Water Management for the Three Rivers Region
Pittsburgh is a tale of two cities: It has been inundated with water issues in recent years related to aging infrastructure, sewer overflows, pollutants, and population growth, yet it doesn’t lack for water due to being located at the juncture of three rivers. In 2018, the Heinz Endowment reached out to the Water Center at Penn (WCP), a new trans-disciplinary applied research center for urban water policy, innovation and science, to study the challenges and opportunities for water management for the Three Rivers region. The report for the first phase of the study, “Accelerating Transformational Change in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers,” […]
National Water Reuse Action Plan
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released the draft of the National Water Reuse Action Plan in recognition of the water shortages the country is currently confronting and is predicted to face in the future. The plan outlines the benefits of water reuse that have already been effectively demonstrated across the in agriculture, industrial cooling, ecosystem replenishment, landscape irrigation, and toilet flushing water. In short, water reuse enhances water security on a national and global level. Water reclamation, or reuse, can significantly impact the availability of water resources throughout the country and assist with threats of drought. The purpose […]
Chattanooga Water Outage
Americans, for the most part, are fortunate to have reliable access to drinkable water. However, what happens when there is no water? Problems, such as water main breaks, can significantly impact a community and the local water supply, especially when the break occurs on a 36-inch water main in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. More than 35,000 customers had either little or no water for 36 to 70 hours along with a boil advisory that lasted five days. There is now an investigation into the cause of the historic break, although Tennessee American Water Company officials have not officially reported the cause. […]
Continuing Rate Increases for Fulton County
In 2017, Fulton County saw a five percent increase in their water rates (approved through 2019); those funds were earmarked for infrastructure improvements. Now, another round of increases is on the horizon. Over the next three years, a four percent increase is proposed to cover the cost of expanding the Big Creek treatment plant which came in at a price of $50 million higher than anticipated. According to David Clark, Fulton’s public works director, the plant must be expanded from 24 million gallons per day to 38 million gallons per day, “or the county’s sewage system would not be able […]
Who Will Be the “Next Flint”?
It has been three years since the lead contamination and consequent drinking water crisis occurred in Flint, Michigan. Given the extent of aging infrastructure throughout the country, the question is, who will be next? Both Newark, New Jersey and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are currently facing similar circumstances. In 2016, the same year Flint was dealing with lead in drinking water, Newark was also facing accusations of lead-contaminated water, although the city reported the issue to be confined to buildings with aging infrastructure. Subsequently, they prohibited the use of water fountains in 30 schools, providing bottled water, instead. The following year, testing […]