Texas Water Supply Endangered by Workforce Shortage

Texas is facing a critical challenge that could eventually impact its water supply and infrastructure. A recent report highlights a growing concern for Texas' water supply due to a significant labor shortage in the water and wastewater utilities sector. 

The Texas Water Foundation and Texas Rural Funders released the report, compiled by Jobs for the Future, which underscores the critical role of skilled workers in maintaining the state's water infrastructure. This shortage poses a serious threat to the state's ability to maintain and repair its water systems, which are already under strain from climate change and a growing population.

The report warns that the next failure in Texas' water system could be exacerbated by workforce issues, such as unfilled positions leading to delayed repairs or inadequate training. The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) is among the agencies facing these challenges, with a substantial portion of their workforce nearing retirement and a shortage of qualified replacements.

To address these issues, the report suggests developing regional training programs, integrating water careers into existing education initiatives, and establishing a dedicated water fund for infrastructure. SAWS has implemented a policy to retain employees by offering raises for new certifications, aiming to keep skilled workers within the organization.

The labor shortage in Texas' water and wastewater utilities sector is a pressing issue that requires immediate attention. By developing regional training programs, integrating water careers into education initiatives, and establishing a dedicated water fund for infrastructure, Texas can work towards a sustainable solution. The efforts of agencies like SAWS to retain skilled workers through incentives are steps in the right direction.

Pathways for Career Development in Wastewater Treatment

Everyone in and around the water sector knows that there is a staffing and workforce shortage in treatment plants around the country, both in drinking water and wastewater. Much of the issue is due to the significant number of operators that have retired or are approaching retirement age, while replacement workers beginning careers are not entering the sector at a high enough rate.

As such, the question of how to recruit more younger workers has been a major focus of the water sector in recent years. Many of the recruitment issues are similar on the water and wastewater sides (less interest in trades and manual labor, lack of awareness that the jobs exist, competition from other industries), but wastewater has the added challenge of convincing young people to work with human waste.

However, when considering joining the wastewater treatment field or trying to recruit others, something important to look at are the opportunities for advancement and professional growth — in other words, the options for career development. Because the details and daily tasks of a wastewater operator’s job aren’t necessarily widely known, someone may incorrectly think that the opportunities for professional growth are limited.

In fact, that is not the case. Here, we take a look at some of the best ways to advance as a wastewater operator.

Advanced Certification and Licensing

Every state requires prospective wastewater treatment operators to obtain a license in order to perform the job. While the exact requirements for licensing are different across the states, typically they require the passing of a certification exam and completing continuing education courses to renew licenses at set intervals.

But in most states, there are higher levels of certification available beyond the basic license needed to become an entry-level operator. These advanced licenses are often labeled as Class II, Class III, Class IV, or perhaps even higher. To obtain a higher level license, a certain number of years of experience, continuing education credits, and passing more exams are typically required. Having high level licenses will help to open up more advanced positions and a higher pay grade.

Specialization

Another path to more responsibilities and higher wages is specializing in particular components of the wastewater treatment process. Possible specializations include industrial wastewater, laboratory analysis, environmental compliance, process control, maintenance, and biosolids management. Certifications for these specializations are often available. Getting an official specialization certification may not always be required, but is usually very helpful.

Supervisory and Management Positions

As with most jobs, there are supervisory and management roles at wastewater utilities that can be achieved with experience and competence. Progress high enough up the management ladder, and you can oversee plant operations and staff, enforce regulatory compliance, make financial decisions, build your plant’s workforce, and more.

Pursuing Higher Education

One of the reasons that water and wastewater treatment are excellent career choices is that becoming an operator does not require a college degree. But it’s also true that having degrees can open more doors for advancement in these fields. Associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, or even higher level degrees in fields like environmental science, engineering, biology, chemistry, information technology, business administration, and beyond can enhance an operator’s skill sets and provide significant benefits to their utility.

