By Kris Polly

It’s not too often that you encounter a technology you truly think will change the industry—but one of those moments came recently for me when I learned about SewerAI. By automating the process of reviewing pipe inspection footage using artificial intelligence, SewerAI’s solutions can double field productivity and accelerate in-office sewer assessment work by even more. In my opinion, this will become the standard industry practice. The company has attracted major clients, including the City of Houston and the Knoxville Utilities Board. In our cover interview with Cofounders Matt Rosenthal and Billy Gilmartin, we discuss the company’s solutions, which also include creating digital twins of underground infrastructure and automating quality assurance.

Next, we check in with two engineering firms about recent projects. Rob Stout, the Water Business Unit Leader for McKim & Creed, tells us about the company’s recent awards and about its current projects, which span water reuse, septic conversions, biosolids handling, sewer evaluation, and SCADA replacement. Robert Beltran, the Florida Water Market Segment Leader for Dewberry, updates us on the company’s work on septic conversions, direct potable reuse, and more.

We also talk with DJ Seeger, the president of San Antonio–based Seeger Water, about how the company grew from a family lawn irrigation business to a full-service irrigation, plumbing, and water operations company.

Israel-based WFI Group has a portfolio of impressive water reuse and treatment technologies. In our interview with

Chief Business Officer Ari Veltman, we discuss a number of technical advances, including Modified Activated Carbon, which may soon make treating challenging contaminants such as hexavalent chromium more feasible.

HUBER Technology supplies equipment for wastewater plants and pump stations across North America, and with its new manufacturing facility in North Carolina, it will soon be 100 percent compliant with Build America Buy America requirements. National Sales Director Simon Randle tells us more.

Finally, we speak with Scott Dewhirst, the superintendent of Tacoma Water, about his recent testimony before Congress, representing the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, during which he shared information about strategies to protect water utilities from cyberattacks.

To an outsider, municipal water might seem like a static and unchanging industry—just a matter of delivering water through pipes. In reality, the technology is advancing rapidly. Artificial intelligence, automation, digital twins, and new water reuse and treatment technologies are all changing the face of the business. We salute the innovators and professionals who are keeping our infrastructure running and our water supplies safe every day.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He can be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.