Water & Wastewater Market Recap, March 2023

The March 2023 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.

EPA Takes Action to Improve Cybersecurity Resilience for Public Water Systems

Status: Effective

Organization: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Summary: On March 3, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memorandum calling for states to assess cybersecurity risks at drinking water systems. While some systems have taken steps to improve cybersecurity, many still need to adopt basic best practices and are at risk of attacks. The EPA, therefore, requires states to survey cybersecurity practices at public water systems. In addition, the memorandum requires states to include cybersecurity in periodic audits of water systems and provides technical assistance and resources to assist states and water systems. The EPA also offers training and consultations with experts in the field and direct technical support to water systems to assess their cybersecurity practices.

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Proposal for Stronger Limits on Water Pollution from Power Plants

Status: Proposed

Organization: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Summary: On March 8, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule to reduce discharges of toxic metals and other pollutants from coal-fired power plants into lakes, streams, and other water bodies. The proposed rule would establish more stringent discharge standards for three types of wastewater generated at coal-fired power plants and seeks comments on whether to develop more stringent discharge standards for other legacy wastewater. The EPA estimates that the proposed rule would reduce pollutants discharged through wastewater from coal-fired power plants by approximately 584 million pounds per year, benefiting low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately impacted by pollution from coal-fired power plants.

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Proposal for First-Ever National Standard to Protect Communities from PFAS in Drinking Water

Status: Proposed

Organization: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Summary: On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first-ever national drinking water standard for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), significantly protecting public health from PFAS pollution. The proposal would set legally enforceable levels for six PFAS known to occur in drinking water, including PFOA and PFOS, and four other PFAS as a mixture. If approved, the regulation would require public water systems to monitor for these chemicals and reduce PFAS contamination if levels exceed the proposed regulatory standards. The proposal builds on other significant achievements to combat PFAS, such as designating two PFAS as hazardous substances and allocating $10 billion in funding for addressing emerging contaminants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

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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.

Planned Capital Program of Town of Wellington, Colorado Dropped By 27%

In the CIP covering the 2023-2027 fiscal years, the Town of Wellington, Colorado detailed plans to spend $95.7 million on capital projects, a decrease of 29% from $131.6 million in its 2022-2026 CIP. The current CIP has 103 discrete projects, compared to 76 projects in the prior CIP. The table below breaks down Northglenn’s planned capital spending by business area for its last two CIPs.

General Business Area Gets most Significant Decrease

Planned spending in the General category dropped by 81% due to the ongoing construction of the Future Town Hall Project worth $9 million. The Street category also decreased due to the Highway 1 Intersection Improvements that will be completed in 2025.

Over $40 Million of Investment for Sewer Project

Out of 103 projects in the current CIP, the Town of Wellington has two notable projects valued at more than $25 million. The largest single project is the Water Reclamation Facility Expansion construction, valued at $40.6 million, under the Sewer category. Another $28.8 million is planned under the Water category, which is the construction of Water Plant Expansion Engineering.

Click Here to See City of Wellington, Colorado, CIP

Planned Capital Expenditure of the City of Brownsville Public Utilities Board Decreased by 8%

In the CIP covering the 2023-2027 fiscal years, City of Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Texas (PUB) detailed plans to spend nearly $250 million on capital projects, a decrease of 8% from $271.2 million in its 2022-2026 CIP. The current CIP has 270 discrete projects, compared to 305 projects in the prior CIP. The table below breaks down the Brownsville PUB planned capital spending by business area for its last two CIPs.

Most Significant Decrease Planned for Water Business Area

Planned spending in the Water category decreased by 25% to $70.9 million. The decrease is due to ongoing projects nearing completion, such as the New Raw Water River Intake Facility that will be completed in 2023.

Nearly $32 Million Investment for Advanced Metering Infrastructure Technology

Brownsville PUB has two notable projects valued at more than $10 million. The largest single project is the installation of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) - Electric, valued at $16.7 million. The project includes materials, supervision, installation, retrofitting, and replacing 55,369 water meters. Another $14.7 million is planned for the AMI-Electric Project, which includes purchasing and installing new communications networks and meter data management systems and integrating them with essential information and control systems, including head-end systems.  

Click Here to See City of Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Texas, CIP

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Planned Capital Expenditure Increased by 26%

In the CIP covering the 2023-2027 fiscal years, Spotsylvania County, Virginia detailed plans to spend $670.7 million on capital projects, an increase of 26% from nearly $530.8 million in its 2022-2026 CIP. The current CIP has 140 funded projects, compared to 121 projects in the prior CIP. The table below breaks down Spotsylvania County, Virginia planned capital spending by business area for its last two CIPs.

General Government and Utilities Capital Areas Increases

Funding for all business areas has improved in the current CIP, but the notable increase is observed in the Utilities Capital and General Government categories. Planned spending in the Utilities Capital business increased by 69% or $112.9 million. This was due to $17.1 million for newly added projects in current CIP and  $61.7 million added project value for the remaining projects from old CIP. In addition, the General Government area also increased by 22% or $23.3 million. Existing projects such as Livingston Landfill Development (MANDATE) and Fire Training & Logistics Center increased by 64% and 91% respectively.

Major Planned Investments for Wastewater Treatment Plants Expansion

Spotsylvania County has two notable projects valued at more than $60 million, both belonging to the Utilities Capital Area. The first project is Massaponax Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion, worth $76.9 million. This  project will expand the Massaponax wastewater treatment plant to treat all County wastewater flow except for the Thornburg service area. The second project amounts to $61 million, which is the  Motts Water Treatment Plant Expansion. The project will double the capacity from 12 million gallons per day (MGD) to 24 million gallons per day (MGD) to meet future water demand.  

Click Here to See Spotsylvania County, Virginia, CIP

Notable M&A

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

• On March 1, 2023, Evoqua Water Technologies, an industry leader in mission-critical water treatment solutions, announced that it has acquired the Texas-based industrial water treatment service business of the former Bob Johnson & Associates from Kemco Systems, further strengthening Evoqua's service footprint in the Texas market.
  
• On March 8, 2023, Apex Companies, LLC, a national leader in environmental consulting and engineering services, announced the acquisition of Water Science Associates, a regional provider in water resources and hydrogeology.

What We Are Reading

Here are some recent articles our team has been reading:

• Communities await first US limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water
• EPA Announces Nearly $200 Million to Address Emerging Contaminants in Drinking Water in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas
• Alabama to spend $400 million in funding on water, sewer infrastructure; $260 million on broadband
• BioLargo’s PFAS water treatment technology meets EPA’s proposed drinking water standards
• EPA Announces $170 Million WIFIA Loan to Help Limit Water Shortages in San Diego County, California
• $231 million infrastructure project replaces water mains, sewers in Manhattan, NYC
• North Carolina lawmakers propose $2 billion investment plan for water, sewer projects
• Biden-Harris Administration Announces $775 Million Investment in America for Clean Water Infrastructure Upgrades
• California greatly increases State Water Project allocations

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 April and May 2023

Early Bird Registrations

• Event: NCRWA Annual Conference & Exhibition
  Dates:May 15-18, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: Apr. 19, 2023
  
  
• Event: AWWA ACE23 - Annual Conference and Exposition
  Dates: June 11-14, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: Apr. 21, 2023
  
  
• Event: PA-AWWA Annual Conference
  Dates: May 9-11, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: Apr. 27, 2023
  
  
• Event: ESWP The International Bridge
  Dates: June 12-14, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: May 12, 2023
  
  
• Event: AWRA Summer Conference
  Dates: July 17-19, 2023
  Deadline for Early Registration: May 19, 2023