The Executive Director of Greater Cincinnati Water Works and the Metropolitan Sewer District, Tony Parrot, will participate in a national discussion on U.S. water infrastructure Wednesday in Washington D.C.
Parrot joins the U.S. EPA's Nancy Stoner, Veolia Water North America and Mark Strauss with American Waterin the Value of Water Coalition'snational panel discussion to help other communities deal with crumbling water and wastewater infrastructure.
Confluence,a local water technology innovation cluster, is behind efforts to make Cincinnati a world water leader. Cincinnati and Hamilton County continue to get calls from water departments across the country, based on what the region has done:
- The Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) plans to use cell phone technology to monitor aging underground water pipes
- The EPA has eased regulations allowing for quick start-up from water tech companies
- GCWW was first in North America to use UV disinfection following sand filtration and Granular Activated Carbon during the water treatment process.
- Tri-State has the highest concentration of water technology patents per capita in the United States (according to the most recent statistics)
- The Metropolitan Sewer District is under a government mandate to reduce overflows. Part of the solution involves uncovering a buried stream, as reported inthis WVXU story.
The overall economic impact of water technology in the Tri-State is estimated to be as much as $2.1 billion annually with the potential to grow six to seven percent every year.
