Wastewater Features

1. Why Energy Efficiency Is The Quietest Form Of Risk Management 5/7/2026

   For the better part of a decade, industrial electricity prices behaved like a slowly shifting floor. From 2016 through 2020, wholesale prices in most major markets were remarkably stable. A plant built in 2018 could reasonably expect its electricity costs to drift, not lurch, through the early 2020s. That baseline is gone.

2. The Devastating Legacy Of Algaecides: Why The Quick Fix Is Failing Our Lakes 5/6/2026
   As warmer months approach, water management professionals must confront the compounding consequences of biocidal algae treatments.
3. Applying Two Flood Models To Cross-Check And Improve Each Other — And Maybe Saving A Downstream Village In The Process 5/1/2026

   Getting a second opinion is a time-tested piece of wisdom. During a recent project for a municipal water supply utility, we found that this advice also applies to modeling the effects storms have on the municipality’s reservoirs and dams, and the potential flooding impacts downstream of the dams.

4. Mass Transfer Efficiency: The Most Important Metric In Ozone System Design 4/29/2026

   Ozone output doesn’t guarantee performance. Learn how mass transfer efficiency determines how much ozone dissolves, drives treatment results, and impacts energy use and system design.

5. Heavy Rain On Snow Is Testing Aging Dams Across Michigan And Wisconsin — This Is The Future In A Warming World 4/22/2026
   For much of Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as northern Illinois, 2026 has been the wettest March and April on record. The region’s aging water infrastructure was never designed for the volume of water it is facing. That’s a troubling sign for the future, with flooding becoming more common as global temperatures rise.
6. Beyond Clarification: Optimizing Polyacrylamide Selection For High-Complexity Industrial Wastewater Treatment 4/21/2026
   Polyacrylamide (PAM) selection in industrial wastewater treatment is frequently reduced to a trial-and-error exercise, resulting in reagent waste, inconsistent effluent quality, and inflated operating costs. This article presents a structured framework for PAM optimization across three critical variables — ionic charge density, molecular weight, and coagulant synergy.
7. The Pragmatic Shift In Source Water Protection: Moving From Symptom Management To Root-Cause Accountability 4/9/2026
   A shift in how we approach source water protection is long overdue. Currently, we are trapped in a cycle of escalating costs, forced to treat symptoms like algae and invasive weeds expediently with chemicals while the underlying risk in the reservoir compounds. True risk management requires breaking this cycle.
8. The AWWA Said $2.4 Trillion. It Missed The Compound Interest. 4/1/2026
   Einstein once said of compound interest, "He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it." The same logic of compounding applies to the organic sediment accumulating on the floor of your drinking water reservoir. The longer you wait to address it, the more exponentially expensive it becomes to fix.
9. Critical Infrastructure Fails The Way It's Funded 3/17/2026
   Our infrastructure systems have operated in managed deterioration for decades. And not surprisingly, once they deteriorate badly enough and cross over into active failure, all cost discipline disappears.
10. How Sewage Treatment Plants Could Handle Food Waste, Sparing Landfills And The Climate 3/13/2026

    Every day, food scraps disappear into trash bags, are hauled away, and forgotten. But that waste could be turned into something productive.