(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
In my April editorial “Divining Rods”, I stated, “With a finite amount of water available, it’s important that we use what we have wisely, but it’s equally important to find untapped sources that can supplement our current supplies and allow us to efficiently meet growing demand.” In Philadelphia, PA, that search for new sources has hit pay dirt in the form of stormwater control. According to a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer the city plans to spend $1.6 billion to switch away from traditional stormwater management (essentially ushering rainwater downstream) and towards a reimagined urban landscape of green roofs, porous pavements, and rain gardens.
The plan success rests, in part, on participation by all members of the community. To that end, every time a city street is dug up for standard municipal repairs and projects, it will be repaved with porous asphalt (at a slightly higher cost). And under a city ordinance, large-scale commercial structures (15,000 square feet or more) must install rainwater catchment systems. Additionally, commercial water rates are now based not on how much water is used the facility, but by how much land is covered by impervious surface materials.
The plan sounds like a “win-win:” reduced demand on the city’s sewer system, reduced energy usage, even reduced deaths (from excess heat). Jon Capacasa, regional director of water protection for the EPA, is quoted in the article, saying, “This is the most significant use of green infrastructure I’ve seen in the country, the largest scale I’ve seen.”
So what do you think? Are large-scale plans like this feasible? And are the implementation costs justified by the results?
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Water Saved Is Water Earned?
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
This week, the online edition of the Desert Sun ran a news item on a surprise announcement by the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District—two of California’s biggest users of Colorado River water allotments. Turns out, both districts estimate that they will be need a significantly smaller amount of water this year than originally projected—the smallest amount, in fact, since they were required to track their use by the 2003 Quantitative Settlement Agreement (QSA).
The news couldn’t have come at a better time for Los Angeles. Under the QSA, customers in the Los Angeles area (about 19 million) are entitled to any water left over from unused agricultural supplies in the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District. In Los Angeles, this water windfall will not only help ease mandatory water restrictions, it will also go a long way towards replenishing the area’s water storage supply.
As is always the case in California, the announcement spurred controversy— specifically over how the water savings were achieved. Agricultural interests in Imperial and Coachella claimed that successful conservation and efficiency programs had created the surplus. But skeptics point to the weakened economy and its effect on California’s ag industry (smaller crop yields, diminished demand) as the real culprit. These warring claims have a significance—under the QSA farmers are supposed to receive funds to aid in the implementation of water conservation efforts, funds that could help farmers sustain themselves during these lean times. Without that funding, some farmers claim there is little incentive to conserve water.
In California the push-pull relationship between rural and urban water users seems never ending—one group always feels any conservation on their part leaves them at a disadvantage while unfairly benefiting the other side. What do you think? Should conservation efforts be incentive-based? Do the farmers in California’s central valley have a point? Or is the solution to look beyond the water-as-commodity paradi
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
This week, the online edition of the Desert Sun ran a news item on a surprise announcement by the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District—two of California’s biggest users of Colorado River water allotments. Turns out, both districts estimate that they will be need a significantly smaller amount of water this year than originally projected—the smallest amount, in fact, since they were required to track their use by the 2003 Quantitative Settlement Agreement (QSA).
The news couldn’t have come at a better time for Los Angeles. Under the QSA, customers in the Los Angeles area (about 19 million) are entitled to any water left over from unused agricultural supplies in the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District. In Los Angeles, this water windfall will not only help ease mandatory water restrictions, it will also go a long way towards replenishing the area’s water storage supply.
As is always the case in California, the announcement spurred controversy— specifically over how the water savings were achieved. Agricultural interests in Imperial and Coachella claimed that successful conservation and efficiency programs had created the surplus. But skeptics point to the weakened economy and its effect on California’s ag industry (smaller crop yields, diminished demand) as the real culprit. These warring claims have a significance—under the QSA farmers are supposed to receive funds to aid in the implementation of water conservation efforts, funds that could help farmers sustain themselves during these lean times. Without that funding, some farmers claim there is little incentive to conserve water.
In California the push-pull relationship between rural and urban water users seems never ending—one group always feels any conservation on their part leaves them at a disadvantage while unfairly benefiting the other side. What do you think? Should conservation efforts be incentive-based? Do the farmers in California’s central valley have a point? Or is the solution to look beyond the water-as-commodity paradi
Monday, September 14, 2009
Mile-High Metering
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
This week (Sept. 14, 2009) I’m in Denver, CO, attending the Utilimetrics Smart Metering Conference and Exposition, aka Autovation. The conference covers metering primarily in the electric utility industry, but there’s plenty of discussion on the role AMR and AMI play in the quest for efficient water resource management.
As you know, automatic meter reading (AMR) involves the automatic collection of data from meters (water, gas, and electric). Once the data is collected, it is transferred to a central database for analysis and metering. Of greatest benefit to a water utility is the possibility of measuring actual consumption, thereby enabling accurate billing and a more in depth and demand-sensitive resource management.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), on the other hand, pushes data management to another level by including the measurement, collection, and analysis of meter-acquired data. AMI includes not only hardware, but the master data management (MDM) software and customer interface that makes use of all the statistics and information collected, including water usage and billing. Another AMI benefit is the ability to craft sophisticated demand-response solutions.
