EBI News for April 06, 2026 – Stantec to lead AI initiative for Water Research Foundation

Trinity Consultants adds expertise in process safety management

Trinity Consultants (Dallas, Texas), a global environmental consulting firm, announced the acquisition of Process Improvement Institute Inc. (PII, Knoxville, Tenn.). The acquisition will integrate PII’s process safety management (PSM) training, engineering, human factors consulting, management system implementation, and safety instrumented systems verification capabilities with Trinity’s environmental consulting business. It will also strengthen Trinity’s ability to deliver advanced PSM services and training across North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. According to Trinity, PII has led thousands of process hazard analyses as well as hundreds of major incident investigations and process safety audits while developing management systems, procedures and risk-based safety methodologies customized to client operations and culture.

Stantec to lead AI initiative for Water Research Foundation

Stantec (Edmonton, Canada) been selected to lead a Water Research Foundation (WRF) project applying AI to wastewater treatment operations. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) in Maryland and Prince William Water in Virginia will serve as co-leading utility partners. Stantec will combine its engineering and plant operations experience with AI capabilities provided by EAOS (Lake Oswego, Ore.), a wastewater-focused AI firm. Findings will be incorporated at WSSC Water’s Piscataway Water Resource Recovery Facility and Prince William Water’s H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility—both of which are positioned to integrate digital intelligence during ongoing upgrades. The 31-month initiative is co-funded through WRF’s Tailored Collaboration Program.

Apex Companies acquires CWE

Apex Companies LLC (Rockville, Md.) has acquired CWE (Fullerton, Calif.), a civil infrastructure, water resources, and environmental engineering services firm with multiple offices in California. CWE delivers planning, surveying, project and construction management, engineering, and environmental services for civil infrastructure and water resources projects. “In combination with Apex’s other recent additions like Storm Water Inspection & Maintenance Services (SWIMS), Forsgren, and Tully Consulting Group, we now have, without a doubt, the leading end-to-end stormwater infrastructure capability in California–the world’s fifth largest economy,” said Apex CEO Shawn Doherty. 

AECOM consortium selected for £200M fusion energy program in UK

AECOM (Dallas) will provide design and technical services as part of the ILIOS consortium, which has been appointed by UK Fusion Energy as construction partner for the first three-year £200-million tranche of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) program. The appointment covers design/build for a prototype fusion power plant and forms part of a wider program with future opportunities valued at up to £10 billion. Sponsored by the UK Government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, STEP is the UK’s flagship fusion energy program. The program aims to deliver a commercially viable fusion power plant in Nottinghamshire by 2040. 

Tampa approves funding for world’s largest SIX system

Tampa City Council has approved funding for the design of suspended ion exchange (SIX®) technology at the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility. The facility will represent the first full-scale implementation of SIX technology in the United States, designed to treat up to 140 million gallons per day of drinking water. A design-build partnership led by joint venture partners Garney and Wharton-Smith with Carollo Engineers (Walnut Creek, Calif.) as the lead designer will deliver the project. SIX technology was developed by PWNT, a subsidiary of the Dutch company Nijhuis Saur Industries, as an alternative to coagulation for organics removal. A 10-month pilot study evaluated the performance of the SIX process as part of a full treatment train including coagulation, sedimentation, ozone treatment and biofiltration. Results indicated significant water quality improvements, reduced chemical usage by up to 79% with projected annual savings of $1.7-1.9 million, and doubled filter efficiency.

AtkinsRéalis and Nvidia to accelerate deployment of nuclear?powered AI factories

AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. (Montreal, Canada) announced a collaboration to explore the integration of Nvidia’s technologies, including Omniverse libraries and accelerated compute, into the development of nuclear-powered, large-scale AI factories. AtkinsRéalis will examine how standardized nuclear power solutions in its CANDU® portfolio could be integrated with large-scale AI data center requirements. Nvidia will contribute strategic leadership in compute, networking, and AI, including digital twin and high-fidelity simulation tools that could help modernize nuclear delivery and support licensing pathways. AtkinsRéalis is the original equipment manufacturer and exclusive license holder of CANDU nuclear technology.

