Resiliency

1. 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.

2. Understanding Urban Resilience And The Role Of Smart Water Networks 8/20/2024

   As cities grow and face environmental challenges, the concept of urban resilience becomes increasingly important. A recent study discusses the theoretical framework needed to build a smart water network that can enhance the resiliency of urban environments. It also reveals the critical technologies, including advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), that are key to pulling it all together.

3. Testing The (Storm)Waters 3/7/2024
   Heavy rains in California prove the worthiness of the "sponge city" concept.
4. Free Will And Cybersecurity 11/3/2023
   Even with federal regulations mandating action for municipal water and wastewater systems unfinished, the commitment to protect the public should compel utilities to improve cybersecurity.
5. Racing Towards Sustainability 9/8/2023

   As water and wastewater utilities come to grips with decarbonization, many have set ambitious targets to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals. To evaluate progress across the industry, global water technology company Xylem commissioned a survey of 100 utilities. I spoke with Austin Alexander, Xylem's VP of Sustainability and Social Impact, to break down the results and key trends driving a greener water industry.

6. Water Pros Remain Optimistic Despite Mounting Challenges 7/7/2023

   As they have for each of the last 20 years, AWWA published its State of the Water Industry Report recently, revealing the current concerns of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater professionals. The annual survey typically reveals plenty of year-over-year consistency, but this moment feels different.

7. Thoughts And Themes From The UN Water Conference 3/27/2023

   The UN 2023 Water Conference, one of the most significant water events of this or any year, was held March 22-24 at UN Headquarters in New York, co-hosted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Tajikistan, with online attendance from around the world pushing attendance to 10,000. During the conference, more than 700 commitments to “driving transformation from a global water crisis to a water-secure world” were made as part of the Water Action Agenda — what the UN called its “key outcome.”

8. Water Utilities vs. Climate Change: A Plan For Securing Our Future 7/15/2022

   The U.N.’s Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is widely considered to be the world’s foremost authority on what may be humankind’s most existential threat, and this year The Working Group II of the IPCC released its Sixth Assessment Report on the state of the crisis. It reviewed not only the impacts of climate change throughout ecosystems and communities, but also the “capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt.”

9. 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.

10. 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.