Hello, hello! We wish a very happy and prosperous 2020 to our valued readers and industry friends.
Our January Water / Wastewater Market Monthly Roundup is ready for you to read. As always, the roundup features top news, drivers and important upcoming meetings and conferences related to the water and wastewater industry. Enjoy and do let us have your feedback in terms of how useful this information is for you and what more could be added to the roundup to make it more useful for you.
Industry Drivers
Driver: H.R 2500 - National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) For FY2020
Signed by the President on Dec. 20, 2019, the bill uses language aimed at limiting the release of PFAS chemicals that could threaten water supplies.
Provisions in the bill include phasing out the military’s use of PFAS in military food packaging by 2021 and in firefighting foam by 2024. The bill also expands the reporting of PFAS discharges through the Toxic Release Inventory and expand monitoring for PFAS in tap water and groundwater.
The legislation does not have any language establishing federal drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals, nor does it designate PFAS as a hazardous substance under the federal Superfund law.
Note: This is one of many PFAS-related initiatives at the federal and state level.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/ucurdl9
Driver: SB 1335 - Sustainable Food Packaging at State Parks, Beaches, and Facilities
This bill bans non-recyclable and non-compostable takeout food packaging at California state parks, beaches, and facilities that would provide toxic wastes and pollutes public places.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/SB-1335
Driver: SB 1263 - Statewide Microplastics Strategy
This act requires the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to develop, adopt, and implement a California Statewide Microplastics Strategy, such as entering into contracts related to microplastic materials that pose an emerging concern for ocean health.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/SB-1263
Driver: AB 1884 - Food facilities: Single-Use Plastic Straws
This bill prohibits sit-down restaurants in California from providing single-use plastic straws in every drink to consumers unless requested by the customer. The primary goal is to stop pollution and reduce single-use plastic consumed in the state.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/AB-1884
Driver: SB 1422 - California Safe Drinking Water Act: Microplastics
This bill in California requires the State Water Resource Control Board, on or before July 1, 2020, to adopt a standard methodology for four years of testing and reporting of microplastics in drinking water, including public disclosure of those results.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/SB-1422
Driver: AB 888 - Ban on Plastic Microbeads
In California, AB 888 bans the sale of plastic microbeads found in toothpaste, facial scrubs, and other personal care products that are used to exfoliate or cleanse in a rinse-off product such as toothpaste and facial scrubs, which are generally not recovered in traditional wastewater treatment plants and could pollute the water.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/woxn34o
Driver: SB 270 - Single-Use Carryout Bag Ban
This California law phases out single-use carryout bags to manage plastic bag litter in streets, waterways, recycling facilities, and landfills. Stores can sell reusable grocery bags, recycled paper bags, or compostable bags to customers at the point of sale with a minimum 10 cent charge.
For additional information see: tinyurl.com/SB-270
- An exciting demonstration on how to use business intelligence to find stories in critical, North American water utility data https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QDVSkV-63w
- AWWA’s briefing on PFAS that is succinct and comprehensible for public officials, media and concerned citizens ow.ly/A32p50xLBbU
- If you missed the Black & Veatch Insight H2O webinar, "Keeping Pace with PFAS”. Here's the link to the informative recording delivered by 3 subject matter experts. bit.ly/37jg1sE
- Sharing the recording of a solid webinar, “Dealing with Disruption: Operationalizing Resilience in the Water Sector”, one of a series co-hosted by National Association of Clean Water Agencies and AMWA ow.ly/WNHG50xDk4n
Notable M&A Dec. 2019
As per FirmoGraphs’ records, the following M&A transactions in the Water & Wastewater Industry, stand out in the month of December:
As per FirmoGraphs’ records, there were four M&A transactions in the US Water & Wastewater Industry, in the month of December 2019.
- Dec. 3, 2019, Los Angeles, CA-based ServiceTitan, the world's leading all-in-one software and operating system for residential and commercial service and replacement contractors acquired WaterSoftWare, a business management solution for the water treatment industry. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The acquisition has enabled ServiceTitan to expand into the water treatment industry.
- Dec. 9, 2019, Innovyze, a global leader in water infrastructure data analytics software acquired the Waterloo-based Emagin, a creator of groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) software, designed to predict and optimize water operations for utilities, food, and beverage, pulp and paper, chemical production plants, and other businesses, globally.
- Dec. 20, 2019, City of Jerseyville Water and Wastewater Systems signed an agreement to acquire the City of Jerseyville’s water and wastewater systems.
- Dec. 23, 2019, Hawaii Water entered into an agreement with Maui Land and Pineapple Company to acquire its Kapalua Water Company water utility assets and Kapalua Waste Treatment Company wastewater utility assets.
Dec. 26, 2019, Illinois American Water, a subsidiary of American Water entered into an agreement with Granite City to acquire the City’s wastewater collection assets.
Meeting Planner
There is no replacement for face-to-face meetings with your prospects and customers! We track meetings of interest to our customers serving the US water and wastewater industry industry so you won’t miss upcoming meetings and deadlines.
Meetings in January & February, 2020
- American Water Works Association, Indiana Section, Jan. 27 to Jan. 30, 2020, Nashville, Tennessee, Indianapolis, Indiana.
https://www.inawwa.org/event/2020-annual-conference/ - 7th Annual 2020 Pacific Water Conference, Feb. 4 to Feb. 6, 2020, Honolulu, Hawaii.
https://hiawwa.org/2020-pacific-water-conference - WEF/AWWA the Utility Management Conference, Feb. 25 to Feb. 28, 2020, Orange County, Anaheim, California.
- https://wef.org/events/conferences/upcoming-conferences/Utilitymanagement2020/
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