The use of brackish water is not a new phenomenon for Texas. It was first identified as a supply strategy in the 2007 State Water Plan, and by that point, 80 desalination plants were already operating around the state. However, there has been a consistent debate about the pros and cons of its …
Flint, MI Deals with Safe Drinking Water Issues — Infrastructure Asset Management Planning
The mayor of Flint has sent a letter to President Obama's Director of Intergovernmental Affairs requesting the participation of the White House and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a City of Flint Technical Advisory Water Committee. Flint is forming both a water committee and a technical …
Desalination in Santa Barbara — How Infrastructure Management Planning Helps
Santa Barbara, California is fast running out of ideas to provide water during this drought, but it still has one more card in its hand. The city has an inactive desalination plant that was completed in 1991 but was left tested but unused due to a "miracle rain" that occurred shortly …
How To Define Levels of Service with the Community
One question posed was about an example of a system to define levels of service with communities. It seems like a great collaboration in theory but not necessarily easy to do in practice, the participant commented. Heather replied: I would say that’s probably true, that it is a little bit …
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The Critical Issue of Water Infrastructure Resiliency
California has been in a state of drought for the last four years, but many observers have been noting that California has not been handling the situation as well as it could. Some consider California's water laws to be irrational and hard to maneuver for a start, and others consider …
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Water Utilities Infrastructure Management Planning for USA “Megadrought”
NASA is now predicting a "megadrought" as early as 2050 that might last 30 or more years and devastate the Southwest and Central Plains, worse than anything in the last 1000 years. This is mere speculation at this point but could be a very imposing reality if things follow their current …
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Portland’s New Water Pipes Are Delivering Water and Hydroelectricity
Portland, Oregon has unveiled a new project for 2015: turning water into electricity. This is not uncommon and hydroelectricity is not a new concept, but Portland has done something very unique. They have created a new system that generates electricity inside a stretch of the city …
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Wrightstown’s Water Infrastructure Project Dilemma – Import or “Buy American”
Wrightstown, Green Bay, Wisconsin have some major water infrastructure projects on the horizon - most importantly, a new water pipeline to source water from the nearby lake. Wrightstown has qualified for a construction loan, federally funded, which would finance the 12-mile pipeline, along with …
Collaboration Solves Water Infrastructure Demand in North Carolina
Three cities in North Carolina managed to collaborate to solve some of their issues between them. Albemarle, 40 miles east of Charlotte, has excess capacity in its water system and needed new customers to defray costs. Concord and Kannapolis, close by, needed a new source of supply but were …
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Blueprint Columbus to Solve the Root Causes of Sanitary Sewer Overflows
The City of Columbus, Ohio has spent over a billion dollars on it's Wet Weather Management Plan since 2005. Most of that has gone towards wastewater treatment plants and a combined sewer overflow tunnel, which have done much good for Columbus' issues. However, sanitary sewers overflow (SSO) …
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Infrastructure Asset Management Planning Needed If Florida Recycles Its Wastewater
Florida, along with many other states is facing drinking water shortages in the long term. As a result, they are trying to come up with new ways to meet the water needs of the state. A thought on the horizon for Florida is to recycle their wastewater, potentially use the recycled water for …
Why Water Infrastructure Investment Will Be More Valuable than Gold, Oil and Phones
Some members of the American Stock Market think that investing in water will have very lucrative benefits in the near future. Stocks in American water companies are already paying nice little dividends to their investors and can only continue to rise as water becomes scarcer. Jeff Siegel of …