12.04.23 -- Facilities And Safety Training Management

Reassessing the way we think about resilience in water management is imperative in order to change our ways and capitalize on innovation.

Approach your digital journey based on YOUR community’s needs

The water sector is at a moment of profound challenge and opportunity. As the sector takes on the escalating challenges of accessibility, affordability, and resilience against climate change, digital solutions have demonstrated the potential to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunity for transformation. For some utilities, transformation is well underway.

The label “digital” gets applied to a host of technologies and services deployed across clean water and wastewater operations – for example, using software to automate critical operational workflows within and outside of plants, using remote monitoring and control solutions to improve connectivity for workers and customers, and using software platforms to integrate utilities’ diverse IT infrastructures.

But there is no prescribed digital water journey. With more than 400,000 water, wastewater, and stormwater systems worldwide, digital adoption must address unique community-level challenges.

Each utility’s experience of digital transformation will be different. The common denominator is the value of data and digital technology – water, energy, and cost savings; greater operational and financial resilience; improved customer service; more rigorous regulatory compliance; and tools to address the challenges of an aging workforce.

This paper charts the digital journeys of 18 global water, wastewater, and stormwater utility leaders and the practical lessons they’ve learned that you can take advantage of at your utility.

The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer — a primary water source for small towns, rural water systems and farm irrigation in eastern Arkansas — is running dry. According to the Army Corps of Engineers’ website, a project study in the mid-1980s pointed out, and further studies have since shown, the region’s groundwater resources are rapidly shrinking.

Increased technology in water utility management presents the greatest opportunities for small to medium utilities where manpower and financial resources are the leanest.

While there are commonalities for the chief causes of burst pipes (i.e., frozen pipes, water pressure, corrosion, etc.), the impact of each pipe burst will vary depending on the burst size, duration, location, time of the day, and many other parameters.

Servicing more than 3,000 residents in the Greenfield Village and Copper Creek subdivisions in northwest Houston, TX, Harris County Utility District (UD 15) had an aging water metering system with numerous inefficiencies. As a result, the district was experiencing lost revenues and inaccurate meter readings. It was time to replace the system.