AC26 in Sacramento was one for the books. This year’s Annual Conference & Expo brought together California’s wastewater community for four energizing days of learning, connection, celebration, and innovation. From inspiring keynotes and hands-on training to meaningful networking and statewide recognition, the Power of Community was on full display. Hosted in Sacramento, AC26 marked our...

The California Water Environment Association (CWEA) proudly recognizes outstanding organizations and individuals for their exceptional contributions to protecting California’s water resources. The 97th Annual CWEA Awards Ceremony, held on April 9, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif., celebrated the California wastewater award recipients, champions of innovation, leadership, and service selected through a rigorous peer-review process. For nearly...

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is proud to announce the David Jenkins Operator Scholarship, a prestigious $10,000 award that recognizes outstanding operator achievement while supporting continued education and professional development. Awarded annually to one deserving recipient, the scholarship underscores WEF’s commitment to investing in the people who keep water systems running safely and effectively every day. The scholarship honors Professor David...

In water and wastewater operations, there are times when activities like confined-space entry, line cleaning, inspection, maintenance, line repair, or emergency response happen in public streets or highways and need traffic control. This typically involves setting up signs, barricades, cones, and flaggers.    When work in the public street occurs, the employer must develop and set...

Cyberattacks on utilities (and public agencies of all types) are occurring with alarming frequency, and agencies must have a communications strategy when the inevitable happens. In May, the United States Environmental Protection Agency warned that cyberattacks targeting water utilities across the country have increased in frequency and severity, most often originating in Iran and China....

Learn more about this years competition at cwea.org/awards/sdc. The Student Design Competition brings together passionate student teams to test their skills through real-world projects. But the biggest value goes beyond the competition itself. Students present their work to practicing engineers – people who started with the same curiosity for the water and wastewater profession and...

Machine learning (ML), a branch of artificial intelligence, is transforming how we monitor and manage water quality. At the forefront of this innovation are “soft sensors”—not physical devices, but intelligent algorithms that predict slow or expensive-to-measure water quality variables using readily-available data. This breakthrough is reducing monitoring costs and enabling more adaptive treatment processes. Machine...

Although concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) have been explored in the Water Industry since the 1960s (Zadeh, 1965), this technology has only recently gained momentum. In the wastewater treatment sector, the use of machine learning (ML), a subset of the broader suite of AI technologies (e.g., robotics), has gained significant momentum over the last decade,...

The biggest fear among wastewater professionals about Artificial Intelligence (AI) is that, when agencies adopt the data-driven technology, they will be out of a job. But according to Teamsolve’s Olivier Terrien, AI can help clean water professionals improve their operations rather than threaten their jobs. “Generative AI can make an operator’s workday easier,” Terrien says....

List printed with permission from WaterISAC  WaterISAC has revised its Cybersecurity Fundamentals for water and wastewater utilities, releasing a new edition tailored for small, rural, and less cyber-experienced utilities. This updated guide includes the Small Systems Guidance, which includes 12 Cybersecurity Fundamentals. “Our reasoning behind this update is a desire to make the guidance a little more manageable, but still touch on...