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Welcome to the web site of the North Carolina American Water Works Association and the North Carolina Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA). Our Association is a combined organization of water professionals affiliated with the American Water Works Association and wastewater professionals affiliated with the Water Environment Federation. The NC AWWA-WEA is a volunteer association dedicated to providing water and wastewater education, training, and service in an effort to protect public health and the environment. We have over 3,000 members in North Carolina representing municipal and private utilities, consulting engineering firms, government agencies, companies who provide equipment and supplies to the industry and representatives of academia who teach and conduct research in water and wastewater-related areas. We are very lucky to have an organization that is able to look at water quality issues from a broad perspective, realizing that water and wastewater issues sometimes go beyond the end of the pipe. We strive to fulfill our vision through the work of our committees and the events we organize. Our dedicated committees are involved in all aspects of our profession, and a large and active educational program conducts two conferences, seven schools, and 40+ seminars per year.
The following information represents the history of the NC AWWA-WEA. Any corrections or additions should be forwarded to
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Click on the follwing links to learn more about the history of the association. Links to Association documents are available along the right side of this page.
General History Charter Members NC AWWA & NC WEA Past Officers & Directors NC AWWA & NC WEA Membership Totals & Annual Conference Attendance History
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2000 Archives & History Update Written By A.T. Rolan
The first meeting of the N.C. Section of AWWA was held in Greensboro on December 9 and 10, 1921 at the O.’ Henry Hotel with a recorded attendance of 47. The lowest attendance ever recorded. The first joint meeting was in New Bern on November 13-15, 1923 with 130 in attendance.
The first officers were: Chairman J. L. Ludlow from Winston-Salem, Vice Chairman, J.C. Michie from Durham and Secretary/Treasurer, Thorndike Saville from Chapel Hill.
Our Journal has contained an error for many years in that it shows the first Secretary/Treasurer of our Association was W. S. Rankin. There is an interesting explanation. One of the speakers at the first meeting was Dr. W. S. Rankin, “Secretary” of the North Carolina State Board of Health not Secretary of NCAWWA.
To form a new Section in AWWA required at least 20 members living in N.C. According to McKean Maffitt, there were 22 charter members of NCAWWA in 1922. The first AWWA Director was W. E. Vest from Charlotte. The first Journal was published in 1924 and contained the proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of NCAWWA and the first Joint Meeting of what was referred to then as the Water Purification Association, later called the N.C. Sewage Works Association, North Carolina Water Pollution Control Association and now North Carolina Water Environment Association. It is interesting to note that the Water Environment Federation was started in 1928 as the Sewage Works Association, 5 years after N.C. started meeting as a Joint Organization. The North Carolina Association was elected to membership in the Federation by the Board of Control on October 16, 1928. I am not sure who was the first Director, but H.G. Baity was Director in 1933. There were 50 charter members of the N.C. Sewage Works Association.
Membership recruitment has always been important to N.C. AWWA-WEA. In 1924, the North Carolina Section won the AWWA - Nicholas Hill Cup for the third successive year. The Cup was given to the Section of AWWA having the greatest percentage increase in membership over the previous year. By winning three years in a row, the Section earned the right to retain the Cup permanently. According to H.G. Baity in 1940, “We got rather tired of winning that cup, and while we appreciated the honor, we gave it back to the National Association for re-award."
In 1933, McKean Maffit decided to award a cup annually to that member of the NC Section who recruited the greatest number of new members. In 1947, Mr. W.M. Piatt, presented to the Association a sewage membership attainment cup to be known as the Ludlow Cup, named in memory of J.L. Ludlow, the first President of the N.C. Association, who died about 1930. In 1955, the Ludlow Cup was replaced by the W.M. Piatt Membership Award. Mr. P.D. Davis agreed to pay up to $350 to initially establish the new award.
Other interesting tid bits: (1) There was no Journal published in 1938, 1939 and 1940. Volume 14 of the
Journal published in 1937 contains the proceedings of the 1936 Meeting and
Volume 16 published in 1941 contains the proceedings of the 1940 meeting.
There was no volume 15 of the Journal. (2) There was no annual meeting in 1944 at the request of the Office of Defense Transportation. Although a Journal was published with papers that would have been presented. Thus, our 74th Conference in 75 years. (3) The Water Taste Test was started in 1985. OWASA and Asheboro have been the only repeat
winners. (4) The Tapping Contest was started in 1987 with Asheville, Fayetteville and Raleigh as the
only winners. (5) The N.C. Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers was started in 1986 in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers began in Arizona in 1940. The purpose of the 5 S organization is to recognize those members who have contributed their time and energy for the betterment of the N.C. W. E. A. Since 1986, 58 members have been inducted. Three members have died, leaving current 5 “S” membership at 55. Induction of the 1985 Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers followed this presentation. Return to Top
NC Firsts in Water1. First Water System in N.C. was completed in 1779 at Old Salem with first iron pipe installed in 1808. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1952). 2. First Warren Gravity (Rapid Sand) Filters in N.C. placed in service August, 1893, in Durham, N.C. (Eng. News, Jan. 4, 1894). 3. First Water Main cleaned in Charlotte, N.C. in 1936). (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1946). 4. First City to add fluoride to prevent tooth decay - Charlotte, NC., April 25, 1949. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1950). 5. First Meter School in N.C. held April 21-22, 1950 in Winston-Salem. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1950). 6. First Water Plant in N.C. to filter at 4 gpm/ft2 - Durham, N.C., November 1, 1950 - October 31, 1953 - 3 year test. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1955). 7. First experimental facility for saline water conversion to drinking water constructed in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. in 1962. 8. Mandatory certification of waterworks operators adopted in 1964. 9. First large scale alum recovery facility in U.S. constructed in Durham, N.C., February, 1993. 10. First Water Plant approved for a filtration rate of 5 gpm/sq.ft.—Greenville Utilities Commission. 11. First mandatory certification for distribution system operators--- Return to Top
NC Firsts in Wastewater
1. First Sanitary Sewage Collection System in N.C. was constructed under supervision of Col. J. L. Ludlow in the City of Raleigh, N.C. between 1885 and 1890. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1953). 2. First Sewage Treatment Plant in N.C. was constructed in 1902 in Durham, near the site of the present Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant. Designed by Col. J. L. Ludlow, the plant consisted of two Cameron Type Septic Tanks followed by two sets of primary and secondary contact filters. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1947). 3. First activated sludge plant constructed in Gastonia, N.C. in 1926. 4. First engine in America running on sewage sludge gas was installed in Charlotte, N.C. in 1928 (Literary Digest, July 6, 1929). 5. First Sewage Works Operator School was held June 6-10, 1949 at UNC-Chapel Hill. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1950). 6. First Resolution by NCAWWA/WPCA, November 15, 1950 in support of our “Stream Sanitation Law for N.C.”. 7. N.C. AWWA/WPCA adopted a Resolution in support of first voluntary Certification Program for “Sewage and Industrial Waste Treatment Works Operators in November, 1951. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1953). 8. First Municipal Sewer Use Ordinance (Pretreatment) adopted by City of Charlotte, N.C. in 1950. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1955). 9. First Municipal Radioactive Monitoring Program in Durham, N.C. in 1957. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1960). 10. First Galvanic membrane dissolved oxygen analyzer developed at UNC-Chapel Hill, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering in 1961. (J.NCAWWA/WPCA, 1960). 11. First mandatory certification for wastewater operators adopted in February, 1976. 12. First biological nutrient removal facility---- 13. First mandatory certification for collection system operators adopted---- Return to Top
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