WATER INNOVATIONS CURRENT ISSUE
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![PFAS Label on hundred dollar bill-GettyImages-2193126716]( "The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window")
For years, the water industry's PFAS conversation centered on monitoring, testing, and regulatory anticipation. Today, that phase is largely over. -
![wastewater treatment plant through magnifying glass-GettyImages-2256447238]( "Why Water Utilities Need Better Asset History, Not Just More Maintenance Data")
For water and wastewater utilities, better asset history is not about collecting more data for its own sake. It’s about making existing inspection and maintenance information useful enough to support reliability, maintenance prioritization, capital planning, and long-term service delivery.
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![environmental monitoring sedimentation, sludge filtration-GettyImages-2286130662]( "PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It?")
For several years, the PFAS conversation has centered on treatment options, testing, and funding. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint. Most utilities already understand the treatment routes available to them; the real challenge now is moving from technical possibility to operational performance, and that depends entirely on people.
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![manmade reservoirs-GettyImages-1903602666]( "Beyond Water-Stress Scores: Assessing Infrastructure Resilience At The Asset Level")
Water-stress screening can identify where an infrastructure asset deserves closer attention. Assessing resilience requires further steps: understanding the asset’s water profile, the reliability and security of its supply, the pressure it places on local resources, and whether adaptation can keep it operational and economically viable over time.
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![black dry granular carbon-GettyImages-1347989966]( "What Utilities Don't Know About GAC Reuse For PFAS")
For utilities building PFAS treatment systems, thermal reactivation of spent granular activated carbon (GAC) may sound like the obvious answer. However, service provider availability and location, specific media acceptance criteria including quantity thresholds, restrictions on GAC type and condition, and regulatory uncertainty can all determine whether reuse is a viable option.
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![worker inspecting contaminated drainage tunnel-GettyImages-2274987448]( "Building A Better Water Workforce Starts With People, Not Positions")
A discovery at ACE26 offers practical ideas for attracting, developing, and retaining the next generation of water professionals. -
![microfluidic systems in soft robotics and smart liquids-GettyImages-2262426935]( "The Resilient Utility: Why AI Is The New Social Safety Net For Water")
For vulnerable communities, the cost of infrastructure fragility is not just financial; it is existential. By shifting our focus from "smart water" to "resilient water," we can use AI to build a social safety net that protects both our infrastructure and the communities that depend on it.
WASTEWATER
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Is Wastewater-Derived Bioplastic Utility-Ready?9/9/2026
For years, researchers focused on a basic question: Can mixed microbial cultures use real wastewater or sludge-derived carbon to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) inside their cells? Recent evidence has strengthened the answer.
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Eradicating High-Strength Nitrogen Loads Without Expanding Your Aeration Basins5/1/2026When decision-makers assess the best ways to deal with high-strength nitrogen loads in their wastewater treatment plants, an important thing for them to remember is that biological treatment methods alone typically cannot handle all of a facility’s nutrient load. Instead, they should consider how a combination of physical-chemical extraction methods can provide an extremely reliable, small footprint method for handling above-average loads.
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Sustainable Wastewater Solutions For Today's Challenges3/13/2026
Traditional gravity sewers rely on large-diameter mains, deep trenches, and often multiple lift stations — elements that carry significant capital and restoration costs, particularly in rural or rugged terrain. To improve cost efficiency and sustainability, many municipalities are adopting decentralized collection systems such as Septic Tank Effluent Pump (STEP) systems, Septic Tank Effluent Gravity (STEG) systems, and liquid-only sewers.
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Rethinking Aeration: Demand-Based DO Control And Energy Optimization3/13/2026
Aeration control strategies often remain conservative and static. Blowers operate continuously, oxygen levels are maintained near maximum, and airflow rates are rarely adjusted in response to real-time biological demand. The result is widespread over-aeration — a condition that does not improve treatment performance but significantly increases operating costs.
