Municipal Water & Wastewater Infrastructure

Question: Where do you see opportunities for better alignment between coating selection, specifications, and field performance?

Response: The biggest opportunity is moving toward performance-based specifications that connect coating selection, actual service conditions, and field execution, rather than simply specifying a particular chemistry. I see a lot of specifications get locked into generic chemistries (epoxy, polyurethane, or another technology) that may not necessarily be the best fit for that service environment. Standards like AWWA C210 for epoxy and C222 for polyurethane are excellent starting points for minimum performance requirements, but I think of those standards as a floor, not a substitute for matching the coating system to the actual risk exposure and criticality of the asset. A coating survey or criticality analysis upfront can help define what performance is actually needed rather than simply defaulting to whatever has historically been specified. From there, the specification should carry those requirements all the way through surface preparation, environmental controls, application, cure, holiday testing, and independent QA/QC, creating a continuous line from "this is the performance we need," to "this is the system capable of providing it," to "this is how we verify that we actually achieved it in the field."