Category Archives: Uncategorized

WEFTEC 2025: Where the Water Community Connects

WEFTEC is the largest annual convention and exposition for the water sector. WEFTEC 2025 will take place in Chicago, Illinois from September 27 – October 1 and will offer more than 130 technical sessions, 20 Workshops, 1000 exhibitors, and more than 20,000 water professionals to connect with. Find out more and register at www.weftec.org.

Bragging rights at stake in ACE25 competitions

The Exhibit Hall filled with roars and celebrations as water pros competed in several events at the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE25) in Denver. Former and defending champions as well as newcomers competed fiercely for the 2025 titles and bragging rights for their sections in several crowd-pleasing traditions at ACE. …

The University-to-Utility Pipeline

It is no secret that the U.S. water sector has a recruitment problem. According to Black & Veatch’s (Overland Park, Kansas) 2024 Water Report, a whopping 47% of water-sector survey respondents ranked the difficulty of attracting early-career staff to replace retiring veterans as their top challenge. And with approximately one-third of the entire water workforce due …

Virginia utility encourages future water stewards with H2Go Kids

Prince William Water in Woodbridge, Virginia, created H2Go Kids to encourage students and educators to protect water resources and to nurture a better water stewardship ethic among the next generation. “For more than a decade, Prince William Water has offered a robust community and educational outreach program,” said Michelle Miranda, community engagement manager at Prince William Water. …

Wrath of the Unflushables: An intrepid utility battled a long-term foe — and influenced flushing behavior— with humorous toilet talk

The flushing of disposable wipes and other products labeled as “flushable” causes serious and costly issues for water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). After experiencing ongoing issues with unflushables in its wastewater system, regional utility Metro Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) worked to shift residents’ flushing habits using behavior-change campaigns. Read the full article in the February …

AWWA Water Champion – Jeff Phillips, Greenville, South Carolina

Jeff Phillips is chief operations officer for Greenville Water in South Carolina, a role he has held since 2023 after working four years as director of water resources. He was recently appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council. He is a past president of the South Carolina Section of AWWA. …

Utility benchmarking provides useful staffing level comparisons

One of the most used indicators from the AWWA Utility Benchmarking Survey is the Staffing Levels metric, which allows participating utilities to compare their staffing levels to peer utilities. This is useful for aligning with strategic priorities, planning for anticipated changes in service delivery, and determining whether current resources are adequate to meet service levels. Participants submit …