UTILITY MANAGEMENT
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PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It?9/4/2026
For several years, the PFAS conversation has centered on treatment options, testing, and funding. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint. Most utilities already understand the treatment routes available to them; the real challenge now is moving from technical possibility to operational performance, and that depends entirely on people.
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SWAN Corner: From Compliance To Resilience — Practical Lessons In OT Recovery For Water Utilities7/10/2026Water and wastewater utilities have become attractive targets for cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors. CISA has repeatedly warned that drinking water and wastewater systems are vulnerable because they often lack the resources and technical capacity to adopt rigorous cybersecurity practices. The question is no longer whether your utility will face a cyber incident, but when — and whether you will be ready.
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Emerging Technologies In Municipal Water Treatment: Trends And Challenges For Utility Operators5/1/2026The 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.
INFRASTRUCTURE
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Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP): The Invisible Driver Of Biofouling In Water Systems7/10/2026A growing body of scientific evidence points to transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) as one of the most important, but frequently overlooked, drivers of biofouling in water systems. Understanding TEP may provide a new perspective on why biofilms develop so rapidly, why some treatment systems foul despite acceptable microbial counts, and why conventional control strategies often struggle to deliver lasting results.
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Wastewater Treatment Capacity Is Becoming A Critical Infrastructure Challenge In the Netherlands6/16/2026
As Dutch utilities invest billions in wastewater infrastructure, generative design enables faster evaluation of treatment alternatives while meeting future regulatory demands.
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Smarter Pipeline Condition Assessment Starts With The Right Technology5/6/2026
Advanced pipeline assessment technologies help utilities detect defects, locate leaks, and prioritize repairs — enabling smarter capital planning, reduced failures, and more resilient water infrastructure management.
SOURCE WATER
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Beyond Water-Stress Scores: Assessing Infrastructure Resilience At The Asset Level9/9/2026
Water-stress screening can identify where an infrastructure asset deserves closer attention. Assessing resilience requires further steps: understanding the asset’s water profile, the reliability and security of its supply, the pressure it places on local resources, and whether adaptation can keep it operational and economically viable over time.
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Brackish Water Desalination: A Strategic Imperative For Sustainable Water Stewardship Across The American Water Landscape7/10/2026As droughts intensify, groundwater depletes, and climate extremes worsen, many water-stressed regions are increasingly turning to brackish groundwater desalination, for both potable use and industrial applications where water quality demands are less stringent. Hence, brackish water reserves are emerging fast as a strategic priority, ensuring a supplement for long-term national water security.
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Filtration Media For Municipal, Industrial, And Landscape Water Treatment: Legacy And Novel Technologies3/13/2026
The growing demand for water across a variety of sectors combined with the increasingly understood complexity of emerging contaminants is creating a dynamic marketplace for filtration media. The goal of selecting the right filtration media is not to meet minimum standards but to achieve the right balance of performance, durability, and operational simplicity to ensure long-term compliance and cost-effective operation.
DRINKING WATER
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What Utilities Don't Know About GAC Reuse For PFAS9/9/2026
For utilities building PFAS treatment systems, thermal reactivation of spent granular activated carbon (GAC) may sound like the obvious answer. However, service provider availability and location, specific media acceptance criteria including quantity thresholds, restrictions on GAC type and condition, and regulatory uncertainty can all determine whether reuse is a viable option.
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Microbial And Disinfection Byproducts Regulations: Paving The Way For Efficient Compliance7/10/2026Given the ongoing regulatory activity in the water industry, it’s hard to imagine another major drinking water rule on the horizon. But the U.S. EPA is planning revisions to the microbial and disinfection byproducts (MDBP) regulations.
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Powdered Activated Carbon: A Flexible Tool For Targeted Treatment Challenges5/1/2026Treatment plants most often deploy carbon in two forms: granular activated carbon (GAC) and powdered activated carbon (PAC). While GAC is widely used for steady-state, long-term contaminant control, PAC offers an alternative, versatile, rapid-response approach. In these six scenarios, PAC is the ideal solution.
