July 2019

26 Jul Preparing the public for hurricanes

Posted at 17:27h in FEMA, Hurricanes, Infrastructure

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Hurricane season is well underway for East Coasters. With the season not ending until November, the EPA is calling on the public to prepare now for natural disasters to aid recovery efforts. One point always challenging during a natural disaster is debris and household hazardous waste management, which ultimately has a great impact on public safety. Based on the responses to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Florence, EPA responders were in the field during the aftermath and managed a tremendous amount of waste as part of the...

17 Jul Gulf of Mexico’s Dead Zone

Posted at 22:23h in Safety, Water Treatment, Water Treatment Plants

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This year could be a record-breaker. Scientists are predicting a near-record Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' where the water holds too little oxygen to sustain marine life. What contributes to a “record-breaking” year? This year we have seen an abnormally high amount of spring rainfall in many parts of the Mississippi River corridor. This led to record amounts of water carrying large amounts of fertilizer and other harmful nutrients downriver. Once these nutrients are in the river, they then feed algae using up oxygen from the bottom up...

15 Jul It’s Confirmed: “Flushable” Wipes Are Not So Friendly to our Pipes

Posted at 21:57h in Toilets

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You better think twice about what you flush away? It could save you money, and the environment. A recent study conducted by Ryerson University recently released a new report on a test of single-use wipes against rigorous criteria for flushability. The report comes out of Ryerson’s Flushability Lab at Ryerson Urban Water, and includes the testing of 23 single-use products that were labeled as “flushable” by the manufacturer. Results showed that not one single wipe was able to fall apart or disperse safely through the sewer system...

10 Jul Disaster Areas Should Receive Funds Sooner

Posted at 14:47h in Disasters, FEMA

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Funding to disaster areas will now be quicker thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding recently announced by the EPA and FEMA. The process will now be streamlined for easier and quicker distribution. The EPA said this Memorandum will give disaster-stricken communities faster access to federal funds that will aid in their rebuilding process by helping to restore crucial infrastructure and water services. Some of the highlights of the Memorandum of Understanding include: Encourages a tribe or local government to access a no-interest or low-interest loan from its state...

08 Jul Is the Next Wave of Water Infrastructure Financing on the way?

Posted at 02:49h in Infrastructure

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Throughout the nation, there has been much talk for a call to action on the infrastructure woes hitting America. A so-called “infrastructure bill” could stimulate the economy, provide Americans jobs and start repairing the roads, bridges and aging water systems. But, there was some movement in the form of a bill when President Trump signed into law the drinking water infrastructure bill. That movement is not enough. Last year’s bill, America’s Water Infrastructure Act, or AWIA, was the latest iteration of biennial water policy legislation known as...

01 Jul Recent Study Finds Aging Water Infrastructure Affects Water Utilities

Posted at 22:29h in Pipelining

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A J.D. Power 2019 Water Utility Residential Study addressed water quality issues and provided insight into customer satisfaction drivers. There’s been a trend in sequential surveys with customer reports of water quality issues being down. However, water utilities nationwide are looking at a period of massive infrastructure investment and construction. According to J.D. Power, the ability of water utilities to manage the infrastructure investment process will be determined by how well they communicate with customers while minimizing service interruptions and quality issues. Key findings in the study include: declining...