Data-Driven Solutions for Inflow and Infiltration Challenges With Kwin Peterson and Jon Borden

Jon Borden is the President of RH Borden and Company, a Salt Lake City-based firm applying advanced sensor technology and data-driven solutions to modernize wastewater and sewer systems across the US. Under his leadership, RH Borden pioneered digital twin and condition-based maintenance strategies, enabling cities to streamline maintenance and deliver the nation's largest inflow and infiltration study in New York with more than 400 sensors deployed. With a background in Fortune 100 IT program management, Jon brings proven digital transformation expertise to aging infrastructure. Kwin Peterson is a Senior Account Manager at RH Borden and Company. He has supported more than 60 collection systems in becoming more efficient through condition-based maintenance and innovative assessment tools. Kwin also serves on the San Francisco Bay Section Collection Systems Committee. Before joining RH Borden, he spent 17 years in the electric utilities industry working in education, public relations, and technical committee support. In this episode… Wastewater systems across the US are grappling with the costly and often invisible problem of inflow and infiltration (I&I). This issue — when excess water from rain, groundwater, or snowmelt enters the sewer system — drains resources, causes system overflows, and burdens treatment plants. What can be done to solve this problem and avoid unnecessary costs? As experts in wastewater management, Jon Borden and Kwin Peterson explain how hidden water can unnecessarily increase operating costs by millions annually. This challenge is exacerbated by the difficulty of locating leaks within underground infrastructure, which often leads municipalities to build new treatment plants instead of fixing the root cause. With case studies from across the country, Jon and Kwin highlight how agencies can now deploy thousands of sensors that create precise virtual models of their sewer systems, rather than accepting expensive overflows and building new treatment plants. These digital replicas, combined with high-density LiDAR scans and real-time data, pinpoint leaks down to the manhole and quantify the cost of each problem — a true paradigm shift. Agencies can also leverage BASINiQ, which delivers actionable, color-coded maps, transforming complex engineering data into clear, cost-saving management decisions for city leaders. In this episode of Saving Our Sewers, John Corcoran of Rise25 chats with Jon Borden, the President of RH Borden and Company, and Kwin Peterson, the company's Senior Account Manager, to discuss the pervasive issue of inflow and infiltration (I&I). They explore the major causes of I&I across the US, delve into the transformative impact of digital twins and sensors in reducing treatment costs, and highlight the success of large-scale sensor deployments in cities like Great Neck and San Rafael.