Exploring More Natural Solutions To The Algae Bloom Threat Harmful algae blooms continue to emerge as a greater threat to water resources, but the traditional use of chemicals in treatment can present its own problems. Chemicals break the cells of the algae, releasing their toxins into the water table. An alternative technology, ultrasound, applies pressure to cut the cell off from its sunlight energy source and kill it more naturally. In this Water Talk interview, Greg Eiffert, director of LG Sonic U.S.  Continue Reading...

Foresight Reduces Risk, Boosts Resilience, Identifies Opportunity If forewarned is forearmed, then monitoring risk, resilience assessment, and emergency planning are essential to keeping water flowing in the face of surprise developments. At ACE19, Bentley Systems’ Senior Product Manager Tom Walski shared how the company’s modeling software running as a “digital twin” for water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure systems is helping utilities improve daily operation resilience,...  Continue Reading...

New AMI Capabilities Help Satisfy Utility Aims Finding new ways to capture and utilize data is important for utilities looking to improve operating efficiency and customer service. This interview with Frank Brooks and Dave Rubin from Aclara — a smart-infrastructure solutions partner for water, gas, and/or electric utilities — outlines ways to do both within a common infrastructure.  Continue Reading...

How To Turn Data Into A Difference-Maker With the proliferation of sensors, data collection, and cloud storage, there is the potential for operational insight heretofore never available, and the opportunity will only expand as the technology evolves and the Internet of Things becomes, well, more of a thing. But data is only truly useful if it informs decision-making that results in positive impact — for an organization's bottom line, its personnel, its customers, or even the...  Continue Reading...

Capacitive Deionization Takes Off Capacitive deionization (CDI), sometimes called electrochemical demineralization, is referred to as Radial Deionization (RDI) by Atlantis Technologies, which has developed a proprietary form of the process. If you haven't heard of it by any name, or would like to know more about its considerable treatment capabilities, tune into this interview with Patrick Curran,  Continue Reading...

Filtration For A New Era Filtration has been around for a long, long time, so it may be that most treatment plant operators feel pretty informed about its capabilities. But hearing from Brian Frewerd, Director of Application Engineering with Parkson Corporation and Water Talk guest, will likely prove enlightening. Frewerd provides background on sand filtration for tertiary treatment applications, followed by insight on notable technology improvements and performance...  Continue Reading...

New Trends In Outsourcing Water And Wastewater Services The business of water and wastewater is critical, but expertise in this area is finite — thus the trend towards outsourcing water operations, particularly in the industrial market. Whether it's securing and optimizing water use, running treatment equipment, sustainably releasing or reusing the water, capturing energy from it, or all of the above, it's often a wise business move to turn to experts. In this Water Talk interview,...  Continue Reading...

Turning Pumps Into Smart Drives Nicole George, Product Manager - Pumping Variable Frequency Drives with Eaton, starts this Water Talk discussion with a description of the Internet of Things (IoT) before going deep on capabilities, particularly with pumping systems and variable frequency drives (VFDs). Learn how IoT-enabled pumps can help manage operation more efficiently and save on labor costs with cloud-connected, VFD-powered data analytics and health monitoring.  Continue Reading...

The Electrical Side Of Water The cost of operations is a rising concern for many water utilities, in addition to the chief concern of treating to regulations and protecting the environment. What may be overlooked, however, is the importance of power management to help achieve these objectives. In this Water Talk interview, Eaton Corporation's Joel Benzing explains how intelligent electrical infrastructure can help enhance plant productivity and efficiency by aiding,...  Continue Reading...

Less And More: Biological Nutrient Removal With Granular Sludge Many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are facing stricter limits on nutrient discharges, yet each plant and situation is different and solutions are not one-size-fits-all. Bryce Figdore, Wastewater Process Engineer with HDR and Water Talk podcast guest, talks about another tool at utilities' disposal — nitrification bioaugmentation using granular sludge.  Continue Reading...