The Business of Water

Water Industry News
national news  global impact  

Click the underlined headlines for full story

America: leaking money by wasting energy for water systems 

Xylem Inc. believes that 50% to 75% of the total capital costs at public utilities go to supplying energy for water supply and treatment and the U.S. loses 1.7 trillion gallons per year to leaky water pipes. Water and wastewater utilities are typically the largest consumers of energy in municipalities, often accounting for 30-40% of total energy consumed according to EPA..

 

 

Illinois may allow private water companies to finance privatization through rate increases on current customers

Legislation moving quickly through Springfield would allow the state's biggest private water companies, Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois, to fast-track takeovers of municipal water systems and automatically charge current customers higher rates to fund those conquests, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) warned Monday.

 

 

Are public private partnerships really better than government wastewater treatment systems?

West Yost Associates presented to the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency a comprehensive comparison publicly operated versus privately operated wastewater systems. Guess which systems are more cost effective and why. 

 

 

Allentown PA 50-year concession awarded to home team

Allentown, PA, awarded its water and wastewater concession to Lehigh County Authority (LCA), which offered the highest final upfront bid of USD 220m in a competitive bidding process, according to a press release issued by Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski on 2 April. LCA is a municipal authority in Lehigh County, PA and, while it receives no direct taxpayer money, it does qualify for low-cost financing from the government.

 

Summary of estimated costs and savings of alternative water and wastewater treatment systems

Public Works Financing looked at more than two dozen water and wastewater system projects to compare costs and, for design-build-operate, savings through private involvement.

 

 

Obama proposes to cut water infrastructure funding

President Obama's proposed budget for FY 2014 dramatically cuts both the Environmental Protection Agency’s state revolving loan funds (SRFs) and the Rural Utilities Service’s Rural Water and Waste Disposal program. He also proposes changes to the tax code that would affect water infrastructure funding. If passed, these changes will add greater financial burdens to localities struggling to conform to environmental mandates.

 

 

How does the Long-Term water concession model work?

A simple description of the design-build-own-operate-transfer public private partnership arrangement -- also called Concession Model

 

 

  Is there a future for water privatization?

Most Americans get their household water from a public-owned-and-operated water utilities. However, nearly 73 million people now are served with help from a private company, according to a 2011 report by the National Association of Water Companies. From the consumer's perspective, privatization's results have been mixed. In some cases, cities have retaken control of their water services. And not every private provider has delivered on promises of reduced rates. But to governments strapped for cash, the option is seen as increasingly attractive. Here, two policy experts exchange views on what is best for our communities. Richard G. Little is a senior fellow at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California . Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of Food and Water Watch, an advocacy group for food and water quality.

 

 

 

New Infrastructure Bank proposal to accommodate private equity participation

The Center for American Progress published a new report detailing the US  infrastructure gap and advocating a Federally initiated lending institution that would encourage private equity participation. It would provide a single "home" for such project proposals that would eliminate the need for investors to make redundant pitches to multiple federal, state, and local agencies, making the entire process of linking private capital with critical infrastructure projects both more efficient and user-friendly. Please read the entire report here.

 

 

US Conference of Mayors pleads for infrastructure investment

Mayors attending the conference's summer meeting in Philadelphia pleaded with federal and state governments, as well as both presidential candidates, to increase the amount of funding for infrastructure — including roads, bridges, water and sewer systems and other transportation investments. Public spending on infrastructure in the United States has fallen to 2.4 percent of the gross domestic product, the group said, something that needs to be increased in order for growth to continue. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, president of the conference, noted that infrastructure spending had been at 3 percent of the GDP not long ago. "It's going in the wrong direction," the Democrat said, adding that the change was due to the "ineffectiveness of many members of Congress."

 

 

Innovative water purifier for personal water treatment  

The H2gO Water Purifier by Aqua Research LLC with a few grains of salt provide safe drinking water to outdoorsmen, travelers, and disaster response teams. Developing nations may be the beneficiaries of this simple technology.  

 

 

Does pharmaceutical waste threaten human health?

North America represents approximately 38% of the global pharmaceutical market with Europe following closely. According to Nature, “Many of Europe’s rivers are home to male fish that are ‘intersex’ and so display female sexual characteristics, including female reproductive anatomy." UK government’s Environment Agency found that 86% of male fish sampled at 51 sites around the country were intersex.” Toxicologists blame this feminization on endocrine-disrupting chemicals — particularly the active ingredient in the contraceptive pill, ethynyl oestradiol (EE2). This is an example of the pharmaceutical industry's effect on the environment.

 

 

Allentown’s tab for water sewer study tops $200,000 

Allentown City Council learned Wednesday that the city has already spent $237,000 planning and studying Mayor Ed Pawlowski’s proposal to lease the city’s water and sewer systems to a private operator to head off a pensions-fueled fiscal crisis. The  figure was made public by Councilwoman Jeanette Eichenwald, who requested an accounting of the spending from the administration, and it came on the same night a citizens group presented a petition with 70 signatures requesting that council conduct an independent investigation of the proposal.

 

New Jersey expects home water rates to triple

What now costs the average  household about $40 a month will balloon to $120 or more by some estimates, to rectify years of neglect. Much of the network of pipes, valves and pumps beneath the surface has been around since the Great Depression or earlier. New Jersey American Water, for instance, estimates that about 15 percent of its approximate 9,000 miles of piping statewide will hit 100 years of service by 2020. The borough of Seaside Park , established in 1898, just recently made its first major overhaul to its water system, swapping out century-old wooden piping for new water mains.

 

Newfoundland announces water infrastructure investment

The Newfoundland and Labrador department of Municipal Affairs announced Thursday the province will invest about $972,000 in infrastructure in the Bonavista north and south area.

 

 

 

Water Facts

Is Larry Chertoff controlling our water supply?

Candidate Ron Paul thinks so, or so his web site states. 

 

The truth about plastic bottles
Is it so that: “Reusing plastic water bottles (PET) can cause them to break down into carcinogenic compounds (diethylhydroxylamine or DEHA).
reprinted from The Water Connoisseur

The origin of water
Water is the essence of life, but where did water come from? The latest discoveries in astrophysics point to water not being a natural terrestrial product but imported from the edges of our solar system.
reprinted from The Water Connoisseur

Archaea -- the oldest new solution to wastewater treatment?

The story of sludge processing
How it is generated, dewatered, dried, distributed.

 

For an intelligent perspective of  
global water issues click to:
Global Water Intelligence

 

How corrupt is your country?

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index for 2005 lists 143 countries from Finland to Haiti in order of the integrity of business relations. Compare this index to the 2003 Corruption Perception Index. 

Corruption Perception Index 2004
Corruption Perception Index 2003

 

Water Industry News 

Published by Larry Chertoff