If you manage a wastewater treatment facility, you deal with a host of problems every day. But if aging infrastructure is one of those concerns, you’re not alone. According to a Black & Veatch study and interviews with professionals in the industry, aging infrastructure is considered the most important issue facing the water industry.

Few people realize that wastewater treatment facilities are the one thing that stands between our waste and what would otherwise be devastating pollution of our world’s most precious resource, fresh water. In this article we’ll discuss a few of the common problems wastewater treatment facilities are facing today.

Primary Wastewater Treatment Plant Concerns

Public health and safety are the primary concern of wastewater treatment plants, as well as consideration for the environment. Fortunately, the two go hand-in-hand. The water being processed has to enter back into the environment in a form that is safe to humans, animals, and plants.

Are Water Conservation Efforts Working?

On a national scale, water conservation efforts are making an enormous impact on how much water is consumed. Water usage actually peaked around 1980 and has been slightly declining since the late 2000’s, despite a growing population. However, when it comes to individual sewage treatment facilities, some are constantly being pushed to increase capacity for more localized growth, such as a growing city like Austin, TX.

Sewage Treatment Facility Problems

There are a variety of industry resources, like TPO™ Treatment Plant Operator, that help sewage professionals stay up-to-date with the water industry, changing regulations, and new advances that enter the marketplace.

6 Issues Facing the Water Industry Today:

Aging Infrastructure: As equipment ages or becomes unusable, that infrastructure has to be replaced. More than 50% of the water distribution and collection systems in the Northeastern U.S. are more 60 years old. In the Midwest, 35% of water processing infrastructure is more than 60 years old.Funding, Capital, & Costs: Money is always a problem in the water industry. Funding often comes from a variety of places, and costs keep going up. There is a constant demand to upgrade equipment and keep up with changing regulations and technology.

Changing Regulations: A practice that’s acceptable today may not be allowed tomorrow, or it may be allowed in one area and not in another. Keeping up with changing regulations is a constant burden on the water industry, but these regulations are also vital to maintaining safety standards across the industry.

Technology: Water treatment processes and technology is continually changing and improving, but this means that existing facilities have to keep up with those changes. Water treatment facilities could also become a cyber-attack target, so it’s important for these facilities to stay up-to-date with their computers and data security.

Aging Workforce: Aside from other operational issues, the water industry is widely regarded as one with an aging population of technical professionals. In other words there are more technicians leaving the industry entering it. Fortunately, a free market tends to solve issues like this, and technology is helping to automate many processes in these types of facilities.

Water Scarcity: While it’s not as common to have severe water scarcity problems in our home town in Southwest Virginia, other parts of the country like California experience periods of extreme drought, which can create a host of problems for the water industry.

The water industry continues to trend toward innovation and efficiency, which will help the industry deal with growing demands for clean water in the future. SMT fabricates equipment for waste water treatment facilities across the United States. Contact us to learn more about our fabrication capabilities.