Water
AWWA Testifies on Potential Safe Drinking Water Act Improvements
In a U.S. House subcommittee hearing today, the American Water Works Association testified that updates to the Safe Drinking Water Act are overdue and necessary to assist communities with water infrastructure and compliance challenges. Speaking before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Environment ..
Companies Join Forces to Help Utilities Better Design Sewer, Water Systems
The SUEZ Group has agreed to provide increased capital funding to Optimatics, a company specializing in technology that optimizes the design of water and sewer networks. “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Optimatics and to support the development of this young digital innovative compa..
Senators Introduce Legislation to Address America's Aging Infrastructure
U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.), senior members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, have introduced bipartisan legislation to bring affordable relief to America’s crumbling water infrastructure systems. The bill, S. 1137 – Clean, Safe, Reliable Water Infr..
New Hampshire Senate Passes House Bill on Water Contaminants
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The New Hampshire state Senate has passed a House bill aimed at better protecting residents from chemicals in their water. The Portsmouth Herald reports a key amendment requires the state Department of Environmental Services to start a rulemaking process to set maximum contamin..
Flint City Council Blocks Use of Tax Liens for Unpaid Water Bills
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The Flint City Council has blocked a plan that would have put about 8,000 property owners at risk of losing homes due to unpaid water and sewer bills. Plans for the tax liens on properties across Flint drew protests amid the city’s crisis with lead-tainted water. City Council on..
The Evolution Of Grouting Solutions
Injection grouting is described by its proponents as the first trenchless technology to repair leaks in underground pipes. First used for municipal applications more than 50 years ago, injection grouting has advanced to become the most economical and reliable method for controlling infiltration in ..
Do Manhole Rehabilitation Technologies Perform as Expected?
Spending for manhole structure rehabilitation has grown due to increased deterioration and collection system infiltration control. It is important to understand how the manhole structure functions, and how the deterioration and corrosion mechanisms are affecting the structures. Should the structures..
Water Line Break Could Leave Mississippi Town Without Water for 5 Days
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — Too much water will mean none at all for almost 30,000 customers in and around Vicksburg for five days or more. The line carrying treated water from the city’s water plant to all customers broke Wednesday morning in an area that’s currently flooded by a Mississippi River bac..
22 Percent of Flint Excavations Have Led to Copper Pipes
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — About 22 percent of excavations tied to Flint’s lead-tainted water crisis have led to copper pipes that do not pose a threat of leaching lead, city records show. Flint Action and Sustainability Team project coordinator Michael McDaniel called the 22 percent a “failure rate” beca..
Survey Shows Divide Between Water Utilities and Consumers
A recently released consumer research survey from Grundfos indicates a divide between concerns held by water utilities over key water-related issues, and a lack of urgency among consumers. According to the survey, nearly half (49 percent) of respondents believe they’ll never be affected by a wa..
Water Main Break Causes Sinkhole in Maryland
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) — Authorities say a water main break caused a sinkhole that has shut down a section of a road in Ellicott City. The Howard County Police Department said in a news release that flowing water created a sinkhole underneath an unoccupied vehicle Wednesday. No one was injur..
Residents Near Spokane Advised to Not Drink Tap Water
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Officials say the Airway Heights water supply may be contaminated with chemicals from Fairchild Air Force Base just west of Spokane. The city and Air Force said in a joint statement Tuesday evening that Airway Heights water customers are advised to not drink city water n..
Voters Approve Portland Schools Water Contamination Bond, Reject Pipeline Ban
PORTLAND (AP) — Portland voters Tuesday approved the largest school bond in state history, which would raise taxes to address high levels of lead in drinking water at nearly every school and pay for modernizing schools. According to partial returns, 61 percent voted for the $790 million Portland Pu..
Ohio EPA Releases Draft 2018 Drinking Water Assistance Program Management Plan
The Ohio EPA will hold two public hearings on Friday, June 16, 2017, to accept comments on the draft 2018 Program Management Plan for the agency’s Drinking Water Assistance Fund. The fund provides financial and technical assistance for a variety of projects that help improve or protect the quality o..
Xylem: Improving Infrastructure Can Make Cities More Resilient
Xylem Inc. has released a whitepaper outlining strategies to increase the resilience of cities around the world. According to the United Nations, 66 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, posing a distinct and urgent need to create more resilient urban centers, capable o..
Report: Aging Infrastructure Attracts Water and Wastewater Investments in North America
According to Frost & Sullivan’s North American Water and Wastewater Networks Market, Forecast to 2021 report, the urgent need for repairs to the massive, century-old water and wastewater networks in North America is drawing huge investments to distribution and collection networks. Climate change..
