Do We Make the Right Decisions?
Tonight I had a great conversation with Cynthia Mitchell with the University of Technology, Sydney Australia regarding the decisions we make in the water industry. Often times we focus on the detail and miss the big picture, i.e. we miss the forest for the trees. When we look at the impact of wastewater treatment with respect to energy requirements, GHG, nutrient reduction, we have quickly identified all the improvements we as an industry should make; however, the reality is that wastewater treatment is a very minute fraction of the energy picture, the GHG production and in some locations, the nutrient load compared to runoff from agricultural lands. We need to step back and ask the questions, is this the right decision when looking at the big picture or are we solving one small issue and creating a larger problem?
Posted by Cindy Wallis-Lage
Jim Howlett
Cindy, interesting post. Gerry makes a comment on my desal post about water treatment audits and treating for purpose. Why is this kind of approach not more standard across the industry?
Cindy Wallis-Lage
Jim, the constraints in the past haven’t been the same as what we see today. The mindset was based on better quality and reasonable affordability. If the solution identified was affordable and we achieved better treatment, it was seen as a win-win solution. As an industry we didn’t always consider the ancillary impacts. Now we need to really focus on providing the right level of treatment and doing it in a sustainable manner.
Gerry O'Toole
I am sometimes amazed at the lack of big picture thinking which goes into some projects from various perspectives…so much so that it is refreshing when a truely well thought out rationale appears.
Gerry O'Toole
I am sometimes amazed at the lack of big picture thinking which goes into some projects from various perspectives…so much so that it is refreshing when a truely well thought out rationale appears.
Gerry O'Toole
I am sometimes amazed at the lack of big picture thinking which goes into some projects from various perspectives…so much so that it is refreshing when a truely well thought out rationale appears.
Gerry O'Toole
I am sometimes amazed at the lack of big picture thinking which goes into some projects from various perspectives…so much so that it is refreshing when a truely well thought out rationale appears.
Alejandro Toro
Cindy,
You are spot on. I was having this same discussion with Fred Ellermeier last week. There are plenty of local issues impacting utilities that merit a big picture analysis. A lot of these issues are being fought on principle with little regard to for the long term consequences. I believe we can create value by developing pragmatic solutions that balance the technical, economic, social and environmental aspects of any water resourcers issues.