WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES, INSIGHTS, AND ANALYSIS
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![glass vial containing water and micro plastic pieces of pollution-GettyImages-2191203025]( "Microplastics: Small Particles, Bigger Questions")
Microplastics: Small Particles, Bigger QuestionsNew research suggests that microplastics can generate reactive chemicals in water, offering a possible explanation for their effects on living things.
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![algae_Getty-1399600452]( "Tackling Lake Erie's Algal Blooms Requires Targeted Conservation Strategies")
Tackling Lake Erie's Algal Blooms Requires Targeted Conservation StrategiesAlgal blooms in Lake Erie remind us how closely food production and clean water are connected. Many of these nutrients come from nearby farms, and the challenge is keeping them out of waterways.
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![El Nino Tropical Storms-GettyImages-2288246001]( "After The Fire: What The 2026 Wildfires And El Niño Could Mean For U.S. Lakes And Reservoirs In 2027")
After The Fire: What The 2026 Wildfires And El Niño Could Mean For U.S. Lakes And Reservoirs In 2027 In July, smoke from Canadian wildfires spread across the upper Midwest and Northeast. Now a strengthening El Niño is set to influence the coming winter. Both events matter to lake and reservoir managers because their effects on water quality will continue to emerge long after the skies clear or the El Niño passes. -
![spectro-lyser-measurement_450x300]( "Minneapolis Flexes Its Mussels For Source Water Monitoring Solution")
Minneapolis Flexes Its Mussels For Source Water Monitoring SolutionProtecting municipal drinking water requires rapid visibility into changing surface source conditions. Discover how combining biological indicators with continuous inline spectrometry delivers real-time contamination alerts, preventing costly treatment plant shutdowns and safeguarding consumer health.
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![full-scale-dexsorb-AS]( "DEXSORB® Treatment At Groundwater Pump Station")
DEXSORB® Treatment At Groundwater Pump StationDiscover how upgrading existing filter infrastructure with advanced adsorbent media provided over 600 days of continuous PFAS removal, treating millions of gallons of contaminated groundwater to achieve strict drinking water compliance.
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![dexsorb-pilot-system-AL]( "DEXSORB® Treatment Of Surface Water For Gravity System")
DEXSORB® Treatment Of Surface Water For Gravity SystemDiscover how a dual-vessel lead-lag media system achieved continuous non-detect levels for target legacy contaminants, treating over 250,000 gallons of surface water to support regulatory compliance and municipal drinking water goals.
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![contaminated drinking water-GettyImages-2178373987]( "Pretreatment Systems Enable Complete And More Economical PFAS Solutions")
Pretreatment Systems Enable Complete And More Economical PFAS Solutions For operators looking to optimize their PFAS removal systems, controlling the presence of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) offers an approach to minimizing operational costs due to granular activated carbon (GAC) reactivation and ion exchange media change-out. -
![black dry granular carbon-GettyImages-1347989966]( "What Utilities Don't Know About GAC Reuse For PFAS")
What Utilities Don't Know About GAC Reuse For PFAS For utilities building PFAS treatment systems, thermal reactivation of spent granular activated carbon (GAC) may sound like the obvious answer. However, service provider availability and location, specific media acceptance criteria including quantity thresholds, restrictions on GAC type and condition, and regulatory uncertainty can all determine whether reuse is a viable option. -
![PFAS Label on hundred dollar bill-GettyImages-2193126716]( "The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window")
The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window For years, the water industry's PFAS conversation centered on monitoring, testing, and regulatory anticipation. Today, that phase is largely over. -
![environmental monitoring sedimentation, sludge filtration-GettyImages-2286130662]( "PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It?")
PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It? For several years, the PFAS conversation has centered on treatment options, testing, and funding. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint. Most utilities already understand the treatment routes available to them; the real challenge now is moving from technical possibility to operational performance, and that depends entirely on people.
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
What is water reuse?
