Our dependence on plastics, most of which are based on a formula developed from coal, natural gas and crude oil, is another aspect of our deep-rooted reliance on fossil fuels. The battle to move away from these fuels to support our way of life is best described…
Thoughts From Engineers: Water Reuse Enters the Spotlight
The Wichita Falls Resource Recovery Facility in Wichita Falls, Texas, became a national model for indirect potable reuse (IPR) in 2018 when it captured,…
Thoughts from Engineers: Water Infrastructure Woes Hit the American Pocketbook
The COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus a few key realities about water service in the United States. Many millions of Americans worked hard…
Thoughts From Engineers: All Sensors (and Eyes) on the Water
The city of Virginia Beach, Va., was recognized in November 2020 with a Digital Cities award for the municipality’s adoption of StormSense, a multi-award-winning initiative that harnesses data streamed from a network of smart sensors and uses the resulting…
Thoughts From Engineers: How to Avoid a Regional Disaster
Some 160 years ago, in an effort to remedy the Great Stink of 1858, which refers to a time in London’s history when the Thames River was used as an open sewer, an unknown English engineer by the name of Joseph Bazalgette was hired to design and build a network…
Thoughts From Engineers: The Shadow Cast by Lead Pipes
On the eve of the New Year, amidst a pandemic and presidential transition, the final revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) were published on Dec. 20, 2020. The new LCR modifies and updates parts of a law that was first passed in 1988. At that time,…
Thoughts From Engineers: A Moving Target: The Challenge of Predicting Flood Risk
The Aug. 20, 2018, storms that hit Dane County, Wis., near Madison, unloaded in some locations nearly 15.33 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Flood stage on Black Earth Creek climbed from 2 feet to 9.7 feet within a few hours, and the two-day rain event…
Thoughts From Engineers: Down by the River: USGS Reports on Human Activity in U.S. Waterways
The endangered status of the Mississippi River skipjack herring may have initiated a few changes to this historic river’s routine management—but little more. This is just one fish in a vast and nuanced ecosystem. But whether discussing an obscure…
Thoughts From Engineers: Dam Management in the 21st Century: Collaborative and Community-Based
The breach of the Edenville Dam in Michigan, which sent floodwater over the downstream Midland Dam and forced thousands to evacuate on May 19, 2020, tragically captures the catastrophic risk posed by aging dams with absentee or financially strapped dam owners…
Thoughts from Engineers: More than a Pump and a Toilet: Communities Worldwide Need Critical Water Supply and Sanitation Systems
A day rarely goes by in the United States without some news about drinking water and the physical, social and administrative systems needed to deliver it. We hear about lead contamination in Newark, N.J., Flint, Mich., and other cities. We hear about water…
