In June, the Isle North America team hosted its first national TAG Member Meetup, bringing together TAG Members from across the country. The event, held at Orange County Sanitation District (OCSan) in Fountain Valley, California, featured a packed schedule including a tour of OCSan’s and Orange County Water District’s (OCWD) Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) and utility-led presentations on research and innovation strategies and technology piloting and implementation.
The daylong gathering also included the debut of Isle’s Trailblazer Awards program, a new initiative to recognize TAG Members who are leading the way in innovation within the water sector.
TRAILBLAZERS
At Isle, we believe cultivating a culture of innovation requires unwavering commitment and the audacity to challenge the status quo. We recognize that the innovation journey comes with obstacles—finding the right solutions, securing stakeholder buy-in, limited budgets, and complex regulatory environments.
To recognize the hard work of our TAG Members who are on the frontlines of advancing the sector, we introduced the Trailblazer Awards, our first-ever awards program to highlight individuals and utilities leading the way in innovation. Award recipients were recognized for their leadership in a wide array of areas, including supporting knowledge exchange between utility peers, engaging in early-stage research and technology development, piloting earlier-stage TRL solutions, and adopting technologies that improve operational efficiency, enhance infrastructure resiliency, or support net-zero goals.
The Isle North America team presented the Trailblazer Awards at the inaugural TAG Member Meetup, a daylong meeting that brought together over 30 TAG Member representatives from across 7 TAG regions.
The award descriptions and winners are listed below:
Diamond Award
This award recognizes an individual who is pushing the envelope in the water space. The winner demonstrates resilience and persistence despite pressure. They are diamonds that create bright futures for their organization.
Winner: Stacia Eckenwiler – City of Columbus
One Team, One Dream (Individual)
This award recognizes an individual who demonstrates a passion for collaboration and partnership and is intentional about being inclusive and bringing new, diverse voices and thought leadership to the table. These individuals act as bridges who bring people together and share their experiences with peers.
Winner: Robert Bornhofen – DC Water
Maverick Award
This award recognizes a utility that values and embodies a culture of innovation. This organization is enthusiastic and engages in early-stage research and technology development, including piloting earlier-stage TRL solutions. The organization looks ahead to the future.
Winner: Tucson Water
One Team, One Dream (Utility)
This award recognizes a utility that is always open to collaboration, engagement, and supporting their peers to advance the sector. This organization stays curious and growth-oriented, as demonstrated by their engagement with peers.
Winner: Las Vegas Valley Water District
Innovator of the Year Award
This award recognizes a utility that is leading the industry by example. They influence how others perceive innovation and are always willing to challenge the status quo. No matter the barrier or constraint, this utility charges forward, exemplifying the behaviors, practices, and engagement that set the example for others to follow.
Winner: East Bay Municipal Utility District
Audacity Award
This award recognizes individuals and utilities who are catalysts for the industry. This award acknowledges a utility’s contributions throughout their innovation program journey and those that have made significant contributions to the water industry through their innovation efforts.
Winner: Orange County Sanitation District
Congratulations to the 2024 Trailblazer Award Winners! Stay tuned for more information such as award criteria and nomination details for the 2025 awards.
SHOW AND TELL: GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT SYSTEM TOUR
During the TAG Member Meetup, members participated in a tour of the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS), a state-of-the-art water purification system that produces over 130 million gallons of drinking water daily and serves nearly a million residents. During the tour, members of the Orange County Water District also shared their progress on a PFAS pilot-scale treatment study, which involved testing different types of adsorbent media such as granulated activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange (IX) resins to remove PFAS from brine streams, and the natural watershed flows into the aquifer.
At the tour’s conclusion, raising glasses filled with purified water from the GWRS, TAG Members shared a toast to clean water. The toast marked the end of an informative tour and highlighted the remarkable ways that advanced water treatment technologies are addressing the most pressing water scarcity challenges.
UTILITY INSIGHTS
In addition to the awards ceremony, there were utility case study presentations focused on promoting and enhancing innovation programs through organizational improvements and establishing better criteria for success on pilot projects. Additionally, discussions centered on how utilities are developing digital utility transformation programs to better leverage technology, modernize operations, improve efficiency, and enhance customer service.