RESILIENCY RESOURCES

• Getting A (Big) Jump On A Healthy Environment

  In its nearly 20-year (and counting) process to secure approval to expand Gross Reservoir, Denver Water has committed to numerous environmental improvement projects, both on the Front Range and the West Slope.

• Resolving Utility Pain Points With Better Analytics

  Fear of the unknown is a common concern among water distribution and wastewater collection system operators when buried infrastructure or incomplete recordkeeping obscure leaks, inefficiencies, and the causes behind them. Finding better ways to identify and quantify utility problem areas is like searching for hidden treasure. Fortunately, comprehensive analytics solutions built around existing mapping and data points offer new hope.

• Leveraging Digital Infrastructure Management Technology For Real-World Benefits

  For many utilities, large and small, hang-ups over new and innovative technology for infrastructure management often boil down to “How are we going to implement (or pay for) all of that?” Fortunately, a new approach to integrating existing GIS and asset data, Internet of Things (IoT) real-time data collection, powerful analytical software, and more is providing solutions to turn tough challenges into manageable solutions that are accessible on a subscription basis.

• Shoring Up Warm-Climate Water Systems To Weather Deep Freezes

  The 2021 Texas freeze was a hard lesson learned for the state’s water utilities, but others can be more prepared as a result.

• Cybersecurity Hygiene Is Effective Preventive Maintenance

  Organizations can enhance cybersecurity and minimize cyberattacks by improving basic cybersecurity hygiene.

• SWAN Corner: Optimizing Data Intelligence Helps Orlando Protect Its Citizens During Heavy Rain Events

  The City of Orlando Streets and Stormwater Division is responsible for maintaining and improving drainage facilities to prevent flooding and ensure all receiving water bodies meet state and federal water quality standards. They oversee upwards of 100 lakes within the City and approximately 147 drainage wells with 70 monitoring stations for lakes and waterways, and have 23 rainfall stations collecting data by telemetry over a cellular network. The Streets and Stormwater Division keeps two million people safe from flooding during heavy summer rainfalls and periodic tropical events. 

• Get Inspired About Water Technology & Creating The Modern Utility

  Ever tried to drive a screw with a hammer? It’s not an inspired solution. The only reason it might even seem reasonable is that it’s the only tool you have, and the screw kind of looks like a nail, so it needs to be struck. But the inspired problem solver packs a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench.

• What’s A 100-Year Flood? A Hydrologist Explains

  A 100-year flood, like a 100-year storm, is one so severe it has only a 1 percent chance of hitting in any given year. Unfortunately, many people believe that if they experienced a 100-year flood this year, they will not see another one like it for 99 years. It just doesn’t work that way. In reality, the chance of being flooded next year, and the year after that, is the same as it was when the house flooded the first time — 1 percent.

• Cybersecurity, The New Variable In The Water Equation

  Water is a resource that is easily taken for granted. We see rain, we see lakes, we see rivers, we see creeks; we turn on our faucets and there it is. Rarely do we think about what it takes to get that water to our showers or sinks. We pay our bills and don’t give it much of a second thought. That’s because there is an entire industry of folks who are thinking about it for you. And there is a lot that goes into it. Now, utilities have to add a new variable to the equation: Is the system safe from cyber hacks?

• How Sewage Plants And Data Centres Could Help Heat One In Five UK Homes

  Gas boilers heat around 85 percent of homes in the UK, but their installation in new homes is to be banned from 2025. While heating produces over a third of the country’s CO₂ emissions, there are only two low-carbon heating alternatives that most people hear about: heat pumps or hydrogen boilers.