Rising drinking water infrastructure costs put affordability at risk

A report by the American Water Works Assn. (AWWA) concludes that addressing U.S. drinking water infrastructure and other critical needs will require $2.1-$2.4 trillion over the next 25 years, testing the limits of water affordability. “Beyond the Replacement Era: Balancing Compounding Infrastructure Needs with Household Affordability” highlights a growing funding gap, with current capital spending by drinking water utilities averaging about $33.6 billion per year, while the annual investment needed is approximately $90.2 billion. According to AWWA, with a few exceptions (such as the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act), federal contributions have been limited, with only 3.9% of public spending on water sectors (drinking, wastewater, stormwater) coming from federal sources, far below levels provided to other infrastructure sectors. “The first step toward solving any challenge is recognizing its full scope, and Beyond the Replacement Era does exactly that,” said AWWA Chief Executive Officer David LaFrance. “It makes clear that progress will require collaboration across all levels of government and a shared understanding of why drinking water is so critical in our communities.”

Port of Los Angeles selects Tetra Tech for environmental master services 

Tetra Tech Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.) announced that the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department has selected the company for a three-year master services agreement to provide environmental engineering and technical services for the Port of Los Angeles. As part of the Port’s $2.6 billion infrastructure investment program, Tetra Tech will provide environmental site assessment and restoration services for sites across 7,500 acres of land and 43 miles of waterfront. Tetra Tech has provided the Port with environmental engineering services since 1993.

Clearlake to acquire Qualus from New Mountain Capital

Clearlake Capital Group announced it is acquiring Qualus Corporation (Lake Mary, Fla.) from New Mountain Capital. Qualus is a pure-play power solutions firm that provides integrated front-end advisory and planning, engineering, digital solutions, program management, energy efficiency, and specialized field services to support grid resiliency. The company serves a diverse blue-chip customer base that includes large investor-owned utilities. Naveen Shahani, principal at Clearlake, noted: “We see Qualus at the center of an industry facing a widening gap between grid demand and technical capacity. By leveraging Clearlake’s O.P.S.® capabilities, the Company will be better equipped to serve the nation’s largest utility and commercial clients.” 

EIA launches pilot survey on energy use at data centers

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is launching three voluntary pilot field studies to evaluate energy consumption in data centers. The EIA has identified 196 companies operating data centers across Texas, Washington state, and the Northern Virginia-DC region. Using web-based pilot surveys and in-person interviews, companies will be asked to report on the energy use of at least one data center in the targeted region. The questionnaire will cover energy sources, electricity consumption, site characteristics, server metrics, and cooling systems. “A tremendous amount of excellent work goes into our retrospective consumption surveys, but they were conceived decades ago. Going forward, that excellent work will be geared toward faster cycles and finer detail,” EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey said.

U.S. energy storage installations set new record

The U.S. energy storage market hit a record 18.9 gigawatts of battery energy storage system installations in 2025, a 52% increase over 2024, according to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report released by the American Clean Power Assn. and Wood Mackenzie. The fourth quarter of 2025 closed with the strongest quarterly totals on record with 5.8 GW installed; utility scale installations accounted for 4.9 GW of the Q4 total. New activity was spread across 13 states, demonstrating market diversification outside of California and Texas, which have historically dominated utility-scale battery energy storage deployment. According to Wood Mackenzie’s five-year outlook, momentum will continue for the battery energy storage market, with the United States projected to install half a TWh of storage between 2026-2031, a 250% increase over the previous five-year period. Annual utility additions will lead the way, doubling between 2025 and 2030 in GWh installed.

GHD selected to advance water quality modelling in Georgia

GHD (Sydney, Australia) has been selected by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to deliver the Assimilative Capacity Water Quality Modeling program, an initiative that supports regional water planning and technical evaluations for permitting decisions. GHD will partner with Georgia EPD to enable more efficient and transparent assessments that reflect evolving demands on Georgia’s water resources and support long-term environmental stewardship. GHD’s team brings in-depth knowledge of water quality characteristics and hydrologic data across the state’s rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs. The team’s capabilities include collecting and processing surface water and meteorological data, managing large water resources databases, and leveraging GIS within integrated water quality models. Water Environment Consultants Inc. and River to Tap Inc. (R2T) will serve as subconsultants.