“To be or not to be?” This is the famous question that haunted Shakespeare’s Hamlet as he struggled with his existence. It is now also the question that may be haunting some municipal water managers throughout North Carolina after a … Read more

What should a utility manager do in order to convince a board or council of elected officials of the need to raise water rates? We identified 10 actionable tips based on statistical analysis of survey results of more than 1,400 … Read more

Bad debt plagues every utility: electric, water, sewer, phone, gas – you name it. A utility can spend thousands of dollars trying to recover the costs of delinquent accounts, and unfortunately, utilities with bad debt meet a costly fate. Bad … Read more

Conventional wisdom holds the universal truth that littered cigarette butts are unsightly; an undesirable side effect of a habit which most smokers wish they could drop.  But while many smokers may not be successful in dropping their habit, they are … Read more

Unlike your favorite TV show, college football, or even your cell phone, water is a truly vital part of life. However, many Americans may still not have affordable access to this necessity. The question of whether or not water is … Read more

Drinking water and wastewater systems may be able to reduce costs by partnering with other systems. These partnerships can range from informal agreements to the transfer of ownership and creation of a new utility. This post examines a range of … Read more

Dividing the costs of shared water infrastructure equitably among many potential users may not be as straightforward as it seems. In particular, infrastructure designed to meet future demands in a growing region will not operate at full capacity for significant … Read more

When a water utility seeks to increase supply to address a growing population in the community which it serves, most states have very clear laws that would allow such a utility to issue revenue bonds to fund a “utility project.” … Read more

The EPA’s 2011 Report to Congress on the Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, which estimated infrastructure capital needs of $384.2 billion over the next 20 years, includes a short line that has stuck with me all summer: “It … Read more

Earlier this year, the EFC at UNC, in partnership with the Southwest Environmental Finance Center and other members of the Environmental Finance Center Network, started work on WaterCARE (Community Assistance for Resiliency and Excellence in Drinking Water and Wastewater). WaterCARE … Read more