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
TrojanUV systems are installed for water providers who are adopting wastewater reuse to conserve natural drinking water supplies.
Harmsco has developed a higher capacity filter housing that is BABA compliant, and it is available in a 3X, as well as a 5X model.
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.
Air stripping technology effectively removes VOCs, THMs, and CO2 for improved adherence to water quality regulations.
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-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.
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![getty-1207629538-guessing]( "In The Age Of PFAS, Water Treatment Designers Can't Afford To Guess")
Relying on assumptions when designing water treatment systems creates unnecessary financial and operational risks. Adopting predictive modeling and data-driven testing provides the precise, actionable insights required to optimize performance, manage costs, and ensure compliance.
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![wet-well-mounted-pump-station-450x300]( "From Depths To New Heights: Revolutionizing Wastewater Pumping With Above-Ground Technology")
Read this article for an overview of key advantages, as well as examples of how communities have achieved cost savings by moving towards above-ground systems.
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![GettyImages-1337410437 450x300]( "EDL, MDL And LOQ: Understanding Detection Limits In Water Analysis")
Understanding the distinct boundaries between theoretical detection, laboratory capabilities, and reliable quantification ensures defensible water-quality reporting. Master these analytical metrics to select appropriate methods and avoid overstating data certainty in compliance reporting.
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![water-quality-importance-gettyimages-1151830392-170667a]( "Is Your Water Undermining Your Results?")
Water is often chosen by availability rather than application. Defining it as a controlled process parameter targets a variability source that routinely escapes root cause analysis.
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![getty-1314144854-AI-water-robot-hand]( "Scaling Water Reuse: New State Regulatory Guides And What They Mean For Treatment Design")
Emerging state water reuse regulations are driving adoption of ozone and advanced oxidation, requiring flexible, high-performance systems to meet pathogen, trace organic, and DBP control objectives.
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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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![med-device-GettyImages-2211671827]( "ISO 18562 Series 2024: Essential Updates And Testing Requirements")
Taking a proactive approach to compliance can help minimize regulatory risks, avoid submission delays, and ensure continued market access.
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![GettyImages-614956020 textile factory]( "Color Consistency In UHMWPE Medical Textiles")
Color consistency improves surgical visibility, differentiation, and workflow efficiency, requiring medical textiles that deliver strength, compliance, and reliable quality in every color.
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![GettyImages-2173433148 pfas]( "AEC PFAS Removal System Reduces PFAS Contamination In New Jersey")
This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of a new technology for removing PFAS from well water to below the EPA’s detection limits.
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![getty-1417080439-water-droplet]( "How Climate Change Is Reshaping Surface Water Treatment Plant Design")
Climate change is expanding source water variability beyond historical limits, forcing treatment plants to design for wider conditions—and making digital planning essential for resilient infrastructure decisions.
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![DJI_0091]( "What Experience Taught Medford About AMI")
See how Medford, Massachusetts, used years of AMI experience to prioritize reliability, improve leak detection, enhance billing accuracy, and guide future infrastructure decisions.
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![KASCO_CertiSafe_SM50_0.5HP-3]( "Challenges In Ensuring Long-Term Water Quality (And How To Address Them)")
Read about how mixers help prevent stratification, maintain consistent disinfectant distribution, and reduce sediment buildup, thereby mitigating public health risks associated with water storage.
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![clinical-trial-tech]( "The Site's Guide To Recovering Clinical Technology Costs From Sponsors")
Gain sponsor approval by positioning technology as key to streamlined workflows, compliance, and patient safety — reducing risk and improving collaboration. Explore strategies now.
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![optimizing ozone systems]( "Optimizing Ozone Systems For Bromate Control And Water Quality Enhancement In High-Bromide Groundwater Treatment")
Learn how utilities can control bromate formation, optimize ozone treatment performance, and achieve regulatory compliance through improved monitoring, hydraulics, and system design.
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![Scientists In Lab Working Together On Digital Tablet GettyImages-893884830]( "To 10X & Beyond, AgentV™-DSP Arrives Ready To Rock")
Filter fouling has limited exosome therapeutic scalability—until now. Explore how a breakthrough reagent achieves 50% particle recovery versus 5% traditionally, enabling affordable clinical manufacturing.
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![Scientists working in lab-GettyImages-542935478]( "Cell Culture Media Mixing In A Benchtop Single-Use Mixer")
Explore how efficient powder-liquid mixing and sterile filtration preserve media integrity and support reproducibility in biopharmaceutical workflows, with promising scalability for larger-volume applications.
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![GettyImages-2215992037 fresno]( "How Fresno Turned An Inherited LCRI Backlog Into A Model Compliance Program")
How one utility turned a backlog they didn't create into a program they're proud of.
