Water & Wastewater Market Recap, December 2022

The December 2022 Water and Wastewater Market Recap covers interesting and useful water industry news for this month. It contains updates on industry drivers, notable projects, and recent mergers and acquisitions, as well as some interesting reads, and upcoming upcoming meetings and conferences.

Industry Drivers

Our data team tracks major developments in the water industry, which we call drivers. Here are some of the most important drivers from last month.

ADEQ Initiates Proactive $3 Million Public Water System Sampling Plan to Protect Drinking Water from PFAS Contamination

Status: Proposed

Organization: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ)

Summary: On December 16, 2022, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) started its statewide public water system sampling program to protect the citizens of Arizona from Per- and Polyfluoroalky (PFAS) contamination. As part of the efforts, ADEQ will sample every public water system in the state for PFAS from December 16, 2022, to September 2023. The sampling plan goes beyond the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which requires PFAS testing for water systems serving more than 3,300 customers, while ADEQ will conduct PFAS testing for every public water system. Beginning from December 16, 2022, the key points of the plan are:

1. ADEQ will conduct tests for PFAS for 1,200 public systems. In addition, ADEQ will request their data if the water system is already sampling for PFAS.
2. ADEQ sampling will be conducted under the approved EPA’s PFAS Assurance Quality Plan Program, and samples will be analyzed as per EPA’s Methods 533 and 537.1.
3. ADEQ will share the PFAS sampling results with owners and operators and will be made public after validating the data.

Click Here for More Information

Notable Capital Improvement Programs

Here are some recent, notable Capital Improvement Programs (CIPs). FirmoGraphs has deconstructed the CIPs into data elements, along with available project descriptions. Please feel free to request a meeting and review the data live in our business intelligence application.

City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Planned Capital Spending Increases by Nearly 16%

In the CIP covering the 2023-2028 fiscal years, Philadelphia detailed plans to spend almost $11 billion on capital projects, an increase of 15.9% from $9.5 billion in its 2022-2027 CIP. The current CIP has 566 discrete projects, compared to 584 projects in the prior CIP. The table below breaks down the City of Philadelphia’s planned capital spending by business area for its last two CIPs.

Planned Increase Due to Additional Funding for Existing Projects

Planned spending in the Transit category increased by 54.5% to $1.9 billion. The nearly $675 million increase goes to existing projects such as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) Bridge, Track, Signal, Infrastructure Improvements, and SEPTA Station and Parking Improvements. These projects focus on improving transit infrastructure, vehicle vehicles, communications, and payment technologies, providing improved reliability and safety for Philadelphia riders throughout the city and region. In addition, the Rail Vehicle / Equipment Acquisition and Improvement Program to replace vehicles that have reached their useful life will be completed in 2023. 

The Water category also has planned an increase of $537.4 million due to the additional funding for improving treatment facilities, conveyance and collector systems, and engineering and material support for 2022. Lastly, the 6% increase in Streets business area goes to paving or reconstruction of streets and American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Ramps and traffic control improvements.

Large Investments in Water Treatment Facilities and Bridges 

The City of Philadelphia has three projects valued at more than $1 billion and two projects valued at more than $400 million. Out of those five projects, three belong to the Water category, which has the most significant funding. The largest single project is Treatment Facilities Improvement, worth $1.5 billion. This project improves the water and wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, and related Water Department facilities. Another $1.3 billion and $960 million are planned to improve the Collector and Conveyance system. The other two notable projects belong to the Transit category: the SEPTA Bridge, Track, Signal, and Infrastructure Improvements, worth almost $1.4 billion, and SEPTA Station and Parking Improvements, worth $447.3 million.

Click Here to See Port of Seattle, WA, CIP

Notable M&A

The following M&A transactions in the Water and Wastewater Industry stand out in the month of December:

• On December 21, 2022, TYLin, a full-service infrastructure consulting firm, acquired Chicago-based Greeley and Hansen, a water infrastructure engineering firm known for creating water and wastewater treatment facilities in the U.S. and Latin America. 

What We Are Reading

Here are some recent articles our team has been reading:

• California announces $86 million for water resilience projects
• Utah needs $2 billion investment to upgrade, maintain water infrastructure
• AWWA releases think tank report, sustainability recommendations
• XRI begins construction of water pipeline system in Permian Basin
• Governor Hochul awards $55.4 million for water infrastructure projects across New York
• Denver Lead Reduction Program Plan/Safe Drinking Water Act: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Approves Variance Request
• EPA awards New Jersey nearly $169 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for water infrastructure improvements
• 600,000 U.S. troops may have been exposed to toxic ‘forever chemicals’ on bases, report finds
• United States Drinking Water PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) Treatment Market Analysis Report 2022-2026 with Focus on Sample testing, Site Assessments, and Treating

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. Also, FirmoGraphs has recently implemented a free-of-charge service for tracking notable infrastructure events. 

Meetings in January and February 2023

• NDRWSA Expo - Jan. 31 - Feb. 2, 2023
• ERWoW Annual Conference & Tradeshow - Feb. 14 - 16, 2023
• AWWA Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition - Feb. 20 - 23, 2023
• ILRWA Annual Conference - Feb. 21- 23, 2023
• DRWA Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition - Feb. 22 - 23, 2023

Early Bird Registrations

• Event: AWWA Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition
  Dates: Feb. 20 - Feb. 23, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: Jan. 20, 2023
  

• Event: WEF Forum – Intensification of Resource Recovery
  Dates: Mar. 20 - 22, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: Feb. 17, 2023

Call for Papers

• Event: AWWA Water Infrastructure Conference & Exposition
  Dates: Sep. 10 - Sep. 12, 2023
  Deadline for Call for Papers: Jan. 19, 2023
  
  
• Event: AWWA WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition
  Dates: Oct. 3 - Oct.5, 2023
  Deadline for Call for Papers: Jan. 19, 2023