The Clean Water Voice

For public utilities, setting fair and equitable rates is a complex and ever-evolving challenge. Traditionally, cost-of-service studies have relied on historical assumptions, monthly meter reads, and estimations based on small subsamples of customer usage data. However, with the innovation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), utilities now have access to an unprecedented level of granular data—hourly usage for every customer.

For public utilities, setting fair and equitable rates is a complex and ever-evolving challenge. Traditionally, cost-of-service studies have relied on historical assumptions, monthly meter reads, and estimations based on small subsamples of customer usage data. However, with the innovation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), utilities now have access to an unprecedented level of granular data—hourly usage for every customer.

For public utilities, setting fair and equitable rates is a complex and ever-evolving challenge. Traditionally, cost-of-service studies have relied on historical assumptions, monthly meter reads, and estimations based on small subsamples of customer usage data. However, with the innovation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), utilities now have access to an unprecedented level of granular data—hourly usage for every customer.

For public utilities, setting fair and equitable rates is a complex and ever-evolving challenge. Traditionally, cost-of-service studies have relied on historical assumptions, monthly meter reads, and estimations based on small subsamples of customer usage data. However, with the innovation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), utilities now have access to an unprecedented level of granular data—hourly usage for every customer.

Whether designing solutions to safeguard infrastructure, applying advanced technologies, or collaborating across disciplines, engineers provide essential insight and innovative approaches that strengthen emergency management frameworks.

Brown and Caldwell (BC) facilitated a partnership between PepsiCo and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) to help replenish the local groundwater basins and realize water independence from Colorado River import.​​​​​​​

Regulatory developments at both the federal and state levels are increasing the pressure on wastewater utilities dealing with PFAS. Maine, Connecticut, and Michigan have already enacted laws that limit utilities’ options for the land application of sludge and biosolids, driving up costs significantly, and threatening landfill capacity.

The complexities of cybersecurity can impede a water utility’s ability to initiate new projects with confidence. This article describes 10 practical cybersecurity recommendations utilities can use to kick-start their risk reduction efforts for their supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.

Managing change in the workplace is particularly challenging, especially in environments with long tenured employees, a common scenario in utilities. Employees who have been with an organization for long periods of time are crucial for maintaining smooth operations. However, there comes a point when change is necessary, such as adopting new digital technologies at a water utility.

A distributed energy system can provide great opportunities for a municipal district looking to take advantage of a community’s nearby resources. Such a system adopts either a central plant or “microgrid” concept to leverage fuel flexibility for centralized energy delivery.

On March 14, 2024, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a final rule requiring certain facilities to develop Facility Response Plans (FRPs) for a potential worst-case discharge of Clean Water Act (CWA) hazardous substances, including planning for the threat of a worst-case discharge.

The water sector is at a critical juncture. Changing weather patterns are impacting supply as demand grows, putting utilities under pressure to keep the taps running while meeting mounting regulations. As climate impacts intensify, utility managers face a dual challenge: how to adapt to climate change while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing sectors across the board, its application within water and wastewater management is demonstrating the power of smart technology to secure a resilient future.

A mysterious pollutant was swirling beneath the streets in one corner of El Paso. Our everyday utility monitoring revealed that high levels of heavy metals – mercury, copper, nickel and aluminum – were flowing through local sewers into one of our four wastewater plants. This was a troubling discovery.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (together, the Agencies) issued a straight-to-final-rule revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) on August 29, 2023.

In the field of wastewater treatment, a surprise in day-to-day operations is rarely a positive event. This spring, the Environmental Services (ES) division of the Metropolitan Council, responsible for the regional wastewater treatment system serving 111 customer cities and townships in the Twin Cities metro region, made an unexpected discovery at one of their wastewater treatment plants that sparked months-long national media attention and greatly increased the visibility of the organization.

In the ever-evolving world of water projects, the concept of Progressive Design-Build (PDB) has emerged as a game changer.

One of the most transformative technologies in the water industry today centers around planning and implementing Digital Twins. Benefits of this technology include increased speed of delivery, improved compliance, better allocation of resources, and...

Dating back to the Bronze Age, humans have used wastewater and stormwater for irrigation of crops. Since that time, reuse has evolved with applications moving beyond agriculture to include non-potable uses such as cooling and toilet flushing and potable uses such as groundwater and reservoir augmentation. Shifting factors such as population growth and climate change have...

The race to net-zero emissions is on. Just as the water sector is helping make the world more sustainable by delivering clean water and reliable sanitation to communities, we also can play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to help slow climate change.