Andrew Farr, associate editor of UIM provides a Water Technology Recap from AWWA’s ACE ’14 conference in Boston. It includes a summary of Echologic’s leak detection solutions.
Walking through the exhibit halls at industry trade shows such as the AWWA’s Annual Conference & Exposition (ACE), it doesn’t take long to realize the municipal water utility industry is up to speed on its technological innovation. From condition assessment AMA data analytics to filtration systems, the technology is expanding so quickly it’s often difficult to keep up. “Technology has been evolving for a long time,” says John Donahue, who recently took over as president of AWWA in June. “I’ve seen new types of equipment for metering, treatment devices even before the electronic age. But the whole information age has been quite an evolution for our industry and you see it right there in front of you when you go into the conference.” In this issue, UIM decided to take a quick look back at a few pieces of technology we’ve observed throughout the year. While there’s not nearly enough space to encapsulate everything, we hope this section offers a glimpse into the array of options available for water utility maintenance.