.

• Gallagher: Even though I have been on previous trips to Panama, it still surprised me how much Father Wally has accomplished. The water systems he has established are incredible to see firsthand. You can’t fully appreciate it until you see it in person.

What does the partnership with Villanova mean to you? 

• Becker: I was aware of the partnership we were developing with Villanova, but being in North Carolina, I hadn’t been as close to it as some of my colleagues in Pennsylvania. I think it’s a great opportunity to partner with a prestigious university that also has a practical application as part of their program where they can reach out to the community and get real-life experience. Our connection with Villanova has enabled us to use them as a resource, whether it’s hiring students down the road or working with them in the community, I’m thankful for the opportunity to contribute and proud to say that I’m a part of this program. It’s a fantastic opportunity to develop a great relationship with the school and its students.

• Fili: To me, relationships are everything. I really enjoyed working with the students and faculty of Villanova and building relationships with them. You never know when you’ll cross paths again, whether it be for a future job, a recommendation, whatever it might be. It was great meeting new people and building connections.

• Gallagher: It’s a great opportunity and it lives up to Aqua’s mission of protecting Earth’s most essential resource. For Aqua to enable their employees to go on a trip like this is great and shows their commitment to the community and helping others. When you go to communities like those we visited in Panama, it makes you appreciate this resource and understand that not everyone has easy access to water like we do. I was really impressed with how the students worked together and the time they put into this trip. It made me feel young again to be around college students.

Did you try any new or unique foods while in Panama? 

• Becker: I tried sugar cane juice that was made by one of the local residents helping on one of the jobs.  It was homemade and served straight from a bucket, which is the only way to have it!  We also had rice and hot dogs for breakfast several days, which I’ve never had in combination before, or at that time of day (and without ketchup).

• Fili: We had a lot of beans and rice and I tried hot tuna, which I never had before. I also tried a complete fried fish, the whole head and everything!

• Gallagher: We had all local food and I enjoyed it. We tried chicken stew, feet included! We also had a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Most interesting thing that happened while on the trip? 

• Becker: Aside from showering with a tree frog and waking up to howler monkeys dropping nuts on our tin roof, the limited access to paved roads and their condition jumped out to me. Riding in the back of Father Wally’s truck through the mountains was an invigorating experience. Overall, I created so many great memories working with Mike and Joe, who I got to know well and developed a strong bond.  This entire trip was interesting and memorable.

• Fili: When I got up the first morning, the magnitude of the equipment they had and the size of the operation Father Wally built over the years really surprised me. You have one man who basically started a water system from scratch with very little resources – the vision, perseverance and dedication to get things done is amazing. Father Wally does it all.

• Gallagher: When we realized we completed all our assigned tasks, we celebrated and discussed our highs and lows of a trip. It was great to sit around with everyone and discuss the highlights of our time in Panama.  

Anything else you would like to add about your experience? 

• Becker: Looking back, I wish I would have had this type of experience while in college - I just didn’t know what I was missing.  To be able to apply what you are learning to a practical experience, and in a way that helps others is so rewarding and valuable - it sends you down a different path and one I will be sure my kids travel.

• Fili: I had a great time on this trip. It was a great opportunity for me to be able to work closely with Shannon and Joe, who are tireless workers. We were always looking for the next thing to do. It was a great experience all around and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

• Gallagher: I really enjoyed being able to work with Shannon and Mike. It was a pleasure working with Father Wally and it was really satisfying to be able to help with whatever projects he needed done. He always says to us that he lives simply so others can simply live. He talks the talk and puts his heart and soul into his work. It was great being a part of the experience and making memories with other members of the team. It makes you enjoy the little things in life.