The digital revolution has reached our utilities, but not everyone is taking advantage of how it can, for example, make water and wastewater cleaner, healthier, and more efficient. National news media seemingly report daily on U.S. infrastructure, but they rarely get down in the trenches with the public works professionals who are accomplishing so much. Three of them, who are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to better manage critical assets, tell their stories here.
Protecting the public health and ensuring water is safe to drink is the highest goal of water system managers. Negative health effects are indicated from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS). Based on lab studies, the U.S. EPA has issued a health advisory for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water of 70 parts per trillion. While health advisories are not enforceable, they offer a margin of safety for consumers.
There is little doubt that America’s infrastructure is aging, and in some cases, operating well beyond its originally intended lifespan. With labor costs representing up to half of the cost of pipe replacement, the key to cost-effective water and wastewater utility strategies revolves as much around labor-saving installation efficiency as it does around the physical performance of a particular material. Here is a look at historic failure rates, causes, and factors to consider when replacing existing water distribution and sewer networks.
Inflow and infiltration (I&I) are ongoing concerns for many wastewater utilities. Even with diligent maintenance of infrastructure, there are limits to what can be controlled. One example of that is leakage in the lateral service lines connecting the sewer utility’s main to sewer customer buildings. Here is how one municipality took advantage of federal and local funding to encourage nearly 2,500 customers to upgrade deficient connections in their lateral service lines — to the tune of more than $4 million.
Texans are no stranger to the devastation of hurricanes. I still vividly remember, as a young child in Austin, being scared of Alicia in 1983 — and thankful that we lived at the top of the hill. Alicia caused nearly $2 billion in damages, a record at the time, and the category 3 storm was so destructive that its name was retired. But only a few years later, that record was broken...
Wastewater professionals are always under pressure to save costs while improving treatment. So, new technology that helps to accomplish these goals is always welcome. Wastewater equipment and treatment methodologies are becoming more effective and efficient, providing valuable solutions for utilities and industries.
In just eight years at DC Water, which provides drinking water, sewage collection, and sewage treatment in Washington, D.C., serving more than 600,000 residents, George Hawkins transformed the utility from insular and guarded to open and innovative.
It’s no secret that the U.S. EPA has changed course in the last year. But how have those changes affected local water and wastewater treatment operations? And how are those operations going to evolve along with the federal agency?
PFC contamination is the number one drinking water issue today. So how are local and federal leaders working to put an end to it?
As regulations on chlorinated disinfection byproducts and total residual chlorine become increasingly stringent, peracetic acid (PAA) is gaining in both interest and usage as a water reclamation disinfectant. Here’s what you need to know.
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