FUNDING AND REVENUE
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Why Smart Valves Are About To Redefine Water Infrastructure7/10/2026For years, water metering followed a predictable path: manual reads, AMR, AMI, more visibility, more data. But utilities are now entering a different operational reality. Visibility alone no longer protects infrastructure.
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Do Water Meters Still Need External Transmitters?5/1/2026Expectations for transparency and reliability in water-metering infrastructure have risen. As a result, a fundamental question is emerging across the industry: if modern ultrasonic meters are already smart, why are we still adding intelligence outside the meter?
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Public-Private Water Partnerships: Proactive Strategies For Industrial Water Challenges10/30/2025One of the most pressing challenges facing utilities today is how to effectively respond to surging industrial demands while managing costs and maintaining established levels of service to existing customers. Thanks to new funding sources and drivers such as AI, the landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. Industries such as data centers and semiconductors are consuming massive volumes of water to support cooling and manufacturing — and creating equally daunting challenges on the wastewater front.
MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL
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Why Water Utilities Need Better Asset History, Not Just More Maintenance Data9/4/2026
For water and wastewater utilities, better asset history is not about collecting more data for its own sake. It’s about making existing inspection and maintenance information useful enough to support reliability, maintenance prioritization, capital planning, and long-term service delivery.
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The Resilient Utility: Why AI Is The New Social Safety Net For Water7/10/2026For vulnerable communities, the cost of infrastructure fragility is not just financial; it is existential. By shifting our focus from "smart water" to "resilient water," we can use AI to build a social safety net that protects both our infrastructure and the communities that depend on it.
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How Satellite IoT Can Enhance Remote Water System Monitoring5/1/2026There is a noticeable shift in how monitoring data is being treated across the water sector. It is no longer something that sits quietly in the background of operations, collected for compliance, and reviewed periodically. It is being examined more closely, and more often, by a wider set of stakeholders.
REUSE
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How Santa Monica Became A Sustainable Water Leader7/3/2025Lessons in urban water management through water conservation, capture, and reuse.
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How Water Reuse Projects Are Addressing Water Scarcity In The West — And Beyond3/6/2025As water scarcity becomes a stark reality around the globe, more municipalities, water utilities, and industrial enterprises are exploring water reuse projects and adopting regulations to support them. Fundamentally, water reuse can help drought-proof regions and diversify water supply portfolios with recycled water.
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How Capturing Rain Can Contribute To Environmental Safety1/7/2025There are many ways to capture stormwater — whether as a homeowner, business, or municipality — and even more benefits.
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Pioneering Recycling Program Quenches California's Thirst For Agricultural Water10/31/2024With its innovative Harvest Water program, the Sacramento Area Sewer District supports Central Valley growers, thereby supporting the nation.
FROM THE EDITOR
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The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window9/4/2026For years, the water industry's PFAS conversation centered on monitoring, testing, and regulatory anticipation. Today, that phase is largely over.
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Building A Better Water Workforce Starts With People, Not Positions7/10/2026A discovery at ACE26 offers practical ideas for attracting, developing, and retaining the next generation of water professionals.
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Water Infrastructure Has A New Bottleneck — And It's Not Money5/1/2026Billions have been approved, but millions remain idle. The EPA's new report on earmarks sheds light on the logjam.
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When Drinking Water Raises Bigger Questions About Brain Health And Environmental Risk3/13/2026
A new study linking certain groundwater sources to higher Parkinson’s risk underscores a broader question for the water sector: how environmental exposures in drinking water may influence long-term health.
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Down And Dirty With Digital: How AI Enhances Water Infrastructure Fieldwork1/14/2026
Fieldwork is at the heart of infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation, as utilities, engineers, and contractors collaborate to build the systems and structures that treat and move water. The opportunity is great, but so are the challenges. Which is why new, digitally-enhanced tools are needed.