Joining Professional Organizations

Being a part of professional organizations in any field is a great way to further professional development. These organizations provide consistent opportunities to network, attend conferences, access cutting edge training, join leadership and advisory committees, and possibly achieve industry recognition.

Here are some of the top national professional organizations to check in the wastewater industry:

• Water Environment Federation (WEF)
• National Rural Water Association (NRWA)
• American Water Works Association (AWWA)

You could also check out the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) and the National Association of Wastewater Technicians (NAWT), which are focused on onsite and decentralized wastewater (septic) systems, if you live in an area where such systems are incorporated into utilities.

Many states also have state level affiliates of WEF, NRWA, AWWA, and NOWRA. If possible, being a part of both your state organizations and national organizations will maximize development opportunities. Your state may also have an organization that is independent of any of these bodies, like the Wisconsin Wastewater Operators Association.

Are we missing any organizations for wastewater operators? Or any other avenues to professional development in the wastewater industry? Send us an email at info@wateroperator.org and tell us about it!

Toilet-to-Tap Project in Tucson, AZ

In a time where water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, the potential of recycled water to revolutionize sustainable development cannot be overstated. By integrating advanced wastewater treatment systems into urban planning, cities can address critical environmental challenges and ensure a reliable water supply for future generations. The innovative use of recycled water stands as a beacon of hope, promising a more resilient future for communities worldwide.

Tucson is taking a significant step towards water sustainability by building its first facility to turn recycled wastewater into drinking water. This project, often referred to as “toilet-to-tap,” is funded by the Bureau of Reclamation and aims to reduce the city’s dependence on Colorado River water. 

The initiative is part of a broader vision to create a hydro-local community that values and stewards local water resources. The new facility will treat recycled water to meet EPA drinking water standards, adding diversity to Tucson’s water supplies and addressing increasing PFAS contamination in local groundwater wells. This project is a proactive response to required cuts in Colorado River water allocations, showcasing Tucson’s commitment to water conservation and sustainability. 

Watershed Management Group (WMG) envisions a hydro-local Tucson, where local water resources are prioritized over distant aquifers and rivers. By reusing water multiple times locally, Tucson can extend the use of its limited water supplies and contribute to the health of both local rivers and the Colorado River system. Tucsonans have been reducing their water usage, with the current average at 74 gallons per person per day. WMG aims to further reduce this to 40 gallons per person per day, which could potentially eliminate the need for Colorado River water entirely. Recycled water is already being used to enhance flows in the Santa Cruz River, recharge aquifers, as well as irrigate schools and parks. WMG advocates for prioritizing groundwater recharge and river flow over less critical uses, like golf course irrigation.

Tucson's approach to water recycling exemplifies a forward-thinking commitment to sustainability and resource management. By transforming wastewater back into our most valuable resource, the city is not only addressing immediate water scarcity challenges but also setting a precedent for other communities to follow. The "toilet-to-tap" initiative underscores the importance of local water stewardship and the potential for recycled water to secure a resilient future. As Tucson continues to reduce its water usage and prioritize local resources, it paves the way for a hydro-local model that could revolutionize water management practices nationally.

How to Overcome the "Yuck" Factor of Recycled Wastewater

For those of us who live in places where there is never any doubt about the ability to turn a tap and have clean water come out, it can be hard to reconcile the reality that the world is at great risk of a water supply crisis. In 2023, the UN estimated that not only do two billion people not have safe drinking water, but that two to three billion people are already experiencing water shortages for at least one month a year. The report also projects that the population facing urban water scarcity will double by 2050, due to the increasing frequency of extreme drought.

And drought isn’t the only supply issue — many groundwater aquifers have been overpumped for decades. The Ogallala Aquifer, the largest in North America, supplies 30% of the irrigation water in the United States, is the only reliable source of water in some parts of the American heartland, and will run out of water in a generation in the most vulnerable communities.

So what are we to do about our water supply problems? Yes, we could and should certainly try to use less water, look for other surface water sources, or even pump water back into depleted aquifers.

