Celebrating 50 years of the Clean Water Act and NEW Water's 90 years of service
October 18, 2022- In Green Bay, community leaders convened to celebrate water on the anniversary of the 50th year of the Clean Water Act, and the 90th year of NEW Water’s service to the community, learn more here.
Excerpts from The Press Times story are found below. To read their full story, please visit: 
Local, state and national leaders, along with the leadership of NEW Water in Green Bay celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Federal Clean Water Act and the 90th anniversary of NEW Water at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay’s STEM center on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
NEW Water Executive Director Tom Sigmund reminded the gathering that the Cuyahoga River fire in 1969 in Ohio was the catalyst that brought about the Clean Water Act three years later.
NEW Water is the brand name of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, which serves the greater Green Bay area by treating about 41 million gallons of wastewater every day.
While pollution from factories and other point sources has been greatly reduced, Sigmund said the focus has now shifted to storm water.
The COVID-19 pandemic also expanded the role of wastewater treatment.
“The pandemic enabled science to provide an early warning system to our communities of infections such as COVID-19 and now polio through wastewater analysis,” he explained. “We’ve been able to get a week or two early warning before the testing starts to show up.”
- From The Press Times, Oct. 24, 2022
NEW Water continues to participate in a wastewater study, learn more about the COVID in wastewater study here >>