ARTICLES BY KEVIN WESTERLING

• Down And Dirty With Digital: How AI Enhances Water Infrastructure Fieldwork

  1/14/2026

  Fieldwork is at the heart of infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation, as utilities, engineers, and contractors collaborate to build the systems and structures that treat and move water. The opportunity is great, but so are the challenges. Which is why new, digitally-enhanced tools are needed.

• 2026 Water Utility Outlook: Regulation, AI, And Resilience In The Face Of Scarcity

  11/12/2025

  Global Water Outcomes expert notes that “water utilities are facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities,” citing the role of digital solutions moving forward.
• HAAs In The EU: Monitoring For Haloacetic Acids Under The Drinking Water Directive

  11/7/2025

  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.”
• When Chemistry Meets Water Innovation

  10/30/2025

  Nobel-winning molecular materials are poised to reinvent purification, desalination, and reuse.

• Securing Smart Water

  9/5/2025

  The digital transformation of utilities is necessary and inevitable but also innately vulnerable to bad actors. It's time to discuss prioritizing cybersecurity.

• A New Power Paradigm For Wastewater Utilities?

  7/3/2025

  Renewable energy is great for the environment. Are power purchase agreements great for wastewater treatment operations?

• Homing In On Leaks: Rethinking AMI's Role In Water Conservation

  5/7/2025

  New research indicates that the targeted deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) in leak-prone households, leveraging near real-time water use monitoring, could maximize their value.
• How To Set Realistic Targets To Reduce Non-Revenue Water

  5/2/2025

  Data-gathering is key to goal-setting, and is achievable in 5 steps.

• Building Back Better?

  5/2/2025

  Every four years, America gets a fresh reminder of where we stand as a nation, for better or worse. What have we reaped this time around?

• Cybersecurity For The Win: How Water Utilities Can Embrace Digital Technology

  3/6/2025

  Water and wastewater system operators are known to be a careful lot. Tightly regulated by the U.S. EPA and state agencies — and committed to public health — they cannot afford mistakes. This often results in "tried-and-true" methodologies winning out over innovative solutions, but the incredible upside offered by digital technologies has encouraged a wave of cyber adoption. Almost cruelly, it comes with cyber threats.

• Closing The Workforce Skills Gap On Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning At Water Utilities

  2/21/2025

  Although artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have been under development and talked about for years, the practical implementation of these technologies came fast and furious. Now, with their rapid growth across all industries, many are feeling overwhelmed — especially water workers. This Q&A explores how and why utilities should embrace AI and ML.
• Building Tomorrow's Wastewater Treatment Systems... And Workforce

  1/17/2025

  Engineering Tomorrow, a national education nonprofit dedicated to fostering a more diverse and expansive engineering workforce, recently engaged thousands of students across the country in an interactive lab on wastewater treatment and related careers in partnership with Engineers Without Borders USA.

• 2025 Water Forecast: Transition, Changes, And Trends

  1/7/2025

  Hmmm … what’s new for 2025? That's asked with a hint of knowing sarcasm, as the incoming presidential administration promises to disrupt the status quo. The change in direction for environmental policy, including impacts on regulations as well as traditional and human infrastructure, has yet to fully reveal itself.
• Monitoring Know-How For PFAS Regulations

  10/31/2024

  A Q&A to explain and resolve issues confronting water suppliers as they endeavor to comply with the monitoring requirements of federal PFAS regulations.