2021 is the 10th anniversary of one of my favorite movies: Moneyball. If you haven’t seen it, rent it tonight. It’s a fast-paced, rollercoaster of a film starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Best of all, it provides an important lesson about breaking out of old paradigms of thinking. Moneyball tells the story of how […]
Four Lessons Water Can Learn from Power
I’ve been fortunate to have spent significant time in my career working in “utility” industries such as cable tv/broadband, electric and water. Most gratifying is how foundational each of these services are to our society as the baseline to our quality of life. Many of us are old enough to remember what life was like […]
Our Water Infrastructure Must Do Better than a “C-Minus“ Rating
As a young student, I would have loved a report card that came out only once every four years. But if I had one, I would have hoped for something better than a C-minus. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issued its quadrennial Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, using an A-to-F school report card format. […]
The Emerging and Expanding State of Digital Transformation of U.S. Water Utilities
On this World Water Day, anyone interested in the future of U.S. water utilities should run (not walk) – to get a copy of the report The Digital Capabilities of US Water Utilities SmartMarket Brief by Dodge Data & Analytics and Bentley. It takes a detailed look at the readiness of municipal water systems to fully engage […]
Why Leading Utilities are Investing in Remote Monitoring Water Systems to Reduce Water Loss
Even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, managing water loss has continued to be a high priority for many utilities as they work to comply with state regulatory pressures to lower and account for non-revenue water and meet sustainability goals. The Village of Skokie, Illinois, who recently announced a strategic investment in an innovative, cost-efficient responsive analytics […]
Bluefield Research Expects Water Industry to Benefit from New Business Models in 2021
Following a year of unprecedented changes and challenges for water utilities, Bluefield Research recently released a forecast in WaterWorld outlining what we can expect to see in the water industry in 2021. Among the top trends they are watching across municipal water includes new business models that are expanding the customer base for digital water […]
World Water Loss Day by the Numbers
As governments, organizations and companies around the world reflect on the importance of World Water Loss Day, we are thinking about the impact of water loss that many communities nationwide may not be aware of. World Water Loss Day, recently established by the Water Loss Specialist Group of the International Water Association (IWA), is scheduled […]
Water Utilities Remain Targets of Cyber Attacks
U.S. water, electric and gas utilities have faced an ongoing problem with hackers for years. These cyberattacks typically involve ransomware, which compromises data and computing systems until a company or utility pays a fee. Aquify’s parent company, Exelon Corporation, is a Fortune 100 energy company with the largest number of electricity and natural gas customers […]
Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Automation Can Give Water Utilities an Upper Hand in Optimizing Distribution System Operations
In today’s COVID-19 world, remote water system monitoring and analytics is more important than ever. The reorganization of life-home-work patterns, the restructuring of operational workflows, and the reduction of commercial and industrial operations are all reshaping demand patterns, leading to unexpected operational events. With compounding factors such as fewer staff to analyze data, increased data […]