The water and wastewater industries are operating in an increasingly challenging environment, one in which competing priorities and pressures are stretching resources to the limit.

First and foremost is the demand for clean water, which is driven by population growth and movement. In fact, it has been estimated that to meet the needs of the United States alone, more than 1,000 new treatment facilities will need to be built, extending treatment capacity by more than 5,000 million gallons per day (MGD).

At the same time, municipalities across the United States are finding it necessary to expend significant resources to rebuild aging – and failing – infrastructure and modernize existing water and wastewater treatment facilities. In fact, the EPA’s latest Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment calls for an investment of $277 billion over the next 20 years for drinking water infrastructure rehabilitation and updates. On the wastewater side, cities and water districts are undertaking Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) upgrades that will, in some cases, require capital expenditures in the hundreds of millions of dollars each.