Kevin Westerling Articles

51. Calling On Utilities To Combat Legionella 5/5/2022

    The risk level linked to delivered drinking water from municipal utilities is very small, even if some high-profile examples of failure (see Flint, MI) have degraded public confidence to a degree. Our treatment professionals usually hit their targets, so the onus then shifts to the research and guidance that determines the safe level of various constituents through U.S. EPA protocols. But there is one contaminant that rulemaking hasn’t quite caught up to and which is downright deadly — Legionella pneumophila.

52. Reconsidering 'Environmental Racism' 3/23/2022

    Water Online recently published an article for Water Innovations on environmental racism — Environmental Racism In America: How It's Affecting Vulnerable Communities — and I paused during the editing process to consider watering down the key phrase to "environmental injustice" before ultimately deciding that I might also be watering down the transgression itself. However, the very consideration made me wonder why I had the instinct to tone it down in the first place.

53. 100 Days And Many Ways To Cybersecurity 3/10/2022

    A Q&A with Riggs Eckelberry, founder and CEO of OriginClear, on the need to improve cybersecurity at water and wastewater utilities, which has elicited action from the Biden administration and everyday operators alike.

54. In 2022, Water Quality Gets The Attention It's Due 1/12/2022

    With the funding brought forth by the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed late last year, as well as aggressive policies and regulation to rid water supplies of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and lead, 2022 shapes up as the year we finally address our industry’s most troubling and challenging contamination issues in a meaningful way.

55. How Should Infrastructure Funding Be Prioritized? 11/11/2021

    With the $1.2-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill finally passed following lengthy congressional negotiations, U.S. water and wastewater utilities are in line to get help for solving some longstanding issues, from crumbling pipes and outdated treatment plants to modernizing operations for efficiency and resiliency.

56. Solving Water Scarcity With Reuse — The Tale Of Tucson 11/1/2021

    Two water leaders from Tucson, AZ, reveal how big cities can thrive in the desert, even amid  historic drought.

57. Powering Up: Perspective On America's Infrastructure Plan 9/7/2021

    Envisioning an America where every community has access to clean water and resources to live a quality life is pretty powerful — and it is enough inspiration to power a transformation that could make America’s future much stronger.

58. The Shape Of Water, Starring AWWA's Tracy Mehan 7/6/2021

    If water-industry superstars were celebrated like entertainers, an introduction to G. Tracy Mehan III wouldn’t be necessary. But water, as industry veterans know, doesn’t quite get the attention it deserves … until services are threatened. At that point, as all along, we turn to our water leaders for answers.

59. How To Address Your (Water) Sensitivity 5/3/2021

    As I monitor the daily flow (pardon the pun) of water-industry news, product launches, and initiatives for special coverage on Water Online and in Water Innovations, a basic investigative question is “Who is this intended for?” When the opportunity arose to interview Gemma Dunn, the integrated water management service line coordinator with GHD North America, about GHD’s new Water Sensitive Cities Index, I soon came to a new question: What city isn’t water sensitive?

60. Pride And Joy: Water Leadership Defined 3/8/2021

    Despite overseeing our most precious resource, water professionals often go unnoticed, and hence unappreciated. To that end, it’s my pleasure to highlight the efforts, accomplishments, and insights of industry leaders such as Joy Eldredge, chair of the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association.