Water reuse is the process of treating and reclaiming water from various sources for practical purposes, including groundwater recharge, industrial applications, wetland restoration, agricultural irrigation, public access area uses, as well as drinking water applications. By reusing water, communities can reduce dependence on traditional water supplies, avoid costly imported water from 3rd party providers, and improve resilience in water systems. Thanks to progress in water treatment technology, along with economic and regulatory incentives, water recycling has become a cost-effective and sustainable solution to meet the growing demand for highly treated water and overcome supply shortages during droughts.
There are three primary types of water reuse: Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR), Direct Potable Reuse (DPR), and Non-Potable. In IPR reuse systems, advanced treated water is either injected into an environmental buffer (groundwater, river, or reservoir) before being extracted again for use, whereas DPR is directly blended into the drinking water treatment plant or distribution system. Non-potable water is not intended for human consumption and can be used for irrigation, industrial processes, laundry, or toilet flushing.
Advanced treatment technologies, such as membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet disinfection, ozonation, and advanced oxidation processes (AOP), play a crucial role in ensuring the quality and safety of reclaimed water.
Why reuse water?
As water scarcity continues to rise, water reuse is an essential strategy for creating a more sustainable future. The use of recycled water reduces the demand for freshwater sources, which are becoming increasingly scarce due to population growth, climate change, and other factors.
Here are some key benefits of water reuse:
- Safeguard quality and resilience: Reused water is purified well beyond drinking water standards, improving resilience and ensuring quality for both potable and even non-potable purposes.
- Uphold safety: Treatment processes like ozone and ultraviolet light can be used to disinfect or break down complex contaminants, ensuring water is pathogen-free and concentrations are below maximum contaminant levels (MCL).
- Ensure cost savings and efficiency: After treating a waste stream to discharge level, it may require less treatment to bring it to reuse standards, making reuse not only environmentally responsible but also cost-effective in many scenarios and locations.
- Conserve traditional water supplies: By reusing water, we can lessen our reliance on conventional water resources like rivers, lakes, and aquifers, thereby conserving them for future generations.
- Reduce carbon footprint: Water reclamation is often more efficient than treating a raw water resource, which can lessen environmental impact.
- Enable versatility and customization: Advanced treatment systems are tailored to meet specific needs for a variety of sectors, including industrial, urban, agricultural, and public access area uses.
How to reuse water
The major aim of every reuse project is to minimize human health risk associated with the use or consumption of reclaimed water. While the exact treatment requirements depend upon the source water quality and the reuse purpose, to be cost-effective, the treatment must be energy efficient and have a high-water yield.
An adequate treatment design plan depends on the application the water will be used in. In non-potable applications, normally filtration and disinfection will suffice, while potable reuse generally requires a combination of advanced treatment processes such as membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, disinfection, and/or advanced oxidation.
Xylem has brands and solutions to fit every stage of the water reuse process:
- beginning with the transport of raw sewage and wastewater with Xylem brands like Flygt
- to secondary treatment to remove most dissolved and suspended organic matter and nutrients with brands like Sanitaire and Envirex
- to tertiary stages that remove residual particulate matter, nutrients, TDS, and nematode eggs with brands like Leopold and Davco
- along with disinfection and advanced oxidation that inactivates pathogens, and breaks down trace constituents and emerging contaminants of concern with brands like Wedeco, ETS-UV, ATG UV Systems, Pacific Ozone, and Wallace & Tiernan
- and finally, digital solutions like YSI, OI Analytical, Xylem Vue that leverage remote monitoring, alerts, and data analytics for proactive and predictive maintenance
Based on practical knowledge from decades of combined brand experience, thousands of installations worldwide, and strengths in powerful R&D innovation, our team looks at the entire wastewater process at your plant. We will work with your consulting engineer and State regulators to integrate the right technologies to meet your intended targets. Modular design makes it easy to fit your requirements now and easily expand to meet your future needs.
Water reuse partnership
Though Xylem has teams of specialists, years of expertise, deep understanding of water regulations, and a broad solutions portfolio, we understand the complexities of water systems and the potential to partner with various water treatment experts. Xylem has partnered with hundreds of different firms around the globe to ensure the most efficient and viable water systems for communities and municipalities.
