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Indiana water, wastewater utilities face cyber threats and an aging workforce

By Rebecca Thiele

Posted August 26, 2024

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A large pool of water, called a lagoon, at the Shelbyville Wastewater Treatment Plant. There is a metal railing around the perimeter of the pool and a platform walkway that allows access to the center of the lagoon.

A lagoon at the Shelbyville Wastewater Treatment Plant, 2018. (Steve Burns/WTIU)

Cyber attacks don’t just threaten your money, they can also put your access to clean drinking water and a functioning sewer at risk.

Dawn Keyler works for Wessler Engineering and serves on the Emergency Response and Security Committee for the Indiana Section of the American Water Works Association. She gave a talk on cyber security at the Indiana Water Summit.

Keyler said, as we become more connected online, Indiana water and wastewater utilities are more vulnerable to these attacks.

In May, Russian hackers targeted a wastewater treatment plant for Tipton. Fortunately, workers at the plant noticed something was wrong and were able to switch to manual operation until they could address it.

Keyler said other utilities around the country haven’t been as lucky — paying millions of dollars to get back up and running.

“It’s a good reminder for everybody to be aware of their use of any kind of device and make sure they’re not clicking on links they shouldn’t. That they know who it is who is sending them the link — especially if it’s in a text," she said.

Rural, smaller water utilities are especially vulnerable because they often don't have the money for their own, in-house IT departments.

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Keyler said all water and wastewater utilities are also expected to lose staff as about half the workforce nears retirement — and that means fewer people to watch out for cyber attacks.

“It’s kind of a cool job — I mean it’s a great job. It’s secure and you’re doing cool things and protecting the public. And so promoting that need for operators and hopefully igniting some kind of interest in our younger generation is going to be key in keeping the public safe going forward," she said.

Among other things, City of Greenfield Water Utility Manager Charles Gill said water and wastewater utilities need to become more visible to the public, remove barriers, support a diverse workforce and provide on-the-job training. He said wastewater utilities also have to find a way to get rid of the stigma around working in sewage treatment.

Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.