Jacqueline L. Mulhern
A leak in the roof of your home is often expensive and time-consuming to fix. Stormwater damage starts with that single drip-drip-drip into a pail and easily spirals out of control. Multiply that problem with thousands of gallons of runoff stormwater at numerous municipal locations, and the threat to communities becomes clearer. Stormwater professionals said that the biggest challenge facing municipalities is aging infrastructure. A comprehensive survey was published by the WEF Stormwater Institute (SWI). How can aging infrastructure transform into smart infrastructure without spending billions of dollars to do it?
Survey Says
The Water Environment Federation’s Stormwater Institute conducted two iterations of the National Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Needs Assessment Survey in 2018 and 2020. The primary objectives of these surveys are to identify the information and resource needs of MS4 permittees, better understand MS4 program challenges, and approximate current funding levels and estimated funding needs in the MS4 sector.
The 2020 survey listed the most pressing issues in descending order:
- Aging infrastructure
- Funding/availability of capital
- Increasing/expanding regulations
- Public awareness & support
- Political support for program
- Cross-department coordination
- Permit requirements are unclear
- Aging workforce
- Technical expertise
- Information/training on best practices
The top takeaway from the 2018 survey is that an estimated $7.5 billion per year is needed to manage America's stormwater sector.
Tackling these challenges may seem daunting, but new tools make it easier.
Building Smarter, Not Bigger
Instead of waiting for expensive upgrades and replacement of existing stormwater infrastructure, utilities have an immediate option to make their water infrastructure smarter. Digital tools embedded with AI assist with monitoring of existing stormwater assets, and mitigate problems. You can't improve what you can't measure, and measurement of flow, With Ayyeka, you can measure any parameter that is
relevant to your collection sewer system (which include stormwater in older cities.) Use any sensor and connect the data securely to any software system. Click the button above to learn more about our offer.