Business
Aqua Pennsylvania to Spend $300 Million on Infrastructure Upgrades
Aqua Pennsylvania today announced the company will make $292 million in infrastructure improvements in the state throughout 2017, after completing $234 million of similar projects in 2016. Multiple projects will take place in several areas across the state to improve customers’ water and wastewater ..
40 U.S. Utilities Recognized for Environmental Excellence
40 U.S. utilities have been recognized as 2017 Environmental Champions by Market Strategies International’s Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential, a nationwide study of nearly 58,000 customers among 130 of the largest residential gas and electric utility providers. The study scor..
Utility to Use Recycled Sewer Biogas in Natural Gas Pipelines
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu officials say they are moving forward with plans to sell biogas produced at the city’s sewage plant to Hawaii Gas Co. The gas company says it plans to spend about $5 million on equipment to clean the sewage plant’s biogas before adding it into their pipelines. It also wants..
Xylem Builds Emergency Sewer Bypass in Record Time
Xylem today announced that the company recently designed and built a major emergency sewer bypass in Memphis, Tennessee in just six days. During spring 2016, sixteen inches of rain fell on the city, half of which fell during two days. This unprecedented rainfall eroded the soil supporting a 96-inch..
Utility: Old Power Lines Under Lake Champlain to be Replaced
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) —The Vermont Electric Power Company, which distributes electricity across the state, says construction is due to begin this week to replace power lines that run beneath Lake Champlain between Vermont and New York. The cables are part of VELCO’s Plattsburgh-to-Vermont line that ..
PLCAC Works To Promote Industry
The Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada (PLCAC) and its members generally had a good, solid year in 2016, believes the association’s President Neil K. Waugh. The PLCAC represents pipeline contractor members in labor relations with the four craft unions (whose members are involved in pipelin..
Texas Electric Regulators Nix $18B Oncor Sale
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas regulators have rejected the proposed more than $18 billion sale of Dallas-based Oncor Electric Delivery Co. to NextEra Energy Inc. The three-member Public Utility Commission of Texas on Thursday unanimously declined to accept the agreement as being in the public interest..
PECO Welcomes 12 New Apprentice Mechanics
PECO today announced they have welcomed 12 new apprentice mechanics to the company’s field force following their graduation from a comprehensive natural gas training program. The new apprentices will join the utility’s front lines – helping to ensure safe and reliable natural gas service for more th..
Woolpert Chosen to Design Sewer Rehabilitation Project
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District has selected Woolpert to provide study, design and administration services for a project to rehabilitate about one mile of sanitary sewer infrastructure in Newport News, Va. The project includes 4,800 linear feet of gravity sewer pipeline and associated manhole..
Digging Safely Starts With A Call To 811
Whether you are a professional excavator, contractor, engineer or utility owner, you play an important role in keeping people safe with every dig. Laws governing excavation vary by state, and they can be confusing. Answering the question, “Do I have to call 811?” can be difficult if you don’t unders..
Sacramento Sewer District to Pay Fine for Multiple Spills
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – A California sewer district has agreed to pay a $225,000 fine to the state for 80 spills over three and a half years, including one that dumped raw sewage into a suburban creek. The spills covered by the settlement between the Sacramento Area Sewer District and the state d..
New Jersey American Water Investing $2.5 Million in New Main Installation
New Jersey American Water is investing approximately $2.5 million to install new water mains within Rumson and under the Shrewsbury River in Rumson and Sea Bright. This project includes the installation of approximately 1,950 feet of 16-inch high-density polyethylene pipe, which will lay about 47 fe..
PLCA Draws 548 Delegates To 69th Annual Convention
The Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA) 69th Annual Convention was held at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale, AZ, with 584 attendees. Many past presidents and honorary members attended the convention, and elected officers for 2017 were announced. Robert C. Osborn, senior vice president of the Pi..
Companies Win Combined Sewer Overflow Tunnel Construction Contract
The joint venture team of The Lane Construction Corporation’s subsidiary, S.A. Healy Company, and Salini Impregilo have won a design-bid-build contract for a combined sewer overflow tunnel project in Indiana, valued at $188 million. The Three Rivers Protection & Overflow Reduction Tunnel will be lo..
Utility Worker Saves Man's Life
NEW YORK (AP) — A utility worker is being credited with saving a man who fell onto a New York City subway track just before a train pulled into the station. Cellphone video taken by a Seattle teenager shows Jonathan Kulig, of Queens, picking up a young man who had fallen off a Manhattan station’s p..
