2013 State of the Water Industry: Exploring the water sector's renewed focus

Abstract

If water professionals are to overcome the challenges they face, they must better educate the public about the true value of their water services.

Hydroelectric Energy: Sustainable and Economical Solutions for Water Systems

“…Water utility leaders and managers have become increasingly aware of public interest in environmentally sustainable water sources (Mercer , Smith ), and water systems must balance issues of quality and supply with other demands such as aquatic ecosystems and electric generation (Grigg ). Utilities that want to promote the fact that they operate sustainably to protect public resources can use a hydroelectric project to showcase their efforts while offsetting their energy requirements.…”

Evaluating the embedded energy in real water loss

“…Water industry professionals continue to rank infrastructure issues as the single largest long‐term challenge for the drinking water community (Mercer, 2013; Black & Veatch, 2012; Murphy, 2012), and with good reason. Estimates for the total industry need for pipe rehabilitation and/or replacement at the end of their useful life are as high as $1 trillion during the next 25 years (WUC, 2012).…”

“…Drinking water systems that received ARRA funding met the GPR requirement through improvements and projects such as variable-speed drives for pumps, increased leak detection and smart meter systems, and renewable energy installations, including wind turbines. This new program explicitly addressed the increasing interest in sustainability by systems and their customers and in particular signaled a new and engaged approach to addressing the water-energy nexus, broadly defined as the energy used in water production, the water used in energy production, and the relationship between the two.Water industry professionals continue to rank infrastructure issues as the single largest long-term challenge for the drinking water community (Mercer, 2013;Black & Veatch, 2012;Murphy, 2012), and with good reason. Estimates for the total industry need for pipe rehabilitation and/or replacement at the end of their useful life are as high as $1 trillion during the next 25 years (WUC, 2012).…”