Water Management

The City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department delivers drinking water to nearly 3 million residents over a four-county, 600-sq-mile service area. On its website, the department defines its mission as ?protecting public health, protecting the environment and providing superior customer service.?

Government and industries together have taken specific steps to limit the use of lead in manufactured water system products. The ramifications for cities, as would be expected, are numerous ? affecting both existing and future water system infrastructure, planning and, of course, budgeting.

Underground and out of sight, wastewater collection systems are often taken for granted. In their 2013 Report Card for America?s Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the nation?s wastewater infrastructure a grade of D.

Thanks to diligent research by city officials into an increasingly popular no-dig water main rehabilitation solution using cured-in-place piping (CIPP), and their successful experience with recent projects that have been completed on time and on budget, it is most likely to continue to be used as a tool to rehabilitate water mains.

Last month, a bipartisan coalition of 10 senators led by U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), introduced legislation for a new infrastructure financing authority to help states and localities better leverage private funds to build and maintain the nation?s outdated infrastructure.

In November, Congressman Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) was named chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. The Subcommittee provides annual funding for most Interior Department programs including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service and the Indian Health Service.

Decision support systems (DSS) for pipeline renewal have mostly focused on asset management to help owners and engineers decide on which portions of a system to prioritize for actions. These models do not typically determine whether to rehabilitate or replace a pipe or how to do it.

In October, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an $8.2 billion bill ? the Water Resources Reform and Development Act ? mapping out plans for dams, harbors, river navigation and other water projects for the coming decade.

The U.S. EPA is releasing a synthesis report on ?The Importance of Water to the U.S. Economy.? The report is intended to help raise the awareness of water?s importance to our national economic welfare and to summarize information that public and private decision-makers can use to better manage the nation?s water resources.

The City of Baltimore?s Board of Estimates has awarded Itron, Inc., the contract for its Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Water Meter System Installation Program. The program will upgrade the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County?s water metering infrastructure with the goal of improving customer service and billing accuracy for all of the bureau?s water customers. Baltimore City?s Bureau of Water and Wastewater is the supplier of water to 1.8 million people in the Baltimore Metro Area.