Company Develops New Fiber Optic Installation Tool
Panduit has released a new tool for fiber-optic cable installers, the OptiCam 2.0 Termination Tool. The tool delivers an immediate calculated insertion loss, which improves productivity by shortening the time installers spend on the jobsite and increases contractor profitability by decreasing projec..
Aqua America to Spend $450 Million on Water Infrastructure in 2017
Aqua America today announced it plans to invest $450 million in 2017 to rebuild and replace water infrastructure. The company’s 2017 infrastructure investment plan includes replacing 150 miles of water mains across eight states, helping to save billions of gallons of water leaking from pipes and wa..
American Water Plans $6 Billion in Water Infrastructure Upgrades
In honor of Infrastructure Week, American Water has announced it will invest nearly $6 billion dollars over the next five years to upgrade the company’s water infrastructure. “American Water will invest about $6 billion dollars in the next five years in our nationwide system of pipes, plants, and p..
Peoria Pilot Project Keeping Water out of Sewer System
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A pilot project has kept over 600,000 gallons of rainwater out of Peoria’s sewer system. The city’s two-block Adams Street project uses rain gardens, permeable pavers and other techniques to retain water. The (Peoria) Journal Star (http://bit.ly/2qzw83b ) reports it has diverted..
Houston Set for $3B Water Supply Pipeline, Treatment Project
HOUSTON (AP) — Any Houstonian who’s ever stalled out in a rush-hour gully washer, swatted mosquitoes on a humid summer afternoon or hauled soggy carpet to the curb after a neighborhood flash flood will be forgiven for thinking the supply of water is one thing they needn’t worry about. The Houston C..
Portland, Oregon Voters Weigh Tax Hike for School Lead Fix
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Voters in Oregon’s largest city are poised to vote on the biggest school bond in state history after a scandal over high levels of lead in the water at almost every Portland school. The $790 million spending package that would raise taxes to address the crisis has generated in..
San Diego Moving Ahead with Sewage-to-Drinking Water Plan
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego officials say within five years, the city will be recycling sewage into drinking water. The San Diego Union-Tribune (http://bit.ly/2pCV6tG ) says the mayor and others backed the plan known as Pure Water San Diego before the California Coastal Commission on Wednesday. The..
Utilities Technology Council Recognizes Individuals, Utilities at Awards Dinner
The Utilities Technology Council held its annual UTC Awards dinner last night in Charlotte at the UTC Telecom & Technology 2017 conference. The celebration dinner honored utilities and individuals who have shown extraordinary initiative throughout the past year. The 2017 UTC Award Winners are: I..
New York OKs $62M in Grants, Loans for Local Water Projects
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state is making $62 million available to help local governments upgrade their sewer systems and drinking water infrastructure. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the investments on Thursday. The money will go to eight different municipal governments in the form of grants..
Evergreen State College Center for Sustainable Infrastructure Releases Water Infrastructure Report
A group of 50 industry experts have come together from backgrounds in water supply, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure to develop a new report, A Northwest Vision for 2040 Water Infrastructure: Innovative Pathways, Smarter Spending, Better Outcomes. The report, released by the Evergreen State..
Infinera Validates Fiber Optic Cable Technology
Infinera has announced a successful subsea field test with Canalink across its subsea cable. The test, conducted with the Infinera Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE4) and featuring Infinera’s fourth-generation photonic integrated circuit, demonstrated the capability to upgrade the cable capacity 13-fold..
Company Launches New Fiber Optic Cable Technology
Pioneer Consulting, a company specializing in submarine cable consulting, has expanded its core capabilities by launching GoCable.io. This innovative cloud-based service provides a design platform for mapping, planning and analyzing new undersea cable systems. GoCable.io is an accessible, web-based..
Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association Supports New York Water Infrastructure Bill
The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association recently praised New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for his commitment to restoring the quality of the state’s water infrastructure following the signing of the Clean Water Infrastructure Improvement Act. “We applaud Governor Cuomo and the New York State l..
Utilities Technology Council Launches the UTC Foundation
The Utilities Technology Council has launched the UTC Foundation at the annual Telecom & Technology conference in Charlotte, N.C. The UTC Foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission of sponsoring educational incentives and programs to attract, retain and support top technology and t..
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- $227 million Garnet Valley water project advances, set to create 73,000 jobs in Nevada
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish
- Construction underway for $1.4 billion, 60-mile water pipeline in Chicago
- HDD industry faces challenges as cities push back on fiber drilling disruptions
- Gehl and Mustang offer world’s largest skid loader
- Growing Pains and Gains
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish
- $227 million Garnet Valley water project advances, set to create 73,000 jobs in Nevada