CNN recently highlighted America's growing water infrastructure concerns, from dripping pipes and leaking faucets to catastrophic water main breaks. Some are minor, but others wreak havoc on homes, destroying valuables and resulting in major property loss. This is a fact that is all too real for Anita Kramer,...

A recent article in The Washington Post analyzed how an upper-class American family with a gross annual income of $250,000 spent their money. The article was accompanied by a chart listing the national average costs for goods for a family of four at that higher than average income...

Last month, The Huffington Post ran a piece that highlighted analysis noting 10 major U.S. cities that would have significant "imbalances of water supply and demand." 24/7 Wall Street, an online financial publication, prepared the analysis based on two recent studies and noted that water shortages...

Anytime municipalities find themselves making a decision that will affect every citizen, it's always a challenge to choose what's best for all constituents today and into the future. That's true whether economic times are prosperous, or tough. Making sure an adequate amount of due diligence occurs every time hard choices...

Summer break is nearly over, and for many students that means saying goodbye to fun in the sun and reigniting a desire to learn. But summer wasn't a total wash for students interested in pursuing education and careers in the water industry. Across the country, students from grade school to...

Unless you live in the Northwest, chances are you've spent the summer lamenting the heat and/or humidity that has engulfed a majority of the country. And it turns out we're not alone. According to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, "the first half of 2010 breaks the thermometer." NOAA found that...

Earth Day, the day set aside globally to appreciate our planet and all the bounty and wonder it has to offer, provides an opportunity to consider what we as individuals, or as representatives of organizations, can contribute to the ecological health and vitality of the Blue Planet. While we have...

As we dive headfirst into Spring and commemorate our appreciation for the earth and its natural resources through events like World Water Day, Earth Day and the upcoming Water Appreciation Month (May), it is nice to see the media coming along for the ride, too, particularly as it relates to...

Last week was the EPA's Fix a Leak Week, established to highlight the significant savings that can be achieved by addressing leaking water pipes and fixtures. Promoting the agency's WaterSense program, municipalities and private companies across the country participated in activities ranging from educating consumers to actually fixing leaks while...

Today, March 22nd, people and organizations across the world will recognize the 18th Annual World Water Day raising the profile of the importance of safe, reliable water for everyone. Around one billion people -- that's nine zeros -- lack sufficient access to healthy water and World Water Day,...

I read Bob Herbert's recent column (New York Times, Feb. 16) with great interest. Appropriately asking "What's Wrong with Us?," Herbert ignited an often-overlooked, but necessary dialogue about our nation's aging infrastructure. As the comments well illustrate, (there were 309 of them before the forum closed to additional...

It's hard for many to process the fact that although 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, we can only access about one percent as potable fresh water. As awareness of a potential water scarcity grows, so does the global effort to reuse water traditionally used for...

Let me ask you a question. When someone asks where your water comes from, do you point to your kitchen faucet, or does your mind go to the lake 30 minutes up the road? Research shows that most Americans give the first answer, evidence that we take our nearly universal...

Some are uncomfortable referring to the water industry as just that: an industry. But there is no denying that's what it is. It has developed over the years gradually, beginning with small local utilities supplying mostly drinking water. Wastewater treatment as we think of it today didn't come along until...

While a series of national issues are consuming the public discourse on Capitol Hill, state and local governments across the country continue to look for innovative ways to navigate complex and necessary upgrades to infrastructure systems while also meeting an increasing demand for environmental stewardship. To that end, government entities...

Experts throughout the United States agree that our nation's drinking water and wastewater systems face increasing infrastructure replacement challenges over the next several decades. There is no scarcity of evidence of the many problems, including collapsed storm sewers, trillions of gallons of water that overflow every year from sewer systems...