Water delivery in Austin, TX, was challenged by historic flooding in October, prompting an unusual turn of events for a major city.
New York American Water is under scrutiny for what public officials see as questionable charges on customer bills.
Did New York City officials fail to report evidence of water contamination?
Single-family homes in San Diego were overbilled by the city water department by more than $2 million last year, according to a new analysis.
In the age of water filters and pricey bottled water options, consumers may get confused about the best way to access drinking water.
New York state’s utility regulator is investigating New York American Water after around 100 customers alleged their bills had spiked after new water meters were installed.
Addressing past due accounts traditionally means sending out a crew to turn off the water and then sending them back to restore service when the bill is paid. This can create a less-than-ideal situation by generating significant labor costs while having a potentially negative impact on vulnerable populations. Fortunately, there is a newer method available to address revenue capture while providing enhanced customer service by avoiding a turnoff.
There’s been talk lately about empathy, its components and its general decline. A decline in empathy concerns me as an assistant professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability: I study how people cope with water problems or learn to share scarce resources, like water, gas, oil, and energy.
If a water utility is going to use digital communication to enhance the customer experience, it needs to ensure that it does so as seamlessly as possible.
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.
Smart meters offer a wealth of benefits for water utilities and their customers, but anyone performing an online search will quickly feel there is a sense of uproar over their use. The truth, however, is that public health officials around the world have deemed smart meters safe. Understanding what’s behind the objections and knowing how to respond is a key to winning support for the implementation of smart meter technology.
Environmental Health Assessments (EHAs) are used to better understand the range of possible effects of environmental factors on a community’s health and wellbeing. These assessments are defined by EPA researchers as “methodical evaluations of air, water, and soil pollution impacts on human health and the environment.”
It all started with Mark Twain. Or someone who actually wasn't Mark Twain after all.
Remember when Legos were introduced as simple rectangular and square plastic bricks you used to build walls and towers?
“How can a coastal city that is flanked by an almost endless bank of water have water scarcity problems?”
Rosy-cheeked children and romantic-eyed couples bundled up and laughing as they enjoy a skate around the frozen pond. It’s an iconic and idyllic vision every winter. But this fairytale-like scene “frosts over” significant issues faced by water companies and conservationists, not to mention homeowners and other types of service providers.
The WATERFLUX 3050 is an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) for basic water applications. It offers cost-effective flow measurement in applications where extremely high accuracy, extensive diagnostics or a wide range of digital communication options are not a priority. Its measuring tube with a rectangular and reduced cross-section enables a stable measurement even at low flow rates. Due to the optimized flow profile, the meter is practically independent of interferences from the installation environment. It can be installed virtually anywhere without straight inlet or outlet runs – behind pipe bends, slide valves or a reduction in the pipe.
With VSA you will manage both endpoints AND infrastructure, scale using included automation, and increase the speed and efficiency at which your technicians’ function.
The In-VitroCell™ ES Model NU-5720 is a direct heat 6.65ft3 (160 L) capacity CO2 Incubator featuring humidity monitoring and control using a sensor and 3-liter reservoir to inject water vapor to meet setpoint. Model NU-5720 provides optimal growth conditions for mammalian cells sensitive to humidity fluctuations.
The WATERFLUX 3070 is a battery powered electromagnetic water meter for use in water abstraction wells, district metering areas (DMA) and custody transfer measurement of potable water (MI-001, OIML R49). With optional pressure and temperature sensors, the meter can also be used for leak detection, quality control and pressure management systems. Unlike mechanical water meters, the WATERFLUX 3070 is maintenance-free and offers a much larger turn down ratio (1000:1). Its measuring tube with a rectangular and reduced cross-section enables a stable measurement even at low flow rates. Due to the optimized flow profile, the WATERFLUX 3070 can be installed virtually anywhere without straight inlet or outlet runs – behind pipe bends, slide valves or a reduction in the pipe. Even burial installation or use in flooded areas is possible.
In-VitroCell NU-8600 Series is a Water Jacket CO2 Incubator offering 5.65 cu. ft. (160 L) of usable growth space. The NU-8600 Series provides the best temperature uniformity throughout the growth chamber in the industry, 0.2°C at 37°C, for optimal cell culture growth.
Minimize errors, increase productivity and keep your laboratory’s resources focused on what matters most—positive patient outcomes—with the Thermo Scientific™ Arcos™ Block Management System.
Parkson offers two options for liquid removal from water and wastewater basins: effluent and supernatant decanters. The Parkson DynaCanter™ is a floating style decanter used to remove treated effluent or supernatant from the upper portion of the basin. The decanter utilizes a flex joint to allow vertical articulation as water levels move between high and low water levels. The decanter collects water from below the surface to preclude foam, scum, or other floatables from the effluent. A standard open / close valve is used in the effluent piping to control flow rate through the decanter. No electro-mechanical components are used inside the basin making operation and maintenance convenient for the operator.
The RetrievOx™ aeration system is an aeration device utilized in numerous wastewater treatment applications, including biological processes, sludge digestion, holding tanks and post aeration. Each RetrievOx™ assembly consists of a grid of tubular fine bubble diffusers, guide track, and hoisting mechanism. The grids are located around the perimeter of the tank for access from walkways or work platforms. A portable electric winch is utilized to raise the diffuser grid to the top of the tank where it is accessible by plant staff for inspection, cleaning and replacement of diffusers.
