RCAP Solutions partners with The Health Foundation of Central MA to Assist Rural Communities With Safe Drinking Water
Worcester, MA – RCAP Solutions has completed a project which assisted public water systems in the towns of Ashburnham, Hardwick, Wheelwright, Gilbertville, and Lancaster increase their capacity to plan, operate and manage existing drinking water facilities to ensure their efficiency, affordability, dependability and sustainability. By providing technical, managerial and financial needs assessments, deficiencies were identified, priorities selected, and issues were addressed. As a result, the long-term effects of the project will positively impact over 17,300 residents in small, rural communities and ensure their access to safe and affordable water.
“We are thrilled with the successful outcome of this project which was funded by The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts,” stated Karen A. Koller, President & CEO of RCAP Solutions. “Rural America is right here in our backyard, represented by many communities in Central Massachusetts. We are pleased to be able to fulfill our mission and meet the essential needs of small towns by providing this valuable technical assistance so that community water systems can provide safe, clean drinking water to their residents.”
“Especially because of the extreme drought conditions the region has been experiencing, our awareness of the need for a sufficient supply of clean water is heightened,” said Dr. Jan Yost, President of the Foundation. “We thank RCAP Solutions for helping to assure the residents in these rural communities of their water supply now and into the future.”
Asset management plans were created and implemented in all five of the drinking water systems, offering countless system efficiencies and ultimately enabling the participating communities to be proactive instead of reactive in their decision making processes. These plans help systems identify all of their assets, assess worth, expected lifetime remaining, replacement costs and ultimately look at financial planning to ensure their budgets have room for future needed improvements. Other outcomes which resulted from the project included regionalization studies focused on sharing services to create economies of scale and keep down costs, assistance with federal compliance issues, and uncovering new funding opportunities and potential revenue sources.
The project capstone was a day-long regional asset management training for small water system owners and operators which provided six training contact hours to 26 attendees including 21 operators representing 17 small community systems. Asset Management may become a MA water system requirement so these three communities and the additional systems that attended the training will be ahead of the game if a statewide mandate is eventually in place.
About RCAP Solutions, Inc.
Established in 1969, RCAP Solutions mission is to foster personal and public self-reliance and improve the quality of life for individuals, families and the communities in which they live. RCAP Solutions is a comprehensive nonprofit community development corporation that works with communities of all sizes to address a broad range of needs. RCAP Solutions is part of a coordinated nationwide network with an integrated, multi-faceted approach to delivering high-quality services customized to each community’s unique requirements. For more information, please visit www.rcapsolutions.org.
About The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts
The Foundation was established in 1999 with the proceeds from the sale of Central Massachusetts Health Care, Inc., a physician-initiated, not-for-profit HMO. The Foundation currently has assets of approximately $68 million and has awarded grants totaling approximately $36 million to improve the health of those who live or work in Central Massachusetts. For further information about the Foundation’s grant programs, please visit The Health Foundation’s website at www.hfcm.org.