Water Management

Water utilities across the United States face a major funding gap related to buried pipeline infrastructure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates the difference between what is needed for infrastructure renewal and what utilities can afford to spend is between $200 billion and $1 trillion over the next 25 years.

American Water Works Company, Inc. announced last month that David Baker, currently the senior vice president of American Water?s Northeast Division and president of New Jersey American Water is retiring in February 2014. Baker was replaced by William Varley, currently the president of New York American Water, effective Sept. 16, 2013.

The Water Environment Federation?s 86th annual Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) is finally here. WEFTEC will roll into McCormick Place South Oct. 5-9, 2013 in Chicago, Ill., and will allow attendees countless educational, business and networking opportunities across a variety of topics prevalent in the water sector today.

Experts from Aries, Avanti and Logiball will collaborate on a four-hour seminar on Oct. 6 at the 2013 WEFTEC conference, revealing new insight on defeating infiltration to rehabilitate and sustain collection systems for consulting engineers and municipal decision-makers.

Itron, Inc., has been ranked number one across multiple categories in a new global water meter market analysis report. The ranking, published by IMS Research, solidifies Itron as a preferred partner for utilities worldwide for metering and communication technologies.

The Plastics Pipe Institute, Inc. (PPI) has announced its new Board of Directors. George Zagorski of Blue Diamond Industries, LLC was named Chairman of the Board ? a two-year appointment.

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) has released a new State of the Water Industry (SOTWI) report that summarizes the significant challenges facing the water industry and provides data to support and develop strategies to address the common issues.

Water conservation discussions often center around strategies for using less water, particularly at point of use. But another element to consider is the often-unseen wastefulness that can come from pipes that fail prematurely, leading to leaks or ruptures requiring early replacement.

In these times of intense scrutiny of the use of resources, sustainable design requirements and safety and reliability of utility structures such as water transmission mains, we can no longer tolerate the approach of installing the structures and fixing them when they leak (or fail catastrophically). Corrosion must be considered in the initial design stage for these structures, and the necessary corrosion control mitigation measures must be part of the design of the structures.

Since 1957, the video inspection of pipelines has given system owners valuable information regarding their underground assets. These tools have allowed cities to more accurately assess the condition of their sanitary, storm and water pipelines.