The following is an interview Kerry Tingley, vice president and general manager of Eaton’s Industrial Controls Division, on the federal government's recent funding for water and wastewater infrastructure.
In broad strokes, what does the American Jobs Plan call for when it comes to clean water?
Recently, the U.S. federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act including $350 billion in funding to states and local governments. This funding is now available at the state and local level. When it comes to water, its goal is to improve access to clean and safe drinking water. The clean water and wastewater portion of the plan proposes the following funding:
- $45 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on eliminating lead pipes and service lines
- $56 billion in grants and low-cost loans to states, tribes, territories and disadvantaged communities to improve water systems
- $10 billion to bolster rural-well and waste-water systems
Why today? Are there big changes that you see on the horizon that make these investments imperative?
From my perspective, investments in infrastructure will help keep water and wastewater treatment plants operating far into the future and optimize how they work—keeping equipment in service longer, reducing energy and maintenance costs, advancing resilience and sustainability. Here’s why I know these investments are critical:
- Modernizing water systems is imperative to ensuring every American has access to clean water. It’s important to recognize that aging water systems threaten public health in thousands of communities nationwide. Many water and wastewater treatment plants are using equipment that may be unsafe and/or beyond its anticipated useful life. This equipment is more likely to fail and needs to be updated, upgraded, reconditioned or retrofitted to continue to work more effectively and efficiently every day.
- Energy delivery systems and sources are changing. The energy transition created a new power paradigm. Power used to flow in one direction, from where it was generated to where it was used. Now, power must flow bidirectionally between distributed energy resources (DERs). Today and in the future, electrical infrastructure needs to do much more than receive power from the grid for distribution to plant loads and equipment. For water and wastewater treatment plants, the proliferation of DERs like renewables and energy storages provides new ways to meet energy goals and power operations.
- Energy efficiency improvements will create dramatic costs savings. I’ve seen figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that indicate as much as 40 percent of operating costs for drinking water systems can be for energy, and incorporating energy efficiency practices into water and wastewater treatment plants can yield significant savings for municipalities and utilities.
- Resilient operations are a must. Water and wastewater treatment plants have to operate around the clock, every day of the year—so keeping the power on for critical operations is essential. Resilience requires preparation and an approach that prioritizes cybersecurity and keeping the power flowing during utility outage events.
- Safety is a critical consideration. Protecting the personnel working at water and wastewater plants is essential and electrical safety considerations (and codes) are constantly evolving. It’s important that the water and wastewater industry adopts new technologies and approaches to help reduce risk.
Here’s the bottom line as I see it—there’s a dramatic opportunity to optimize systems through smart investments that will continue to provide financial, health, safety and other benefits for years to come.
There are specific provisions for resilience—why is that important?
Keeping the power on is the priority. Yet, climate emergencies and extreme weather events are affecting millions of people with increasing frequency. The impact of natural disasters makes it clear that the climate challenges we face are not abstract issues. And more than ever, our global energy supply and infrastructure must be able to withstand extreme conditions.
Resilience is about staying operational while enduring challenges, and it requires preparation. The challenge is to predict what we need our infrastructure to withstand.
Secondly, I want to mention the increasing importance of cybersecurity as we increase the number of connected devices and proliferation of smart grid technologies. It is imperative to protect the availability, integrity and confidentiality of these systems. WW
About the Speaker: Kerry Tingley is currently vice president and general manager of Eaton’s Industrial Controls Division, and has worked with Eaton since 2001.
