Regulation Updates For Utility Management

1. Water Utility OT vs. IT — It’s Not A Battle, It’s A Balance 1/14/2020

   The chemistry of optimizing water/wastewater treatment extends far beyond chlorine and oxygen. It also involves synthesizing productive insights from the flood of IT data generated by operational technology (OT) sensors, instruments, and control systems. Here’s how better operational intelligence strategies are helping IT and OT personnel collaborate to make processes more cost-efficient.

2. Why It’s Time To View Plastic Pipe In A Whole New Light 12/23/2019

   Because recent advances in plastic materials and processing have led to a new generation of plastic piping systems to handle challenging water and chemical environments, it is important to understand why some older piping choices might no longer be the best bet. Here are some key reasons to consider new plastic-piping choices for municipal and industrial water/wastewater applications in a whole new light.

3. Building A Better Plan To Cope With Major Water Leaks 12/18/2019

   It is perhaps a water utility manager’s greatest fear — a rupture in a major water distribution line. Although such occurrences are sometimes unavoidable, proper planning and preparation can go a long way toward easing the sting of such a major event. But where do you start? Here are some guidelines that can prevent the next such occurrence from becoming a 6 o’clock news nightmare.

4. What To Do When Your Water System Is Under Water 12/16/2019

   Much has been made about how climate change can limit the source water available to pump inside distribution pipelines. On the other hand, however, what can be done when climate change delivers too much water — in the form of flooding rains — on the outside of those pipelines? As is true for so many other water infrastructure scenarios, being prepared is half the battle. Here are some suggestions for weathering the storm.

5. Reduce Electricity Costs By Putting More Energy Into Data Analysis 12/2/2019

   With electricity consumption being a primary operating cost in water treatment and wastewater treatment, steps taken to optimize energy use are critical. Saving energy is more than just an on/off decision. Monitoring and managing energy use — from analyzing pump curves, to reducing non-revenue-water leaks, to scheduling operations around premium-rate windows — is essential. Fortunately, the payback potential can be impressive.

6. Managing Data To Maximize Asset Maintenance Efficiency 11/22/2019

   Although an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, all the money spent on regularly scheduled maintenance can add up to a ton of waste — and still result in unplanned downtime — if asset managers can’t reasonably differentiate between which equipment truly needs attention and which doesn’t. Fortunately, data-centric analytics derived from physical performance in real time can make that distinction. Here’s how.

7. 3 Ways Hach Has Made CL17 Chlorine Monitoring Even More Efficient 11/14/2019

   For more than 25 years, the Hach CL17 Colorimetric Chlorine Analyzer has been a well-established choice for continuous monitoring of free and total residual chlorine. Now, added connectivity, diagnostic, and maintenance features are making its trusted reliability and data accuracy more readily accessible and easier to manage than ever before. Here is how the experience of current users is being improved.

8. Striking An Ideal Balance In WTP/WWTP Chlorine Dosing 11/12/2019

   For managing chlorine feed rates, automated chlorine analysis has always offered advantages over manual grab samples and feed adjustments. Today, chlorine analyzers connected to cloud-based systems for integrated instrument, data, and process management are bringing new continual-sampling insights to water and wastewater treatment plants (WTPs/WWTPs).

9. Leveraging Connectivity For Improved Chlorine Analyzer Performance 11/11/2019

   While accurate instrument readings are important to water treatment plant (WTP) and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operators, having deeper understanding of plant operations is even more valuable. Here’s how intelligent networking capabilities are giving plant operators better understanding and control over their processes by enhancing instrumentation operation, data sharing, and maintenance management.

10. Evolution Of Pipeline Leak Detection 11/5/2019

    As the sheer number of pipelines crisscrossing the country continues to increase, there is an urgent need to ensure pipeline infrastructure safety. The age of many of the pipelines and the number of different products flowing makes this a challenging prospect. Now, new technology has been developed that meets the need for reliable protection that complies with regulatory requirements while eliminating false alarms.