Biden’s $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Package Includes Major Water Provisions June 30, 2021 The framework for an eight-year, $1.2 trillion infrastructure package agreed upon by President Joe Biden and bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate would pave the way for major investment into the country’s water systems. Read more
New York City Department Of Environmental Protection Partners With Arcadis To Drive City-Wide Resilience
New York City Department Of Environmental Protection Partners With Arcadis To Drive City-Wide Resilience June 21, 2021 Arcadis today announced its partnership with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to launch a $53 million program designed to engage property owners across the city with resiliency measures that improve local and…
Lawmakers introduce American Cybersecurity Literacy Act
Lawmakers introduce American Cybersecurity Literacy Act June 28, 2021 Bipartisan House lawmakers introduced legislation to increase cybersecurity literacy and security awareness among the American public amid a spike in cybersecurity threats against critical infrastructure. Read more
$630 million project launches, to replace wastewater pipes under South Bay and Harbor Area
$630 million project launches, to replace wastewater pipes under South Bay and Harbor Area June 21, 2021 After more than a decade of planning, community meetings — and more planning — an ambitious $630 million effort to replace two aging underground wastewater pipes officially launched on Monday, June 21, as…
House advances bill with increased funding for clean water
House advances bill with increased funding for clean water JUNE 14, 2021 The U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee last week marked up and advanced H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021. This legislation follows the Senate’s passage in May of its clean…
Small Colorado communities get money to improve wastewater systems
Small Colorado communities get money to improve wastewater systems Jun 7, 2021 Aging wastewater systems in 13 small communities will get planning, design and construction improvements with a $2 million grant program, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced on Monday. Read more
EPA Awards Over $17 Million To Benefit Small Water Systems
EPA Awards Over $17 Million To Benefit Small Water Systems May 12, 2021 Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced over $17 million in grant funding to help provide training and technical assistance to small drinking water and wastewater systems that often serve small communities and rural America. Read…
Florida To Close Dangerous Wastewater Reservoir
Florida To Close Dangerous Wastewater Reservoir By Peter Chawaga, April 21, 2021 In a reminder of just how dangerous and difficult it can be to manage wastewater, Floridians were forced to evacuate their homes earlier this month when a local reservoir began leaking and appeared close to bursting wide open. Now,…
The multibillion dollar question: What will it take to fix the South’s broken water systems?
The multibillion dollar question: What will it take to fix the South’s broken water systems? By Carly Berlin, April 15, 2021 The winter storm revealed the fragility of rural and urban water systems. President Biden’s new infrastructure plan could help improve them — but it’s only a start. Read more
With $1.6T Forecasted For Total Expenditures By End Of Decade, Water Utility Operations Face Significant Disruption
April 7, 2021 The day-to-day cost of operating and maintaining U.S. municipal water and wastewater infrastructure is taking on an oversized share of utilities’ total expenditures (TOTEX). Over the last fifty years, spending on operations has escalated from a 50% to a 66% share of total utility expenditures with few…
City water utility making progress on infrastructure projects
By Michelle Charles, Mar 18, 2021 Water infrastructure projects are moving along in Stillwater, according to a report from Water Utilities Director Bill Millis. Millis recently gave the Stillwater City Council a quarterly update on water and wastewater infrastructure projects that are nearing completion, are underway or are in the…
Tacoma sues over planned wastewater treatment requirements that could cost $1 billion
By Alexis Krell, The News Tribune, March 14, 2021 Tacoma has sued the state Department of Ecology over proposed requirements for wastewater treatment plants that discharge to Puget Sound, a new regulation the city said could cost up to $1 billion to implement. The lawsuit is over a draft permit…
Mueller awarded contract for AMI deployment in Calaveras County, CA
Mar 9th, 2021 Mueller Systems announced that Calaveras County Water District has selected Mueller Systems to deploy an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) network covering 1,000 square miles with 13,000 AMI endpoints. The project will replace the majority of the District’s meters and add communication capabilities to all meters. Read more
Florida water hack shows infrastructure cyber weaknesses
Judy Greenwald, February 23, 2021 A thwarted attempt by an unknown hacker to put lye into a small Florida city’s water treatment facility highlights the need for infrastructure operators to keep software updated and follow other cyber security measures, experts say. Read more
Pennsylvania American Water Invested $400 Million Statewide in 2020
(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb 16, 2021 Pennsylvania American Water announced today its end-of-year investment total and system improvement recap for 2020. In just 12 months, the company invested $400 million to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure across the Commonwealth – delivering on its significant capital investment plan despite the COVID-19 public health emergency.…
Half of global wastewater treated, rates in developing countries still lagging
Feb 9th, 2021 A new study by scientists at Utrecht University and the United Nations University concludes that about half of global wastewater is treated, rather than the previous estimate of 20%. Despite this promising finding, the authors warn that treatment rates in developing countries are still very low. The…
San Diego’s Infrastructure Deficit Is Really a Stormwater Deficit
Andrew Keatts, February 8, 2021 The infrastructure deficit that has hung over San Diego politics for years without meaningful intervention is perhaps better understood as a stormwater deficit. Eight years ago, Mayor Todd Gloria, then Council president, pledged to craft an infrastructure-focused ballot measure for the 2016 ballot, to address the…
Water markets in California can reduce the costs of drought
By Ellen Hanak, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 While the new water futures markets may help manage the financial risk of droughts, the more important work ahead is to strengthen the state’s actual water market. Read more
American Water Named One of the Top Ten World’s Most Sustainable Corporations
CAMDEN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan 25, 2021 American Water (NYSE: AWK), the largest publicly-traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, announced today that has been named on Corporate Knights 17th annual Global 100 list of the World’s Most Sustainable Corporations, for the second year in a row. American Water is ranked number 9…
New Lead and Copper Rule to Raise Costs for Water Utilities
Fitch Wire, Tue 19 Jan, 2021 The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) is not expected to impact utility credit quality over the near-term, but it could have a material effect on certain water utilities’ capex and credit profiles over the medium- to long-term, particularly for…
SolarWinds Hack Infected Critical Infrastructure, Including Power Industry
Kim Zetter, December 24 2020 The hacking campaign that infected numerous government agencies and tech companies with malicious SolarWinds software has also infected more than a dozen critical infrastructure companies in the electric, oil, and manufacturing industries who were also running the software, according to a security firm conducting investigations…
SoCalGas and LADWP Partner to Deliver 150,000 Energy and Water Efficiency Kits to Help the Environment and Save Customers Money and Energy
Dec. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire The Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) have partnered to distribute over 150,000 free energy and water efficiency kits to residents throughout Los Angeles. Each efficiency kit is equipped with simple household devices to help conserve water and natural gas and save…
Michigan Senate OKs bill requiring statewide moratorium on water shutoffs until March 31
By Lauren Gibbons | [email protected] A moratorium on water shutoffs in Michigan to assist people who can’t afford their water bills during the COVID-19 pandemic would be in effect until March 31 of next year under legislation passed through the state Senate Thursday. Read more
Blockchain could help manage rooftop solar, electric vehicle and energy trades, study says
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Blockchain—the decentralized digital ledger most often linked to cryptocurrencies—could have a major impact in managing rooftop solar, electric vehicle charging and energy trading, according to an analysis by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI). The EFI study estimates there has already been $100 million to $300…