We could also recycle our wastewater. But, well. That seems “yucky” to a lot of people.  

In Tampa, former Florida state representative and state senator Janet Cruz lost an election in 2023 to the Tampa City Council, largely attributed to her support of laws allowing treated wastewater into drinking water systems while she was a state legislator. In a survey conducted for research published in the Science of The Total Environment journal last year, it was found that just 43% of respondents in the Southeast US supported water reuse generally — and only 8% would be willing to drink recycled water.

But the fact of the matter is that the rest of our water sources cannot be relied upon as we continue to use them in unsustainable ways, and the total volume of our wastewater represents an invaluable opportunity to reshape our water future, if we can just get beyond that “yuck factor.”

To that end, the State Water Resources Control Board of California voted in December 2023 to adopt regulations to implement direct potable reuse (DPR) in the state — in other words, that means treating wastewater to the point that it can be added directly into drinking water systems, with no environmental buffer. The vote was years in the making and the development of the regulations mandated by state law.

California, with its population of 40 million and extremely high demand for agricultural irrigation water, faces the stresses of water supply perhaps more than any other state. The move to implement DPR follows decades of indirect potable and non-potable reuse in the state (and many others in the country, like Florida). Treated wastewater is already being used for industrial machines, irrigation, and aquifer replenishment.

At the time the legislation went through, the Metropolitan Water District alone (the water agency of Southern California) was projected to provide 115 million gallons of recycled water a day by 2032, which could supply 385,000 homes. Gov. Gavin Newsom projected that recycled water could account for 9% of state water use by 2030 and then double by 2040.

The statewide regulations officially allowing for DPR in California went into effect in October of last year. By then, cities like Santa Monica were hoping to implement DPR as early as 2027. Plans for a full DPR treatment facility in the San Fernando Valley to be completed by the same time point are underway. These rules also allow water agencies flexibility in their supply management between wet and dry years, meaning that the objective is that drinking recycled water will help the agencies save water from the Colorado River and Sierra Nevada snowpack for drier years.

But for all the high hopes in California, the state won’t be the first in the nation to treat its wastewater to drinking water quality. The city of Big Spring, Texas, was the first place in the country to use DPR to supply its water system, which it began in 2013 after its namesake spring ran out of water. The standard bearer of water recycling, though, is Singapore, which through its Changi Water Reclamation Plant cleans 237 million gallons of wastewater a day and brands the treated water as “NEWater.”

And California won’t likely be alone as the sole mass consumer of wastewater-turned-drinking-water in the US either. The city of El Paso is expected to have a DPR plant online by 2027, as Texas allows such plants on a case-by-case basis. Colorado actually beat California to adopting DPR regulations in February of 2023, which were the first in the nation. And despite Cruz’s loss in the Tampa City Council election, the practice is still moving forward in Florida, where a pilot program in a central Florida county began turning wastewater to drinking water in late 2023.

Finally, Arizona also began building a framework for DPR late 2023, where the need is increasingly being seen as inevitable. The state’s proposed rules are nearing approval.

Of course, building the needed facilities and the extensive water treatment process won’t come cheaply, especially for municipalities that aren’t quite the size of the whole state of California or even just El Paso. The DPR facility constructed by the Colorado River Municipal Water District for Big Spring, which has a population of around 25,000, cost $14 million to build and took 11 years to plan and construct. Getting other smaller communities on board before it’s absolutely necessary will likely not be easy.

But getting the infrastructure for DPR and other expanded water recycling systems in place now will be cheaper than in the future, when other water sources are even more stressed. And as with all things, as the wastewater recycling economy scales up, costs should come down. It’s already cheaper than desalination of saltwater — an International Finance Corporation estimate has found that the cost of producing potable water can be as low as $0.45 per cubic meter, while desalination typically exceeds $0.50 per cubic meter. A Framework for Direct Potable Reuse put together by water stakeholders including the WateReuse Association and the American Water Works Association also found the total estimated costs of DPR to compare favorably with the costs of other possible new sources of water.

