Archive
Tackling Water Usage in Data Centers
The seven-year-long California dry spell that finished in mid-2019 paired with the wildfires that followed are only two late occasions that have projected a focus on the extensive outcomes of deteriorating water deficiencies. Those worries have been compounded by a lack of certainty of the impact of climate change on water supplies. Under particular scrutiny is the data center market sector as, just in the U.S., data centers are expected to have consumed an estimated 174 billion gallons of water in 2020[1]. For reference, a 15-megawatt data center can use up to 360,000 gallons of water in just one day. […]
Stakeholder Input Request for EPA’s National Water Reuse Plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently held a meeting to identify challenges and map out solutions that will continue to advance the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP). With the plan being rolled out earlier this year, this meeting helped lay the groundwork for continued efforts towards ensuring the security, sustainability, and resilience of the nation’s water resources. With 37 specific actions led by an array of federal, state, local, and other water sector interests, the collaborative interaction has been vital to the plan’s success. “Water reuse must be a central theme in EPA’s efforts to meet 21st century […]
The Critical Role of Data in Digital Water Systems
As social distancing and stay-at-home orders continue to be enforced across the country, U.S. water industry leaders are looking to accelerate innovation in strategy, operations, and capital planning by harnessing digital assets and data analytics. In Black & Veatch’s newly released Strategic Directions: Water Report, it documents the efforts that leaders have put forth to adopt and implement technology that is geared towards pushing better decision-making, optimizing and prioritizing system investments, and driving cost-efficiencies. All to help deliver sustainability and resilience to the industry as new and traditional hurdles impact service providers around the country. The recurring concerns about aging […]
Pharmaceutical Removal from Wastewater: Who Does it Best?
A partnership study between the University of Buffalo, Stony Brook University, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, and Hazen & Sawyer was published recently in the journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. Funded by New York Sea Grant, this study analyzed a variety of technologies currently in use at seven wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern United States and how effective they were at removing pharmaceuticals from the wastewater. When measuring the effectiveness of removing medicines such as antibiotics and antidepressants from the wastewater, granular activated carbon and ozonation were particularly promising treatment methods. Both techniques were found to reduce the […]