By Amanda Peele, Project Analyst, UNC Environmental Finance Center Where does water go when it spirals down the drain? Whether from a home, a local brewery, or the car wash down the street, it likely ends up in a public … Read more

Presentation Description: This session will discuss how to think about a water and/or wastewater system as a financial entity and will examine the key financial indicators that allow these systems to make informed decisions in planning and investment. Specifically, this … Read more

Description: Running a small system can be challenging. Along with meeting regulatory obligations and satisfying customer expectations, you may have issues with aging infrastructure, lack of personnel, and limited financial resources. Furthermore, small systems often cost more to operate per … Read more

  Post by Julia Cavalier, Senior Research Project Director at UNC Environmental Finance Center Lead service line inventories are required by the Revised Lead and Copper Rule. Systems with distribution lines built after lead was banned are likely grateful as … Read more

    Post by Anna Patterson, Project Director at the UNC EFC and Erin Riggs, Executive Director at the UNC EFC With the holidays right around the corner, water and wastewater utilities are once again thinking to the new year … Read more

Over the past 6 months, the EFC has continued to investigate how utilities across NC are faring as the ongoing pandemic continues to create a variety of challenges related to revenue and operations.

Co-author Neil Sullivan is a Rates Specialist at the Environmental Finance Center. Since 2007, the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been conducting water and wastewater rate surveys in Georgia. With support from the … Read more

What happens if a water utility collects less in revenues than it pays in expenditures in one year? It will raise some alarms, but some utilities might be able to weather that shortfall by dipping into their reserves and bounce … Read more

When setting rates, most water and wastewater utilities are concerned (at least to some extent) about whether their customers can afford the resulting bills. Many utilities are also wondering how they can assist the poorest segments of their customer base … Read more

As the nation struggles to repair, maintain, and expand its infrastructure, public-private partnerships are gaining traction as a strategy for delivering traditionally “public” services. Public-private partnerships (or P3s) are touted on the idea that public projects can benefit from the … Read more