So what does this all tell us about how we get people past that “yuck” factor? We might infer that when faced with nearly no other options, that factor simply goes away. But we don’t have to view recycling wastewater into drinking water as a last resort, either. While the intensive cleaning process isn’t cheap, it results in energy savings, environmental benefits, and water that is purer than many current drinking water sources, as noted by the California State Water Board chair. And who could reasonably argue that those are bad things?

In the end, shifting attitudes beyond the yuck factor may simply require some creativity and a massive PR campaign. Epic Cleantec, a water recycling company in San Francisco, developed a beer from recycled greywater from a city apartment building. Admittedly, greywater — the wastewater from sinks, showers, and laundry — is quite a different thing than the sewage that comes from toilets. But it’s wastewater all the same, and the company has found that people will usually try it. And it’s not the only wastewater beer that’s available, either.

But there’s far more opportunity for wastewater than just beer or even regular drinking water. In their reporting on the subject, Wired magazine posited that “the city of tomorrow will run on your toilet water” — because of the additional possibilities to extract compost and energy. Industries in the EU are already taking steps to get power, heat, and reusable chemical materials out of wastewater.

So as Wired put it, “It’s not gross. It’s science.”

FOR MORE:

• WateReuse Association
  • Recycled Water Users Network
  • National Advocacy Resources
• Framework for Direct Potable Reuse
  • Produced by the WateReuse Association, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, and National Water Research Institute
• As water reuse expands, proponents battle the 'yuck' factor | KFF Health News
• California prepares to transform sewage into pure drinking water under new rules | Los Angeles Times
• Beyond the yuck factor: cities turn to ‘extreme’ water recycling | Yale Environment 360
• The city of tomorrow will run on your toilet water | WIRED
• Recycling sewage is a sensible way to improve water security – but would you swallow it? | The Conversation
• Facility Converting Wastewater into Drinking Water is Coming to the San Fernando Valley | San Fernando Sun
   
• WaterOperator.org Documents Library >> Select ‘CATEGORY’ in the dropdown, and then choose ‘Water Reuse’ to see the resources we have collected on Water Reuse.

The Impending Workforce Shortage in the Water Sector

There's a lot to think about when it comes to threats to our drinking water systems. Climate change, aging infrastructure, and cybersecurity are hot-button, current issues that we've all heard plenty about over the past few years. While these issues continue to threaten the safety and security of our drinking water, there is another issue on the horizon that we must not lose sight of. This is, of course, the impending workforce shortage in the water sector. We have highlighted some key takeaways from Bloomberg's December 2024 article "America’s Next Water Crisis? A Lack of Experienced Workers."

"Nationwide, many of the roughly 1.7 million people employed in the water sector have hit or are nearing retirement age. In total, between 30% and 50% of the workforce will retire in the next decade and there aren’t enough younger workers in the pipeline to replace them. A Brookings Institution analysis of 2021 data found that 88% of treatment plant operators were aged 45 or older, compared with 45% nationally."

The National Rural Water Association (NRWA) has been surveying water workers to get an idea of how widespread the shortage is and they're finding that succession planning hasn't been happening as much as it needs to be across the country, but specifically in rural areas. Many rural municipalities cannot afford to hire more than one water operator and sometimes one operator is responsible for the water systems of multiple small communities. This makes it difficult to hire an apprentice or operator-in-training since the budget may not always allow for that.

Another issue is that it's not just about finding workers who can pass the necessary certification exams and requirements, the sector needs workers who have real life work experience. It is urgent that the water sector starts to recruit now so the incoming workforce has the opportunity to get hands-on training and learn from their more experienced colleagues. There are some efforts underway to try and get younger workers interested in the water industry. "The National Rural Water Association, through its state affiliates, has launched an apprenticeship program. Veolia North America, formerly known as Suez, opened Veolia Academy, its in-house training program, to the public in 2023 to help water workers pass state certification exams."

