Reinforcing the sector means leaning forward on system management

摘要

As if the convergence of a sector worker shortage and the pandemic was not enough to cause water utility managers to have concerns, millions of people across the country have experienced extreme weather that has brought cities to a standstill and left residents and commercial and industrial businesses without water for washing, drinking, or flushing. The effects of climate change threaten water sources and make water infrastructure more vulnerable, as communities are experiencing firsthand. The underinvestment in water infrastructure and technology to assist in managing these systems poses risks to public health, economies, and the environment. This all points to the critical role technology upgrades play in ensuring water resiliency. A 2017 Arcadis report, titled Empowering Water Utility Innovation, points out "As North American water utilities imagine the future of providing on-demand, high-quality, affordable water and sanitation services to the hundreds of millions of customers who depend on them, the question isn't, whether the water sector needs to innovate, but, rather, what happens if it doesn't?" The report and associated Water Research Foundation and Water Environment 8c Reuse Foundation study found that 91% of surveyed utilities believed innovation was critical to the future of their organizations, while less than 40% believed they were fully leveraging it. Supporting these findings is the AWWA 2018 State of the Water Industry report that lists multiple barriers to innovation or change. Among them are resources and risk, but also a lack of openness to new ideas or willingness to pursue innovation. Surprisingly, of the responding utilities, many had not fully implemented a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. Only 55% of small utilities, 71% of medium utilities, 82% of large utilities, and only 87% of very large utilities had fully implemented SCADA. If all utilities are not using SCADA, they certainly are not adopting complementary technologies such as cloud- or mobile-based applications, which would help optimize the capacity of their assets.