September 22, 2025
How new AI tools can address water infrastructure workforce challenges
Using AI for water infrastructure can help utilities evolve and adapt as an aging workforce approaches retirement
With one third of water sector employees eligible to retire within the next decade, new AI solutions provide efficiencies that can help municipalities to address the potential for knowledge gaps and loss of expertise associated with an aging water infrastructure workforce.
Our water infrastructure workforce is aging
Municipalities across the country are confronting a pivotal challenge: an aging water infrastructure workforce.
With the EPA estimating that around one third of water sector employees will be eligible for retirement within the next ten years, utilities and their communities risk losing decades of institutional knowledge and operational expertise, putting essential water infrastructure at greater risk and widening the skills gap.
The requirement is clear: municipalities must find effective ways to maintain high standards of service while managing assets with fewer, and often less experienced, people.
Artificial intelligence tools can bridge the looming knowledge and skills gap
AI-powered tools offer a practical and long-term response to this urgent shift, and solutions like CivilSense™ are redefining what’s possible for utilities that face critical resourcing shortages.
CivilSense™ harnesses artificial intelligence and applies it to a unique combination of predictive water network risk analysis and real-time leak detection, using a curated library of more than 2.3 million acoustic signal data points to deliver a market-leading 93% detection accuracy.
This evolutionary new technology provides water asset owners and maintenance teams with data-driven insight into infrastructure health, enabling proactive maintenance and rapid response from any location—and by any authorized team member, regardless of their tenure.
This transformation is significant: AI takes over the time-intensive process of data analysis, highlighting potential issues before they become costly failures, and ensuring vulnerabilities are caught and prioritized efficiently.
Even teams with limited direct experience can act confidently, as AI condenses years of operational expertise into targeted, actionable guidance, reducing the dependency on limited resources and legacy, hard-to-replace knowledge.
Another advantage is that the technology doesn’t need to be integrated into existing systems, allowing for immediate benefit while minimizing disruption. This flexibility is backed by a dedicated, experienced support team, ensuring that municipalities are never alone in adopting or scaling AI innovations.
New tools enhance expertise and accelerate staff development
By bridging the knowledge gap left by retiring staff, AI tools help municipalities accelerate onboarding, strengthen resilience, and effectively manage maintenance and other asset management budgets.
Advanced analytics enable planners to prioritize repairs, optimize resource allocation and help ensure consistent service quality.
Strategic use of AI doesn’t eliminate the value of human expertise; rather it enhances it, freeing up skilled staff to focus on critical tasks while automated tools manage routine monitoring, data gathering and analysis.
Additionally, adopting and promoting advanced digital solutions helps municipalities attract new talent, positioning the water sector as both innovative and forward-thinking.
The road ahead for water asset management calls for an approach rooted in both technology and workforce development.
By pairing AI-driven systems with ongoing training, mentoring, and recruitment initiatives, communities can build a strong, adaptable, and resilient water infrastructure future that delivers long-lasting benefits to the people they serve, regardless of changes in the workforce.