It is important to promote this field of work to younger generations who may not know that water jobs even exist. Many who work in the water sector find that they end up in the industry incidentally, and hadn't necessarily known this was a career path until they stumbled upon it. Some great things to advertise about water jobs are:

• Competitive pay rates: The 25th annual Water and Wastewater Utilities Compensation Survey showed that from 2021 to 2022, large utilities’ salaries increased 1.7% and small utilities’ salaries increased 1.9%. Medium-sized utilities’ salaries showed the most significant increase at 8.7%.
• 53% of water workers have a H.S. Diploma: This means that many water jobs don't require much formal education in order to earn a living.
• Not a traditional desk job: The jobs that need to be filled include construction style work such as repairing water mains, working in water treatment facilities, and managing wastewater.

It is crucial to increase visibility of the industry if we want to stop the workforce shortage before it becomes a bigger problem. Water is "out of sight, out of mind,” said Shannan Walton, who runs workforce development for NRWA. “Even in disasters, the heroes are the linemen because you can see them climbing the poles and they're fixing everything for the communities. Water and wastewater is invisible."

Small Drinking Water Webinar Series 2024 Recap

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Office of Water (OW), in collaboration with the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), host this free webinar series to communicate the latest information on solutions for challenges facing small drinking water systems. The series topics vary each month and are primarily designed for state, territory, and tribal staff responsible for drinking water regulations compliance and treatment technologies permitting. We have compiled the webinar recordings that were released in 2024 as part of this series below:

Tools, Training, and Technical Assistance to Increase Water System Resilience | January 2024

Presentation 1: Creating Resilient Water Utilities
Presentation 2: EPA's Water Network Tool for Resilience (WNTR)

Lead Service Line Inventory Guidance | February 2024

Presentation 1: EPA Lead Service Line Inventory Guidance
Presentation 2: Colorado Lead Service Line Inventory Guidance

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) | March 2024

Presentation 1: Establishing an Algal Toxin Rule and Regulatory Program in Rhode Island, an Informal Case Study
Presentation 2: Insights on HABs Dynamics in Urban Lakes and Introduction to Benthic Sample Preparation

PFAS Drinking Water Regulation and Treatment Methods | April 2024

Presentation 1: Overview of EPA’s Final PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation
Presentation 2: Removal of PFAS Compounds from Drinking Water: Fundamentals and Applications

Technical Assistance for Lead | May 2024

Presentation 1: Lead Service Line Identification, Replacement Planning, Community Engagement, and Funding Technical Assistance Programs
Presentation 2: Service Line Inventory Technical Assistance for Small Community and Non-Community Water Systems in Wisconsin

Inorganics Treatment: Arsenic and Nitrate | June 2024

Presentation 1: Biological Nitrate Treatment: Innovations and Challenges
Presentation 2: Arsenic Refresher
Presentation 3: An Arsenic Case Study in California: Oasis Mobile Home Park

Drinking Water System Resilience | July 2024

Presentation 1: America's Water Infrastructure Act Section 2013
Presentation 2: Water Laboratory Alliance’s Resources to Improve Contamination Incident Resilience

Planning and Consolidation, Partnerships, and Regionalization | August 2024

Presentation 1: Mapping the Nations Community Water Systems: Linking Drinking Water Data to Consumers
Presentation 2: Drinking Water consolidations and Partnerships in California: Evolving Solutions to Achieve the Human Right to Water

PFAS: National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, Occurrence, Analytics, and Risk Communications | September 2024

Presentation 1: PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation: Initial Monitoring Requirements and EPA-State Implementation Workgroup
Presentation 2: EPA Drinking Water PFAS Analytical Methods and the PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation
Presentation 3: Implementing a Proactive PFAS Program Using "Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities" Grant Funding
Presentation 4: Broad-Spectrum PFAS Study to Characterize the Class of PFAS in California
Presentation 5: Communicating Risks and Engaging Communities on PFAS

