At the Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) Collection Systems and Stormwater Conference held in Houston, Texas, on July 15, 2025, attendees participated in a full day of specialized workshops. The conference opened with three major workshops: Winning at I&I Reduction, Smart Infrastructure for Sewer Solutions, and The Do’s and Don’ts of Water Consent Decrees. These sessions addressed pressing issues in wastewater management, particularly inflow and infiltration (I&I), smart technology for sewer monitoring, and legal considerations surrounding water consent decrees. R. H. Borden, a key player in the field, is actively working with the City of Houston—currently under a consent decree—to implement sensor-based technologies that help reduce I&I.
During the event, RH Borden showcased its innovative solution, BASINiQ, a real-time technology designed to detect and pinpoint direct sources of I&I within a sewer collection system. This was especially timely, as a recent news article highlighted a clear-water sewer overflow in front of an elementary school, likely caused by capacity issues stemming from excessive I&I. The visual evidence of clear water indicated that the overflow wasn’t due to blockages but rather the inability of the system to manage increased flow. Through the implementation of BASINiQ, RH Borden is helping Houston address such challenges by targeting the sources of inflow, thus enhancing the city’s capacity to comply with the consent decree and ultimately improving system performance.
