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During NACWA’s 2016 Winter Conference in San Diego, February 21-24, NACWA will convene The Smart Utility and the Promise of Big Data Roundtable Discussion. The Roundtable, which will be a part of the General Session program on the afternoon of February 23, will feature a discussion among clean water utilities, consulting firms and technology providers on the challenges and opportunities surrounding the growing use of sensors, automatic metering systems and related technology and the data they generate in the operation of water and wastewater utilities.

In advance of the Roundtable, NACWA prepared this discussion paper  to introduce the topic and begin to explore how these issues impact NACWA’s ongoing advocacy efforts.

NACWA Seeks Feedback on Discussion Paper, Smart Utility Issue

The Roundtable discussion during the NACWA Winter Conference is intended to be an initial conversation to start a more long-term dialogue within NACWA to engage on smart utility issues and integrate them as appropriate into the Association’s exiting advocacy agenda. Smart utility concepts are an outgrowth of the Water Resources Utility of the Future effort and would complement NACWA’s ongoing advocacy in that area. In addition, use of smart utility systems and big data are increasingly being raised in the regulatory, permitting, and enforcement/consent decree contexts and U.S. EPA has made it a central tenet of its Next Generation Compliance initiative.

This discussion paper provides a framework for the discussion in San Diego and is intended generate dialogue among the NACWA membership as a whole. NACWA is interested in hearing your feedback on the paper and the issue in general, as well as what the appropriate role is for NACWA in this space.

Please send any comments or questions to NACWA’s Chief Technical Officer, Chris Hornback, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202/833-9106.