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.
No utility wants to issue a Boil Water Notice, but if it does happen, it’s important to get it right. Even if your utility has had a long, unblemished record of delivering high-quality water, a mishandled contamination event will leave a bad taste in your customers’ mouths (so to speak).
Wastewater service charges vary considerably across EPA regions and States. That’s one of the key findings from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (NACWA) Cost of Clean Water Index. If you live in Montana, Wyoming or the Dakotas (EPA Region 8), your average service charge of $261 a year is considerably less than the $884 your fellow Americans up in New England (EPA Region 1) are paying. As you can imagine, much of the difference is to do with population size and geography.
It has been 32 years since the amended Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) banned the installation of lead pipes in water systems nationwide. Unfortunately, that decision has not yet translated into action for every lead service line (LSL) installed before that point. Fortunately, someone has done a lot of legwork toward getting a handle on that process. Here is a preview of the help they have to offer.
Eileen O’Neill, Executive Director of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), joined Water Talk from WEFTEC — the world's largest annual water quality event — to discuss WEF initiatives, the state of the water/wastewater industry, and challenges and opportunities for the future.
Chemical dosing for disinfection in the drinking water treatment process can be an expensive and tedious task. Many municipalities struggle to keep down the cost of chemicals, power, and maintenance while devoting an extensive amount of labor to making hourly checks. However, there is an alternative that is both effective and economical.
Advances in metal detection technology are enabling more accurate and reliable detection of hard-to-detect metal contaminants in foods. Continue reading to learn more about these advancements.
The purpose of source water monitoring is to enable drinking water treatment facilities to identify changes in water quality, implement treatment strategies based on the characteristics of the water, optimize the treatment processes, and take preventative actions to protect the source water from intentional and accidental contamination.
Fluence’s first MABR plant in mainland U.S. gives California new medium- and small-scale treatment options that comply with the state’s stringent standards for water reuse
Protect your brand against recalls with the XR75, industry’s most advanced X-Ray inspection system, able to detect the smallest contaminants while increasing major component lifetime and reducing power consumption.
The cost of water delivered to customers is as much about the energy needed to move it as the chemicals required to treat it. Balancing water chemistry, infrastructure costs, and energy consumption is key to optimizing the overall cost of operation. Experience shows that some astute water suppliers are closer to achieving their ideal outcomes than most people realize. Here are some insights into how that works.
Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring element that can be found at elevated concentrations in groundwater aquifers beneath Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, India, Mexico, and the United States, per a 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) report (WHO, 2018). WHO estimates that at least 140 million people in 50 countries have been exposed to drinking water containing arsenic concentrations above the WHO recommended safe limit and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 micrograms per liter (μg/L) (MassDEP, 2019).
Corrosion control has always been a priority for distributing safe drinking water throughout the world’s networks of pipeline. This has become all the more critical following the outrageous lead poisoning revelations in Flint, MI — an incident caused directly by corrosion of the city’s lead-based infrastructure.
A potable water plant in Eastern Angelina County, Texas, serves over 2,000 rural customers.
As our ability to measure contaminants at ever smaller concentrations improves, “emerging contaminants” are on the rise. Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), emerging contaminants are chemicals or materials characterized by a perceived, potential, or real threat to human health or the environment.
Pneumatic conveying is an effective form of moving dry materials in food manufacturing. However, the long lengths of conveying pipe present challenges in terms of addressing cleanliness and sanitation.
Optical gas imaging with infrared cameras excels at detecting gas leaks, but some businesses that might find it useful are put off by the cost. Now a new generation of cameras that rely on uncooled detectors is bringing OGI to more users.
Dealing with fine particulate matter, nutrients, and pathogens is essential for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) striving to meet Clean Water Act (CWA) effluent standards. Before that stage, however, come important considerations about removing larger debris that can clog pumps, overload clarifiers, or disrupt other downstream processes — especially during periods of elevated flow and debris loading.
X-ray inspection of beef jerky presents many, and often unforeseen, challenges. This application note provides guidance to overcome those challenges to produce high-quality beef jerky.
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays are used across the life cycle of a biopharmaceutical, from target identification, through CQA determination, development, and on-going quality control. This article focuses on concentration assays associated with late-stage development and biotherapeutic drug chemical manufacturing and control.
In the wastewater treatment industry, coagulation has become one of the most widespread processes for effectively separating contaminants and effluent. But coagulation is a complicated and sensitive process, one that alters the chemical balance of the wastewater in order to strip it of unwanted constituents. As in many such processes, pH plays a critical role, and treatment professionals must analyze it closely if they want to properly coagulate their product.
Just as different water utilities use different processes for turning raw source water into potable drinking water, so too do they take different routes to account for, and bill for, their output. Here is an overview of a cellular-based approach to collecting and leveraging data from water distribution operations that can achieve the greatest business advantage.
Providing safe drinking water is a growing challenge. While methods for the disinfection of bacteria, protozoa and viruses in drinking water are well established, there are certain chemical contaminants of concern resistant to traditional water treatment methods which are being detected in drinking water, and many have the potential to impact public health.
Electromagnetic meters (mag meters) are well established in terms of highly accurate performance for a variety of municipal and industrial water applications. Differences in their construction formats, however, dictate how easy they can be to install, maintain, and calibrate. Compare these three options to see the value of full-profile-insertion (FPI) mag meters and their associated advantages in real-world use.