PFAS: Rule Implementation and Treatment | October 2024

Presentation 1: PFAS Treatment Requirements in New Jersey
Presentation 2: PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation Implementation in Kentucky
Presentation 3: Decision Trees for PFAS Mitigation Selection: What to Do After PFAS Exceedances Detection
Presentation 4: PFAS Breakthrough and NOM Effects from Pilot-Scale AEX Columns
Presentation 5: EPA’s Open-Source Treatment Performance Modeling Tools for PFAS Treatment

Lead Reduction Updates and Lead Service Line Identification (LSLID) and Replacement | December 2024

Presentation 1: EPA Lead Reduction in Drinking Water Updates
Presentation 2: Technical Assistance Projects on LSLID
Presentation 3: New and Emerging Technologies for LSLID
Presentation 4: Predictive Modeling for LSLID Using Machine Learning Tools
Presentation 5: Water Sampling for LSLID

The Small Drinking Water Systems Webinar Series is scheduled to continue in 2025. Some of the subjects that are likely to be featured this year include lead chemistry, emergency response, disinfection byproducts, and many other topics.

WaterOperator.org 2024 Webinar Roundup

This webinar series from WaterOperator.org covers topics relevant to wastewater operators, including funding, asset management, compliance, and water quality. In these webinar recordings, viewers will learn how to use our search tools at WaterOperator.org to find resources and training events. Each webinar features some of the most helpful resources on the title topic that can be found in our documents database. Certificates of attendance are not available for watching these recordings. 

Cybersecurity for Wastewater Operators | February 2024

Source Water Protection for Communities with Decentralized Wastewater | May 2024

Funding Wastewater Infrastructure Projects | July 2024

Wastewater System Condition Assessment and Rehabilitation Resources | August 2024

Wastewater System Sustainability Practices | November 2024

Although we can't offer attendance certificates for watching these recordings, we do offer certificates of attendance to live attendees upon request! Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on future live webinars from WaterOperator.org.

Wastewater Continues to Provide an Effective Means to Track COVID-19 and Other Diseases

Tracking viral activity in wastewater emerged as a valuable way to map and monitor the spread of COVID-19 early on in the coronavirus pandemic. Many viruses can be tracked through wastewater data, as virus fragments can be excreted into wastewater even when individuals do not have symptoms of the virus. Wastewater operators send samples of untreated wastewater to laboratories, where technicians test the water to find out what viruses are currently circulating in a community. This can help public health officials guide their communities through infection prevention, testing, and vaccination, as necessary.

Poliovirus was the first virus widely tracked through wastewater surveillance, beginning in the 1990s as part of efforts to finally fully eradicate polio. But public awareness of this concept became more widely known with COVID-19. The height of  the pandemic has passed, but many tracking efforts continue in order to keep tabs on the disease’s current threat level and to advance continued research into it.

Newsweek continues to publish an updated COVID map each week showing the results of the past week’s viral monitoring across the United States. See the December 18 update here. It reveals the highest viral activity for SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19) in Arizona, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, and South Dakota.

The data for these updates comes directly from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also has multiple publicly accessible dashboards showing data for COVID-19 and other diseases tracked by the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS).

Find the dashboards for the viruses tracked by the NWSS here:

• COVID-19
• Influenza A
• RSV
• Mpox

Many states also run their own dashboards of surveillance data for COVID-19 and other viruses, including:

• California
• Colorado
• New York
• North Carolina
• Wisconsin

Notably, California has also recently found H5N1 bird flu virus in the wastewater from cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, reflecting the rise of avian influenza. The CDC has an avian influenza tracker as a subset of the Influenza A dashboard. As of December 14, the vast majority of H5N1 found in wastewater has been in California, with the most recent additional detections so far found in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Texas. It has also been detected in Hawai’i.

