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New Water in the Desert

February 28, 2008By Mitchell Basefsky

Tucson's drive for a new supply took a U-turn

Tucson Water learned critical lessons about water treatment decision-making, customer communication, and public involvement in its first attempt to take its then-500,000 customers from groundwater dependence to surface water supply. The water department is the largest municipal provider in southern Arizona. It applied those lessons in a second attempt that succeeded and soon will be expanded.

Slow But Steady

February 28, 2008By Debbie Bolles

After five years, watershed grant program makes waves in waterway preservation – or maybe ripples

A federal grant program designed to protect and restore U.S. watersheds has doled out $50.7 million over the past five years to projects that range from cleanup of acidic streams polluted by abandoned mine waste to wetlands treatment of a watershed to preserve a fisheries habitat.

To Improve Water Quality, Manage the Landscape

February 28, 2008By G.Tracy Mehan, III

In the last 20 years, water quality managers have come to more fully appreciate that the old categories of both management and regulation are breaking down and collapsing in upon themselves. Quantity versus quality, surface versus groundwater, point versus nonpoint sources, chemical versus physical and biological integrity—these are the traditional cookie jars in which we separated management of what is really an integrated resource characterized by the connectivity of all its component parts.

CWA: 2007 Judicial Review

January 28, 2008By Robert Casarona

Court decisions affect EPA, Army Corps policies, confuse permittees

Major judicial decisions continue to shape water law in significant ways even though the Clean Water Act is 35 years old. Recent court decisions have shown a willingness of parties to attack the policies and programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and some courts have disregarded "judicial deference" to EPA.

The Business of Water

January 28, 2008By Steve Maxwell

What will the industry look like?

2007 was another typical year for the water industry – full of challenges, surprises, frustrations and complexities, but also offering new opportunities. The job of the water utility – to provide safe and affordable water – may sound easy, but in many ways the job continues to get tougher and tougher.

Tools of the Trade

January 28, 2008By L. K. Williams

Look for more efficient, dollar-smart, multiple-application alternatives

Are you keeping up with the Joneses? The plant down the street replaced its sequencing batch reactor with a membrane bioreactor. And the cross-town facility opted for ultraviolet over its chlorine disinfection program. What's the water industry coming to?

Operator Math

January 15, 2008By Jerry Grant

The measure of all things, including their performance

Why is operator math necessary? It is needed to evaluate how well a plant is performing, or what the plant is capable of treating adequately. State authorities consider the topic important enough to include at least a little math on even the lowest level certification exams.

Wireless Water Applications

January 15, 2008By Terry McVay

San Antonio Water makes full use of frequency hopping spread spectrum

Reliability is paramount to the monitoring and control of water/wastewater facilities. With facilities relying on real-time data transfer between remote systems and plant control areas, managers and operators cannot afford downtime or errors in information transfer.

Network Power

December 4, 2007By Frank Madren

Internet-protocol systems can offer another layer of protection

Since 2001, communities have increased their investment in water security efforts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave $51 million in grants in fiscal 2002 for vulnerability assessments and has since provided more than $150 million for tools, training, and technical assistance to the water sector, states, and other groups, according to Jennifer B. Nuzzo, a senior analyst for the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

A Resolve for Clean Water Goals

December 3, 2007By L. K. Williams

Second session of 110th Congress may prove even more fruitful

October 18, the day the Clean Water Act (CWA) became law 35 years ago, came and went without any significant water laws being enacted. But just 19 days later, Congress overrode President Bush’s veto of the Water Resources Development Act.

Get the Big PIcture and Get Engaged

December 3, 2007By L. K. Williams

Taking charge of each watershed can transform the mother of all watersheds

Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin Grumbles said, “We need to continue to evolve and adapt our approaches” for achieving better water quality. The EPA water chief was the keynote speaker during WEFTEC’s Clean Water Act plenary session in October.

New Dimensions in Design

December 3, 2007By George Crawford

3-D Building Information Modeling offers more than a better visual

Facility designers traditionally have used two-dimensional (2-D) drawings to illustrate plans, sections, and associated information to their clients. This format requires reviewers to have strong visualization skills. It often lacks sufficient detail in the early stages, giving reviewers little to comment on until the drawings are nearly complete. By that time, changes are costly and time-consuming.

Contractors Turn Strategy Into Reality

December 1, 2007By L. K. Williams

A Garland, Texas, interceptor project took five years to get to the street. Now the contractors are making capacity improvements a reality by installing 48-inch outside diameter (OD) pipe over about 18 months.

Evaporating the Water Mirage

December 1, 2007By Debbie Bolles

Experts analyze global water supply, propose solutions for dealing with dwindling resources

The view of our planet from space masks a perplexing irony. With water covering 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, we would expect plenty of this life-sustaining resource to go around.

35 Years and Counting

October 1, 2007By Benjamin H. Grumbles

U.S. EPA engages partners and new tools to achieve goals of the Clean Water Act

October 18 is a special day for America’s waters, wetlands, and watersheds: the Clean Water Act (CWA) turns 35. As one of the world’s most successful and enduring environmental laws marks this milestone, it’s a great time to reflect on where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and where we need to go.