American Water Acquires Shorelands Water Company
American Water has completed its acquisition of the Shorelands Water Company, a privately owned water utility that provides water services to more than 11,000 customers in Monmouth County, N.J. The acquisition was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on March 24, 2017. The purchased ..
Power-to Gas Tech Could Be Used in NatGas Pipelines, Increase Renewable Energy
In a partnership with University of California, Irvine researchers, Southern California Gas Co. earlier this week announced that new research on power-to-gas technology shows the technique holds the ability to dramatically increase the use of intermittent renewable energy. “The ability to increase ..
Illinois American Water Employees Honored
Two Illinois American Water employees were recognized for their construction and safety efforts at the 30th Annual Peoria Area Labor Management Council and Tri-County Construction Labor Management Council award banquet on March 28, 2017. Roger Goodson, Illinois American Water’s senior manager of fi..
Illinois American Water Acquires Water System
Illinois American Water has officially acquired the Village of Sadorus water system, which will be incorporated into the company’s Champaign County District. The Village of Sadorus Board voted in favor of the sale in April 2016 and the Illinois Commerce Commission approved the sale for $240,000 on ..
New Jersey American Water Invests $4.2 Million in New Water Mains
New Jersey American Water is investing nearly $4.2 million in new water mains in its service areas in North Plainfield and Cranford. As part of the project, approximately 12,430 feet of aging water mains will be replaced with ductile iron pipes. In addition, the company will also be installing 870 f..
American Water VP to Discuss Water Infrastructure Financing
American Water today announced Jennifer Gambol, the company’s vice president and treasurer, will participate in the New York City Bar Association’s Project Finance Committee Panel on March 28 in New York, N.Y. Gambol will join other industry and government leaders on a panel to discuss the developm..
Company Helps Water Utilities Identify Leaky Pipes
FlowNetworx, an affiliate of LB Water Service, Inc., is helping U.S. water utilities find and pinpoint leaks in their distribution networks within a foot of the source, without having to dig large trenches or disrupt service to customers. The company offers leak detection, leak pi..
FTTH Council is Now the Fiber Broadband Association
FTTH Council President & CEO Heather Burnett Gold has announced that the association has launched a modernized brand that better reflects the evolution and makeup of the industry the organization represents and the consumer services its members deliver. The new brand and descriptor is “Fiber Broadba..
Companies Install First Intelligent Wastewater Pumping System in North America
Xylem and DC Water today announced they have successfully completed the first installation of Xylem’s Flygt Concertor, the world’s first wastewater pumping system with integrated intelligence, in North America. The Flygt Concertor significantly advances the sustainability of the wastewater sector b..
San Diego County Water Authority Project Wins Award
The San Diego County Water Authority’s $1.5 billion Emergency & Carryover Storage Project, built to protect the region from droughts and catastrophic disruptions to imported water supplies, has received the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers...
Indiana American Water Invests More Than $57 Million in Distribution System Improvements
Indiana American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, today announced that it replaced nearly 41 miles of aging water mains and rehabilitated 10 water tanks in its service areas in 2016. This investment of more than $57 million last year in approximately 260 separate projects across Indiana will i..
CASE Issues Call for Entries for Equipment Grant
CASE Construction Equipment has issued a call for entries for their 2017 Dire States Equipment Grant. Beginning in 2016, this is the second time that CASE has offered the grant, which provides one winning community with $25,000 in free equipment use to help offset the costs of building or repairing ..
Report: Global Sewer and Water Utilities Market to Grow Through 2021
According to the latest procurement intelligence report from Technavio, the global water and sewer utilities market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 5% over the next five years due to the growing importance of grey water utilization. “Greywater recycling systems collect and treat the used..
Massachusetts Public Works Honors Two Employees
Two underground construction employees were honored by the Cambridge Department of Public Works for their work in the third and fourth quarters of 2016 on March 8, 2017. Michael Abcunas, a Sewer Use Compliance Officer, and Paulo Almeida, a Construction Utility Inspector/Lic., received the organizat..
People In The News: March 2017
VacuWorx Vacuworx Global appointed Rob Verwilligen as European business director. Based in the Netherlands, he will manage sales and service, partner agreements and logistics for Vacuworx Europe. Verwilligen has more than 20 years of experience developing sales relationships in the European market..
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- Texas contractor penalized by OSHA for repeated trench safety violations
- West Virginia approves $67 million for water, sewer projects
- Mark Boyer named 2025 MVP of underground infrastructure industry