I’m excited to see the newest and most innovative AMR/AMI technology that’ll be on display here in Denver, and you can rest assured that I’ll be passing along everything I’ve to learned to you.
In the meantime, check out some of our past AMR/AMI articles. They run the gamut from project profiles on one particular success story, to technologically focused pieces that will give you the basics, to grander articles that fix AMR/AMI within the bigger picture of water efficiency and resource management.
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
This week (Sept. 14, 2009) I’m in Denver, CO, attending the Utilimetrics Smart Metering Conference and Exposition, aka Autovation. The conference covers metering primarily in the electric utility industry, but there’s plenty of discussion on the role AMR and AMI play in the quest for efficient water resource management.
As you know, automatic meter reading (AMR) involves the automatic collection of data from meters (water, gas, and electric). Once the data is collected, it is transferred to a central database for analysis and metering. Of greatest benefit to a water utility is the possibility of measuring actual consumption, thereby enabling accurate billing and a more in depth and demand-sensitive resource management.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), on the other hand, pushes data management to another level by including the measurement, collection, and analysis of meter-acquired data. AMI includes not only hardware, but the master data management (MDM) software and customer interface that makes use of all the statistics and information collected, including water usage and billing. Another AMI benefit is the ability to craft sophisticated demand-response solutions.
I’m excited to see the newest and most innovative AMR/AMI technology that’ll be on display here in Denver, and you can rest assured that I’ll be passing along everything I’ve to learned to you.
In the meantime, check out some of our past AMR/AMI articles. They run the gamut from project profiles on one particular success story, to technologically focused pieces that will give you the basics, to grander articles that fix AMR/AMI within the bigger picture of water efficiency and resource management.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Smart Water Grid
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
As editor of Water Efficiency’s sister publication, Distributed Energy, I’ve heard a lot about the “smart grid” and its potential to shift our energy infrastructure into a modern—and more efficient—incarnation. No wonder then, that an article posted this week on CNET news caught my eye. Entitled “IBM Dives into ‘smart grid for water,’” Martin LaMonica’s piece lays out IBM’s ambitions and details exactly what we can expect from a “smart water grid.”
As part of a $20-billion IT-related water portfolio, IBM is teaming up with Intel to form “a working group to study how information technology can be used to improve water management.” Here at Water Efficiency, we’ve always focused on the relationship between technology, data integration, and resource management. It looks like the folks at IBM are on the right track—and following in our footsteps—by focusing on aging infrastructure, water quality, and metering.
After launching Big Green Innovations in 2007, IBM has recently begun to focus primarily on “advanced water management,” which the company describes as encompassing “a broad agenda from availability and quality to distribution and consumption.” By upgrading water conveyance systems, IBM sees an opportunity to mimic the path of smart grid implementation for electric utilities. Part of this implementation of a smart water grid would involve the collection of information related to water delivery, water quality, and non-revenue water.
Why the push into water efficiency? According to the CNET article, IBM recognizes that the connection between energy use and water delivery presents an opportunity to promote smart water use and increased water conservation, while reducing operating expenses. Additionally, several water-intense industries—like agriculture, beverage manufacturers, and semiconductor companies—are keen on controlling costs by managing their water resources wisely.
So what do you think? Is there anything new in what IBM is proposing, or is the “smart grid for water” just a new label for the water efficiency protocols we’ve been discussing for years?
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
As editor of Water Efficiency’s sister publication, Distributed Energy, I’ve heard a lot about the “smart grid” and its potential to shift our energy infrastructure into a modern—and more efficient—incarnation. No wonder then, that an article posted this week on CNET news caught my eye. Entitled “IBM Dives into ‘smart grid for water,’” Martin LaMonica’s piece lays out IBM’s ambitions and details exactly what we can expect from a “smart water grid.”
As part of a $20-billion IT-related water portfolio, IBM is teaming up with Intel to form “a working group to study how information technology can be used to improve water management.” Here at Water Efficiency, we’ve always focused on the relationship between technology, data integration, and resource management. It looks like the folks at IBM are on the right track—and following in our footsteps—by focusing on aging infrastructure, water quality, and metering.
After launching Big Green Innovations in 2007, IBM has recently begun to focus primarily on “advanced water management,” which the company describes as encompassing “a broad agenda from availability and quality to distribution and consumption.” By upgrading water conveyance systems, IBM sees an opportunity to mimic the path of smart grid implementation for electric utilities. Part of this implementation of a smart water grid would involve the collection of information related to water delivery, water quality, and non-revenue water.
Why the push into water efficiency? According to the CNET article, IBM recognizes that the connection between energy use and water delivery presents an opportunity to promote smart water use and increased water conservation, while reducing operating expenses. Additionally, several water-intense industries—like agriculture, beverage manufacturers, and semiconductor companies—are keen on controlling costs by managing their water resources wisely.
So what do you think? Is there anything new in what IBM is proposing, or is the “smart grid for water” just a new label for the water efficiency protocols we’ve been discussing for years?
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