Our goal is to thoroughly understand each project, determine the best methods, and customize optimal solutions that meet local regulations and requirements while delivering resiliency, quality, and cost savings.
Let us be your partner in making every drop count. Contact us today to discuss your project needs.
Coal-fired power plants generate coal fines and coal ash from a number of sources, including coal combustion residuals (CCR), particularly fly and bottom ash from coal furnaces, and coal pile runoff during rain events. In support of an industry-wide effort to reduce, improve, and remove coal ash ponds, a variety of technologies have been tested and employed. Read the full application note to learn more.
Endress+Hauser offers a complete assortment of compact thermometers, modular thermometers, thermowells, measurement inserts, transmitters and accessories for all types of process industries such as Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Food & Beverage, Life Sciences, Primaries & Metal, Power & Energy.
VIEWS ON THE LATEST REGS
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![PFAS Label on hundred dollar bill-GettyImages-2193126716]( "The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window")
For years, the water industry's PFAS conversation centered on monitoring, testing, and regulatory anticipation. Today, that phase is largely over. -
![PFAS regulatory requirement-GettyImages-2220893562]( "EPA Seeks Court‑Ordered Removal Of 4 PFAS Limits")
The U.S. EPA is testing a new procedural strategy to remove four PFAS drinking‑water limits from ongoing litigation, asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to invalidate those limits on the grounds that the EPA itself committed a procedural misstep when issuing the 2024 PFAS rule. -
![Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA molecules-GettyImages-2179084012]( "Putting The National Toxicology Program's Fluoride Review In Context")
Despite renewed public concern over fluoride and cognition, the National Toxicology Program’s findings focus on high‑fluoride groundwater conditions — not the controlled levels used in U.S. drinking water systems. Understanding that distinction is critical for utilities navigating policy questions and community expectations. -
![running faucet-GettyImages-175426122]( "HAAs In The EU: Monitoring For Haloacetic Acids Under The Drinking Water Directive")
In this Q&A, Dr. Elke Süss of Metrohm addresses the urgent need for haloacetic acid testing in response to “one of the most significant updates to EU drinking water monitoring in recent years.” -
![questionmarks_Getty-1908249816]( "PFAS Unpacked: Experts Answer Questions On EPA Rules, Funding, Treatment, And More")
With the U.S. EPA's PFAS rules now in place, utilities are finding themselves with a growing number of questions regarding how to treat these chemicals, the potential costs, and much more. For answers, Water Online's chief editor, Kevin Westerling, hosted an Ask Me Anything session featuring Ken Sansone, Senior Partner at SL Environmental Law Group; Kyle Thompson, National PFAS Lead at Carollo Engineers; and Lauren Weinrich, Principal Scientist at American Water.
MORE WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES
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![GettyImages-1477150258 palm trees sunset california]( "Restoring Groundwater Supplies Through Advanced Contaminant Removal")
When industrial plumes compromise critical aquifers, advanced UV-oxidation processes permanently destroy highly carcinogenic NDMA and resilient 1,4-dioxane, restoring millions of gallons of daily drinking water while reducing facility energy consumption by over eighty percent.
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![GettyImages-1497639284 water spout]( "The Evolution And Impact Of PFAS Regulations")
In this article, Transcend will break down the evolution and impact of PFAS regulations over the years while suggesting innovative technology to assist the affected industries.
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![GettyImages-2176324258 HPLC liquid chromotography]( "The Afterlife Of PFAS: Solving A Problem That Doesn't End")
Managing persistent water contaminants requires shifting from temporary removal to complete lifecycle destruction. Sustainable remediation strategies target upstream industrial discharge and concentrate waste streams to permanently safeguard drinking water sources from re-contamination.
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![Calcon Carbon]( "Protecting Communities With Calgon Carbon's AquaKnight™ Technology")
Calgon Carbon’s AquaKnight GC systems are designed from the top down to improve flow, adsorption, and media life.
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![GettyImages-452097895_cleanwater]( "Why UV-AOP Is Becoming A Cornerstone For Potable Reuse")
UV-AOP can provide a critical treatment barrier for potable reuse, while demonstration skids help utilities validate performance under site-specific conditions before committing to full-scale systems.
