INFR6R12a
Ebook only
Available as an ebook
Please purchase via www.iwaponline.comOpens in new window
Also part of Water Intelligence Online Digital Reference Library
Standard ePrice: £28.00
+ VAT
Ebook only
Available as an ebook
Please purchase via www.iwaponline.comOpens in new window
Also part of Water Intelligence Online Digital Reference Library
Standard ePrice: £28.00
+ VAT
U.S. water utilities are grappling with a diverse suite of challenges. Aging water infrastructure, changing weather patterns, rising demand for clean water, higher water treatment costs, and other pressures are affecting how water utilities expand, repair, and maintain the infrastructure that carries and cleans our water. The traditional approach to addressing these problems building more grey infrastructure is not the only option. Green infrastructure may provide a cost effective alternative that can help water utilities protect source water supplies, reduce storm water runoff, and improve water quality.
Current municipal accounting standards, however, do not adequately account for the benefits provided by green infrastructure. For example, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which establishes standard accounting practices for state and local governments, requires public utilities to value land assets using the historical purchase price, rather than the current market value. This approach frequently does not capture the full value of the benefits provided by green infrastructure and so may limit utilities ability to accurately compare the benefits and costs of green and grey infrastructure. This project developed new accounting methods to help public water utilities more accurately assess the value provided by their green infrastructure assets. The researchers developed two model accounting frameworks that could be included in the unaudited supplementary disclosure part of a utility’s comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). This report summarizes the results of pilot tests, including the frameworks strengths and weaknesses and recommendations from the piloting utilities for improving future iterations of the frameworks. Several key themes emerged from these results. Each utility faced a unique set of regulatory, political, and other policy drivers that influenced their use of green infrastructure. The extent and type of both inter and intra utility communication affected the utilities access to information and their ability to document their green infrastructure assets. Despite the differences among utilities drivers and communication pathways, however, all utilities noted the need for standardized approaches that allow for cross utility comparison. The ability to account for the benefits provided by green infrastructure is critical for further investment in green infrastructure by water utilities, municipalities, and investors. This project contributes to that effort by offering two approaches for accounting that more accurately reflect the value that green infrastructure provides for water utilities.
Green infrastructure, the use of soil, vegetation, and other natural landscape features to manage and treat water, is increasing in popularity as an alternative to traditional “grey”...
The purpose of this research was to provide a road map for the effective use of condition and performance assessment tools and techniques by water and wastewater utilities within the...
Phosphorus monitoring at wastewater treatment plants is essential as phosphorus (as total phosphorus) is an important main constituent regulated in treatment plant effluents. Recent trends are...
The Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005 and horrific events of 9/11/2001 have spawned a new emphasis on domestic security and emergency preparedness. Governments at all levels are taking action to...
Nutrient removal, specifically phosphorus, is an important objective during wastewater treatment. Chemically mediated phosphorus involves adding metal salts (Al3+, Fe2...
Drinking water provides an efficient source for the spread of gastrointestinal microbial pathogens capable of causing serious human disease.
The massive death toll and burden of disease...
Phosphorus has always been both a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, it is essential for all life forms and cannot be replaced by anything. On the other hand, wastewater treatment aims to...
Despite the fact that nanotechnology has been present for a few decades, there is a big gap between how nanotechnology is perceived and what nanotechnology can truly offer in all sectors of water...
Phosphorus in Environmental Technology: Principles and Applications, provides a definitive and detailed presentation of state-of-the-art knowledge on the environmental behaviour...