1 new Lego SuDS set, an exhibit devoted to #2, and 3 new customer stories

We have a lot of fun and interesting links for you this time around - plus three new customer stories on the OWB. First, the links...

Cycling under the sea

It's our first time seeing it, but the underwater Seabike looks like an actually useful and innovative device that turbo-charges swimming with a specially designed pole and some pedals. This isn't a prototype with a Kickstarter account but an actual product available for purchase from a French-based company.

This underwater Seabike is not to be confused with a different type of above-water Seabike made in the Netherlands, which looks like someone welded a carbon-frame exercise bike to some fancy pontoons. (I saw a few in action on a recent bike ride.) Both look fun to use, if a bit exhausting over time.

Don't go chasing waterfalls. Build one.

Can we turn our hills into batteries full of energy? The idea behind high-density waterless hydro energy is to use gravity to engineer electricity from water flowing down a steep hill, Or, rather, you utilize a fluid called R-19 that is actually more dense than water. During non-peak times, you pump the water back up to the top of the hill with electricity captured from wind turbines and/or solar panels.

Will it work? We'll soon find out: Advanced 'high-density waterless hydro' energy plant gets green light. Kudos to Devon County Council, who just approved the beginning of construction in September. We're fans of the council, who are known for embracing innovative water ideas. In fact, we've written about them in the past: Jacobs engineered a SuDS-friendly, sustainable, flood-resistant amphitheater for Sidmouth. It’s beautiful.

Expanding the Lego built world

We previously wrote about the Lego Sewer Heroes Fighting the Fatberg set and asked our subscribers to cast a vote to help the creators of the set achieve 10,000 votes. They made it to 10K! Now, here comes the Lego Flood House, which is full of SuDS-related details like a rain garden, disconnected downpipe, and permeable pavement. They're about 200 votes shy of 10K votes, which is when Lego will consider whether or not to produce the set. You know what to do. Kudos to the Environmental Design Studio for this excellent climate literacy project.

New 💩 exhibit just dropped

We love a good toilet-to-tap story. GeekWire has a fun one: Gates Foundation’s toilet and sanitation exhibit in Seattle is flush with education and innovation. The exhibition, A Better Way to Go: Toilets and the Future of Sanitation looks really top-notch, something that kids (and water professionals alike) will enjoy – and actually learn a lot about where it goes when you have to go.

Our plastic problems visualized

Plastic isn't just in our water. It seems to be leaching into every topic these days. Information Is Beautiful has an excellent collection of data and visualizations called The Plastics Crisis, which can help you tell the difference between the seven main types of plastic, show you the benefits and drawbacks of bio-plastics and what they're made of. It even has a very thorough flow chart that explains how we can solve the plastic crisis. And, of course... the problem of PFAS. This is one of the best infographics about plastic that we've seen.

PFAS: Forever is a long time

You've undoubtedly heard about the EPA's big PFAS announcement calling for clean-up of "forever chemicals" in the US's water supply. It's an extremely complex issue that is just getting started:

• How will industry groups like WEF, AWWA, ASDWA, NAWC, ACC respond? WaterWorld published a nice round-up of responses by industry groups and experts: Who's going to pay for it?
• The issue is gaining regulatory urgency as scientists are discovering alarming evidence about the prevalence of PFAS in nearly every part of the globe. For example, Over 90% of polar birds have microplastics inside them.
• A good, straightforward summary of where different parts of the world stand on PFAS: Can you get rid of forever chemicals? More countries are finding out.
• Can we make tiny machines to clean up the microplastic mess?

The Splashstreet Boys

Denver Water made a silly community outreach video. We liked and subscribed.

Smart water sustainability ideas

• Farming the future: California farmers are low on water. Why not help them go solar? Great idea, huh? You can cut down on nitrogen and help power the planet.
• Whip it good: A contest in the Netherlands is encouraging residents to toss out their paving stones and let more greenery grow. Read ‘We need to accept the weeds’: the Dutch ‘tile whipping’ contest seeking to restore greenery.
• SuDS are bubbling up: Althought the UK is in a full-blown water crisis, it's nice to see that SuDS are beginning to be noticed. For example, Rain gardens and bathwater reuse becoming trends, RHS says. But it's still going to be hard to convince citizens to convert their beloved parking spaces into SuDS: Residents raise concerns over new road flood prevention measures.

Cities are flooding and running out of water

We will see more and more stories about unexpected floods in heavily populated areas like Brazil and UAE. Unfortunately, we will also see more and more stories about cities running out of water. A few standout stories we've seen lately:

• Once the epicenter of hydraulic engineering, Mexico City is now running out of water
• Heartwarming video: Athletes drop Olympic dreams to help Brazil flood victims
• Good news! L.A. County captures 96 billion gallons of water during ‘super year’ of storms
• Thirsty in paradise: Water crises are a growing problem across the Caribbean islands
• Floods in the Arabian Gulf remind us that investing in climate mitigation cannot wait. This contains a great list of actions to take, and it leans strongly into modern drainage design.

Latest from the OWB

We've been very busy talking to our customers and writing stories about them. We've published three new customer stories on the OWB that we hope you'll enjoy reading.

We're gonna need a bigger wall (and a better drain)

Trevor English writes about a seawall in Charleston that has been holding back the years and protecting the oceanside city for over a century. They've now built a bigger wall for rising sea levels, but more importantly, they've built a better wall using InfoDrainage. Read JMT: Protecting the City of Charleston with the Low Battery Seawall and modern drainage design. (Fun fact: Trevor served in the US Navy in Charleston!)

Florida is #1 at something good

Florida is #1 in water reuse in the US, but strict regulations are challenging utilities to eliminate all non-beneficial surface water discharges by 2032. If you're a water utility, who you gonna call to help you meet those deadlines? CHA Consulting. Youssef Al Fahham teamed up with CHA (Project Engineer Parsa Pezeshk is also credited as an author) to explain how the SB64 legislation works. Read CHA Consulting is helping Florida utilities meet ambitious reclaimed water effluent regulations. This is a great example of collaborating with a customer to write a different kind of story about an important issue that isn't talked about nearly enough: effluent discharge and how to turn it from a negative into a positive.

Mapping 'Flash Flood Alley'

A decade ago, the city of San Marcos in Texas was on the list of fastest growing cities in the US. It's also smack dab in the middle of Flash Flood Alley. To deal with the inundation of new citizens and prevent inundation of their new homes, the city turned to Lockwood, Andrews & Newman to create a digital twin resource that LAN and San Marcos can leverage to inform development and make upgrades as the city continues to expand – which it most certainly will. Trevor English tells you about Mapping ‘Flash Flood Alley’: LAN built a digital twin hydraulic model for the city of San Marcos.

Mega 2024-2025 software release wrap-up post

It's that time of year when we push out our biggest releases, and Trevor English has a giant post that brings it all together: Everything new in Autodesk’s desktop hydraulic modeling software 2025 releases. We've been working very hard on our software for the last two years, and it's gratifying to see how much we've accomplished. We have plenty more on our public Product Roadmap.

Getting ready for ACE

Finally, Mahtab Barazandeh is prepping for one of our biggest conference events of the year: Get ready for Autodesk at AWWA ACE 2024 in Anaheim.

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