Articles by: Contributing Author

By John Matthews Traditionally, research conducted at many universities falls under the category of fundamental research, which is primarily conducted to enhance our basic knowledge in a certain area. In the trenchless technology industry, and regarding the university researchers active in the field, the focusRead More

By Jeff Hughes, Shadi Eskaf & Liz Harvell The relationship between water pricing and water use is more nuanced than basic economic theory on supply and demand suggests. That’s what the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (EFC) found inRead More

By Andy McCartney Personal financial advisors often recommend that families should have enough money in an emergency fund to cover at least three to six months of living expenses. Corporations such as Microsoft, General Electric and Home Depot maintain excess operating funds for their ownRead More

By Michael Warady Every middle school teacher in America has stood in front of a group of students and delivered the old Benjamin Franklin adage that “the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes.” Luckily for those of us in the water industry,Read More

By Tony Hyde One unifying factor for both the general public, but also for many of us who vote for, manage and design infrastructure projects, is that water and wastewater projects can feel as though they are out of sight, out of mind. Buried pipeRead More

By Prabha Kumar The ethos and expectations of the utility management, the administration, the rate-approving body and the ratepayers intersect during every utility’s rate setting and approval process. Municipal utilities, municipal authorities and investor-owned utilities that head down the rate setting path all need to effectivelyRead More

By Scott Berry This year’s midterm elections had the highest turnout in a half century, with 49 percent of the population voting for candidates at the national, state and local level. In the U.S. House of Representatives, control flipped with Democrats poised to pick upRead More

Water Utilities Continue to Raise the Bar on How They Use Data By Dan Pinney Consumers are becoming more tech-savvy and, as a result, their expectations for the data and services utilities offer are more demanding than ever. They want to see data to supportRead More

Water utilities are dealing with a number of priorities. With pending retirements, access to a qualified workforce is moving up on the list…procurement can make a difference. By Jim Baehr Escalating operational cost, access to capital, regulations, decaying infrastructure, cybersecurity, as well as ever-increasing customerRead More

By Michael Warady The United States has long been known as a country willing to take gigantic risks in order to build innovative infrastructure for future generations. The Transcontinental Railroad vastly improved cross-country travel, paying for itself through an increase in trade and transport acrossRead More