ASSET MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

• Emerging Technologies In Municipal Water Treatment: Trends And Challenges For Utility Operators

  The technology landscape for municipal water and wastewater treatment spans everything from inline water quality monitoring to industrial waste reuse program integration. Each category brings measurable operational benefits and real implementation hurdles. Here’s what operators need to know.

• Applying Two Flood Models To Cross-Check And Improve Each Other — And Maybe Saving A Downstream Village In The Process

  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.

• Heavy Rain On Snow Is Testing Aging Dams Across Michigan And Wisconsin — This Is The Future In A Warming World

  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.
• Q&A: Inside A Municipal Water Deal That Didn't Happen — And Why That Matters

  After initially voting for it, the Rahway (NJ) Municipal Council reversed course and canceled its bid process for the potential sale of the city’s water utility. As more municipalities explore alternative ownership, financing, or partnership models to address aging water infrastructure, Rahway’s experience offers a useful case study in how quickly these processes can shift — and why — explored in this Q&A with Obermayer’s Tom Wyatt.
• Critical Infrastructure Fails The Way It's Funded

  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.
• Geotechnical IoT Shifts Water Infrastructure From Reactive To Predictive

  Currently, water infrastructure is outdated and fragile, prone to breakages and leaks. Reactive approaches to water infrastructure are only implemented after an incident and are more expensive than simple maintenance fixes. Geotechnical Internet of Things (IoT) devices enable water and wastewater industry professionals to identify and address issues before they escalate into catastrophic events.

• Designing Wastewater Projects That Align With Multi-Year Capital Improvement Plans

  Successful wastewater infrastructure requires aligning engineering decisions with long-term capital improvement cycles. By prioritizing phased adaptability and modular design, utilities can manage staged funding effectively while ensuring systems remain scalable for future regulatory and growth demands.

• What Small Municipal Utilities Get Wrong About 'Right-Sizing' Treatment Plants

  Traditional wastewater plant design often relies on outdated flow assumptions, leading to oversized, inefficient systems. Prioritizing actual usage data and modular scalability ensures operational stability and fiscal responsibility, protecting small communities from the long-term burdens of overbuilt infrastructure.

• Cybersecurity Best Practices For Private Utilities

  Digital connectivity in decentralized water systems creates new vulnerabilities for private utilities. Protecting critical infrastructure requires proactive "cyber hygiene," including network segmentation and rigorous access controls, to ensure operational uptime and prevent unauthorized system interference.

• Solving Cavitation Challenges: Understanding Low NPSH Pump Design In Modern Systems

  Understanding how low Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) pump designs work, and why they matter, requires stepping back from component-level thinking to look at how pumps interact with the supply systems.