Not every wastewater treatment plant in a given state participates in tracking, so it should be kept in mind that the available data is a snapshot of only a portion of the state’s population. Tracking programs can incur significant expenses for wastewater utilities that can be out of reach especially for smaller operations. But there are often opportunities to engage in partnerships with other entities to reduce or erase these costs, such as what the Abilene Taylor County Public Health Department recently began with Baylor University in Texas.

Additional Reading

• Tracking COVID-19 with wastewater, Nature

• Tracking COVID-19 Through Wastewater, National Institutes of Health

• Tracking COVID-19 in 2024: Wastewater data provides key early warning sign for surges, University of California-Davis Health

• Post Pandemic: Wastewater-based Surveillance of Diseases Comes of Age, Health Policy Watch

RCAP's Drop of Knowledge: Article Roundup #6

Drop of Knowledge is a monthly digital article from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) The articles focus on topics like wastewater, drinking water, policy, and infrastructure in rural America. It contains how-to’s, tips, and guidance from more than 300 technical assistance providers (TAPs) across the country. Some featured articles are linked below:

• An Elementary Look at Water Pollution
• Colonias in Texas: Improving the Quality of Life One Flush At a Time
• Investigating Inflow & Infiltration
• Water and Wastewater Utility Asset Management: Vehicles
• Wastewater Maintenance: Drawdown Pump Test
• When the Going Gets Rural: Five Challenges Technical Assistance Providers Can’t Escape

Looking for something else? Find more articles and subscribe to A Drop of Knowledge.

The Impact of Winter Weather on Water Systems

With winter weather upon us, water systems face increased challenges. The combination of freezing temperatures, increased water demand, and potential infrastructure vulnerabilities can significantly impact the quality and reliability of drinking water. Understanding these challenges and how to mitigate them is crucial for ensuring safe and consistent water supply during the colder months.

Freezing Temperatures and Infrastructure

One of the primary concerns during winter is the risk of pipes freezing and bursting. When water inside pipes freezes, it expands, which can cause pipes to crack or burst. This not only leads to water loss but also poses a risk of contamination if the integrity of the water system is compromised. To prevent this, water utilities often implement measures such as:

• Insulating Pipes and Infrastructure: Ensure that pipes are properly insulated and that heating systems are in place to maintain a stable temperature in critical areas.
• Regular Maintenance: Conduct regular inspections and maintenance of water systems, including checking for leaks and ensuring that all equipment is in good working order.
• Heating Systems: Installing heating systems in critical areas to maintain a stable temperature.
• Communication with Customers: Encourage homeowners to be proactive about protecting their pipes from freezing in colder months.

Increased Water Demand

Winter weather can lead to increased water demand for various reasons, including the need for heating systems that use water, such as boilers and radiators. Additionally, people tend to use more water for hot showers and baths during colder months. This increased demand can strain the water supply system, making it essential for utilities to manage resources efficiently.

Contamination Risks

Snow and ice can carry pollutants, like salt for de-icing roads, that may enter the water supply through runoff. When snow melts, it can pick up contaminants from roads, agricultural fields, and other surfaces, which then flow into water sources. To address this, water treatment facilities must be equipped to handle higher levels of pollutants and ensure that the water is safe for consumption.

Mitigation Strategies

To ensure the reliability and safety of drinking water systems during winter, several strategies can be employed. Organizations should establish a comprehensive cold weather safety plan. This plan should outline precautions to take before, during, and after the onset of freezing temperatures. Key elements include: 

• Winterize water systems and ensure that exposed plumbing is properly drained. 
• Inspect building heating systems to keep areas with plumbing above 40°F. 
• Clear access to fire hydrants, sprinkler system rooms, and life safety equipment.
• Monitor and manage snow accumulation on roofs and around facilities to prevent damage and ensure safety.
• Review emergency evacuation procedures to ensure that snow, ice and cold weather conditions are adequately addressed.

Winter weather presents unique challenges for water systems, but with proactive preparation and effective management, these challenges can be mitigated. By understanding the risks and implementing appropriate strategies, we can ensure that our drinking water remains safe and reliable throughout the winter season.