Articles by: Contributing Author

By Michael Curley The public finance industry is not well known for breathtaking innovations nor spontaneous breakthroughs. But in the past three years a truly innovative development has occurred: Environmental Impact Bonds (EIBs). In 2008, the World Bank issued what it called a “green bond.”Read More

By John Fillinger Located at the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, Paducah is a popular river town in western Kentucky. The city was founded in 1927 and is a UNESCO Creative City. Its municipal water utility, Paducah Water, works diligently to serve itsRead More

A Balanced Scorecard Approach Incorporating Intangible Benefits Helps Articulate the Benefits of SCADA and Other Automation Projects By Dave Kubel SCADA projects frequently support strategic initiatives not focused on purely economic benefits. However, many utilities often look first to an economic return on investment (ROI) analysisRead More

By Bryan Dickerson & Jesse Heywood The City of Mesa, Ariz., provides water and wastewater service to more than a half-million people every day through its Water Resources Department. In 2014, the city began a process that culminated in one of its largest projects to dateRead More

By Abe Munfakh As a professional engineer, I have spent my career focused on infrastructure projects. While this has given me a unique perspective on the importance of these efforts, over the years I have also worked very closely with community leaders and elected officials onRead More

By Dan Buckley As contractors, engineers and business owners, we deal with numbers every day. As I give you a recent summary of how our elected officials have been behaving, I ask you to remember a scene from a movie that is over 20 yearsRead More

By Doug Hatler & Matti Kakkori Aging drinking water mains are facing an increasing number of failures leading to service interruptions, higher operating costs and non-revenue water loss. Some failures cause much bigger financial or socioeconomic impacts than others. A 2018 study led by Dr.Read More

Can Machine Learning Really Provide A Cost-Effective Desktop Analysis? By Greg Baird Artificial Intelligence, specifically machine learning, is poised to make a significant impact in underground water infrastructure asset management. Not only does machine learning drive performance optimization, it also increases efficiencies in business processesRead More

By Misty Cobb The small seaside town of Seal Rock stretches up and down Highway 101 along the Pacific coastline in Oregon. The town and surrounding areas of Seal Rock receive water services from the Seal Rock Water District, which stretches more than 10 milesRead More

By Michael Curley Water quality is a major problem throughout the United States. But it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was so polluted that it actually caught fire! That made headlines all across theRead More