Water Management

The Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General recently announced a comprehensive Clean Water Act settlement with the City of Chattanooga, Tenn. Chattanooga has agreed to pay a $476,400 civil penalty and make improvements to its sewer systems, estimated by the city at $250 million, to eliminate unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage.

In 2005, an EPA advisory panel (EFAB) issued a white paper on financing infrastructure over the useful life of the assets. The paper wasn?t widely distributed or broadcast for the general public at the time, but EPA?s senior managers hailed the analysis and called for further study of industry practices.

In fall 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its much-anticipated Clean Water and Drinking Water Gap Analysis. The report became one of the most-cited documents within the water/wastewater sector, highlighting the challenges we face with regard to aging infrastructure and capital investment.

The renewal and replacement of infrastructure is one of the greatest challenges facing the water industry. Cost estimates for needed system investment range from the hundreds of billions of dollars to trillions of dollars by 2035.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded nearly $15 million in funding to provide training and technical assistance to small drinking and wastewater systems ? those serving fewer than 10,000 people ? and to private well owners.

Mueller Systems has expanded the capabilities of its fully integrated remote disconnect meter (RDM) ? the 420 RDM ? with Mobile RDM, a standalone software that enables utility workers to remotely connect and disconnect water services from the safety of their vehicles.

American Water?s Paul Gagliardo, manager of innovation development, delivered a keynote address at the 4th Annual Water Innovations Alliance Conference in Boston, Mass. on September 5-6.

In June, RJN Group, Inc. (RJN) began work on Phase 1 of a multi-phased Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Survey (SSES) for City Water and Light (CWL) in Jonesboro, Ark.

Lucid Energy, a provider of renewable energy systems and pioneer in the development of in-pipe hydropower, recently announced that San Antonio Water System (SAWS) will be the site of the first LucidPipe Power System installation in Texas.

The City of Arnold, Mo. has decided to give the design-build delivery method a chance.