Finding and Keeping Your Water Workers As the shortage of skilled public workers grows more pressing with retirements and private sector wage competition, municipalities need new approaches to recruiting and retaining skilled water workers.  This is an “all-hands” effort, as town budgets are subject to voter approval, yet public water is so dependable, affordable and […]

Endings and Beginnings – Your Water Budget for 2023 Fall in New Hampshire is a bittersweet and busy time.  As the beauty of changing foliage lifts our spirits and gladdens our hearts, pending November rains and winters’ dark days create a sense of urgency to prepare for the future.  As wild animals store nuts and […]

Aging Infrastructure and Climate Change In August 2022, after years of neglect and unheeded warnings, the public water system for Jackson, Mississippi failed, leaving nearly 180,000 residents without water for drinking, waste disposal, firefighting, or any other use.  This catastrophic event is likely to be repeated around the country if urgent water infrastructure repairs and […]

Labor Day Thoughts and Thanks J. McGuire, Vice President of the American Federation of Labor, is frequently credited as the father of Labor Day in the United States. Labor Day – Remember Our Water Workers!  Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, diverse groups of trade unionists chose a variety of days on which to […]

Play Ball! Sometimes, you just have to get outside and play with your pals!  On August 13 the NH Water Works Association’s Young Professionals hosted a friendly “Blue vs. Brown” softball game, followed by a family outing to watch the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.  In the public water world, Blue stands for drinking water and […]

Drought Status – Sudden Storms and Less Water It seems contradictory, but in spite of sudden storms soaking small areas of the state and toppling trees with thrashing winds, New Hampshire’s drought conditions are worsening.  Interestingly, climate models don’t predict substantial changes in total precipitation, rather, the intensity, timing, and location are expected to change. […]

Water, Water Everywhere – NOT! New Hampshire and the Northeast have always been considered “water rich”, with plentiful and predictable rain and snow, moderate temperatures, and a bounty of green forests, clear lakes and flowing streams.  While gifted with considerably more moisture than the parched land and people in much of the country, the past […]

Time and Money – Building Lost Capacity Until very recently, federal funding for public water infrastructure had steadily declined for four decades.  During this time, much of our domestic manufacturing capacity moved offshore, creating extended and complex supply chains and loss of our ability to build critical equipment.  Our aging labor force is exacerbated by […]

The PFAS Dilemma – Our Societal Problem A lot of us have heard about – or experienced first-hand – the class of toxic “forever chemicals” known as “PFAS”.  Toxic, because the USEPA has just released interim health goals of 0 for human consumption.  Forever because they break down very slowly in the environment. New Hampshire […]