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![Transferring And Validating Your Lab-Based Test Onto A Lateral Flow Device]( "Filters For Medical Device Reprocessing")
Enhance medical device reprocessing with multi-stage filtration that reduces bacteria and contaminants, limits recontamination risk, protects device integrity, and supports safer infection control.
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![GettyImages-2210692246-building-blocks-emissions-sustainability]( "Scope 3 Emissions: A Shared Challenge, A Collective Responsibility")
Despite growing sustainability efforts, our industry lags in climate goals, especially Scope 3 emissions. Discover why bold action and deep collaboration across the value chain are essential for real progress.
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![GettyImages-1311977468 site payments]( "2025 Clinical Trial Payment Tax Implications Explained")
Flat-rate clinical trial payments are often taxable in the U.S., while reimbursements are not. Unclear tax rules can impact participant trust, site communication, and trial retention.
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![getty-2168071798-pfas-water-droplets]( "Designing For What's Next: Futureproofing For PFAS")
PFAS rules are shifting fast. Learn how utilities can futureproof treatment strategies with flexible designs, smart staging, and emerging technologies — avoiding stranded assets and staying ahead of tomorrow’s regulations.
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![GettyImages-1404630831_450_300]( "5 Misconceptions About PFAS Removal Technologies")
This article will explore five common misconceptions about GAC and IX technologies for PFAS removal, helping utilities choose effective, site-specific treatment strategies for contaminated drinking water.
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![wtp-1391161353]( "How Utilities, Engineers, And Manufacturers Can Overcome Mounting PFAS Compliance Workloads")
Recent federal PFAS regulations will overwhelm consulting engineers, water and wastewater utilities, and equipment manufacturers as thousands of utilities work to comply. Generative design can enable these parties to meet the workload demand and deadlines.
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![Samsung Bioreactor Image thumb]( "Understanding And Mitigating Oxygen Heterogeneity In Large-Scale Bioreactors")
Oxygen heterogeneity, caused by pressure variations and other factors in large-scale bioreactors, can significantly impact cell growth and product yield.
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![Female researcher analyzing scientific samples-GettyImages-2231025177]( "Increase Throughput For Intact Mass Confirmation And Impurity Screening")
Accelerate intact mass analysis of GLP-1 analogues with automated purity calculations, sub-ppm mass accuracy, and impurity detection for consistent results in under one minute per sample.
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![performance-testing]( "Municipal Water Treatment: A Look At The Advantages Of Performance Testing For Powdered Activated Carbon")
Evaluating Powdered Activated Carbon through site-specific performance testing allows water utilities to optimize chemical dosing based on real-world efficacy rather than upfront price, preventing costly operational strains and ensuring reliable contaminant removal.
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![pulsafeeder-idex]( "How Does Eclipse Pro™ Achieve Constant Flow Rates?")
Rotary gear pump design holds flow steady as pressure shifts, pairing integrated digital monitoring with predictive diagnostics and service intervals measured in years rather than months for chemical dosing.
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![GettyImages-1473439906 carbon]( "When Granular Activated Carbon Isn't Enough: Optimize Performance With A Multi-Barrier Approach")
Learn why GAC alone may fall short in PFAS treatment — and how utilities can future-proof performance with multi-barrier strategies that tackle short-chain compounds, regulatory shifts, and rising operational risks.
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![raciborz-450x300]( "Racibórz Waterworks Reduces Costs With Unified Enterprise SCADA")
Unifying fragmented industrial control platforms streamlines operational oversight across municipal water networks. Standardized graphic displays and redundant architectures cut hardware overhead, simplify compliance reporting, and ensure continuous visibility during critical process shifts.
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![GettyImages-1462148610 Engineers Using Laptop In Factory]( "The Engineer's Guide To Maximizing Dynamic Range In RF Testing")
Learn practical strategies for improving RF dynamic range through noise reduction, linearity optimization, filtering, calibration, and advanced signal conditioning techniques.
