Rhode Island Special Report

From Jimmy J. Folco Jr., RIRWA President

I would like to announce some exciting news for water and wastewater systems in Rhode Island. In the past, systems in Connecticut and Rhode Island were served by one combined association, the Atlantic States Rural Water Association (ASRWWA). We have been working in collaboration with the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) and ASRWWA to stand up two individual State Associations to better serve all system members. I am happy to announce this effort is well underway.

We in Rhode Island have filed our Articles of Incorporation with the Office of the Rhode Island Secretary of State and have been recognized as the Rhode Island Rural Water Association (RIRWA). We will be providing our membership uninterrupted services, training opportunities, and a plan for increased services in the coming weeks, months, and years. RIRWA has launched our official website; www.rirwa.org, where our current and prospective members will find and access much information.

Please feel free to address all questions regarding RIRWA by:
Email - RIRWA@RIRWA.org or jimmy@rirwa.org
Telephone - (401) 413-3871
Mail - 72 Evergreen Road North Kingstown, RI 02852

We currently conduct monthly in-person Board Meetings on the third Thursday of each month, and we do post notifications of these meetings publicly and will be posting notifications on our website. Please contact us for more detailed information.

As always, I encourage all interested system operators, managers and board members to contact us and get involved as little or as much as you wish, this is an association of the membership and for the membership.

Please view the flyer for our upcoming Mini Trade Show and first Annual Water Rally to be held on December 2, 2021.

We encourage your participation in this event, as this will be a great opportunity for you to get to know us and for us to get to know each of you and to help us better understand your individual needs that we may be able to assist with. We have several vendors that will be present at the show and to discuss the latest in equipment, materials, and technology. Also, it will give you a great opportunity to gain bragging rights as having the best tasting water in Rhode Island. The winner will be able to represent our state in Washington D.C. at the Annual National Rural Water Rally in February 2022, where you will be facing off against the rest of the country for the ultimate title of Best Tasting Water in America. We truly hope to see you all there.

We will be continuing the planning of our RIRWA Annual Conference to be held on April 22, 2022. We invite and encourage your involvement by sharing ideas and information so we can work together with membership to make this a successful and beneficial conference.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce our RIRWA Board of Directors to you:
President: Jimmy J. Folco Jr.
Vice President: Vacant
Secretary: Robert Ray
Treasurer: Justin D’Antonio
Director: Virginia Bragger
Director: James E. Hall

Thank you,

Jimmy J. Folco Jr.
President RIRWA