McCook Reservoir
In early January, a winter rain brought an inch of precipitation to Chicago’s already-snow-covered yards and streets. The otherwise unremarkable rain marked an important stage in the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s (MWRD) Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP): For the first time, stormwater entered MWRD’s McCook Reservoir on Chicago’s southwestern side. [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] […]
Building Lasting Relationships to Raise a Dam
Gross Reservoir is a critical component in Denver Water’s North System. Completed in 1955, the original designers had envisioned the reservoir’s expansion as a way to keep up with demand. The current reservoir holds 42,000 acre-feet of water, impounded by a 340-foot concrete dam. Denver Water is in the process of raising Gross Dam by […]
Replenishing Infrastructure Investment
Providing clean drinking water to nearly 2.5 million people in a region accustomed to less than 15 inches of precipitation annually is no small feat. Through its commitment to long-term planning and infrastructure investment, the Orange County Water District (OCWD) has done just that. OCWD wholesales groundwater to retail water agencies that serve Orange County. […]
Reviving Water Infrastructure in New Jersey
While energy and transportation assets are well known for being indispensable to our economy, our security, and our overall quality of life, the significance of a safe, reliable, and efficient water delivery system is habitually unheeded. But while many of us get frustrated at the damage a potholed roadway can do to our car or […]
Reducing the Cost of Water Operations With SCADA
Large water and wastewater utilities have been using supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems for years. However, due to the cost and complexity of traditional systems, realizing the benefits of SCADA has been out of reach for many rural and small-town agencies. The good news is that newer, proven technologies are making SCADA […]
Luka Erceg of Drylet
The process to treat and recycle biosolids can be time consuming and expensive for water treatment plants, but a new product called Aqua Assist is changing that. Added to wastewater treatment systems, Aqua Assist, developed by Drylet, uses a specially engineered microbe-delivery platform to break down and reduce biosolids, resulting in cost and equipment savings […]
Volume 4 Issue 1 January 2018
For water managers, the calm before the storm is a time for preparation. In 2017, the water and wastewater agencies of southern Texas were put to the test by Hurricane Harvey. Some of them experienced 20,000-year flood levels. It is no surprise that those agencies helped to ensure that drinking water and wastewater services […]
Core Principals of Water Resources Emergency Management
Last year’s hurricane season wrought a substantial amount of damage to the southern United States and the U.S. Caribbean Island territories—including to the water infrastructure of those regions. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been integral to the response to and recovery from those storms. Under the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act, the […]
Overcoming Inundation in The Woodlands
Not many water agencies have to grapple with 20,000-year flood events. Last August, Hurricane Harvey inundated much of southern Texas with record-breaking rainfall, posing significant challenges to drinking water delivery and wastewater treatment. The staff of the San Jacinto River Authority’s (SJRA) Woodlands Division, however, took those challenges in stride, providing seamless operations over the […]
Hunkering Down for Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey struck Houston, Texas, on August 26, 2017, and went on to become one of the most devastating natural disasters on record. Entire neighborhoods were flooded or severely damaged, and thousands of people were forced to evacuate. While the efforts to protect people and homes are well known, the story of the efforts of […]