WWEMA Window: Education And Advocacy In The Water Industry

By John D. Dyson, De Nora Water Technologies

The water industry is a great business that provides our customers with clean water — an essential of life — but the high-quality drinking water and wastewater we produce is under-valued by customers. Our customers, in many cases, don’t understand what it takes for our industry to provide our products and services cost effectively. The water industry needs to educate our customers as well as regulators if we are to have our financial and regulatory needs met.

The needs for water and wastewater treatment are vast — from the need to replace pipes and valves in the ground, to building new or rehabilitating old treatment facilities for municipalities and companies. These needs are well documented to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. As an industry, we must advocate and educate on the needs, requirements, and cost to provide the product (clean water and wastewater management) we deliver. Whether we serve a municipality or a company, we all must charge the customer what it costs to provide them that product. If we don’t fund and plan for replacement, our industry will never dig out of its big gap of needs vs. available funds.

Why is education important? If we do not educate our customers, regulators, and Congressional representatives on what is needed, we cannot expect support to meet the needs of the industry. Also, as water industry professionals, if we fail to speak up, we cannot expect our customers to accept rate increases or support the necessary financing of projects or the passage of necessary legislative and regulatory bills or appropriations.

How can we educate our customers on the value of clean water and the services we provide? We must educate our customers by using the electronic media resources available to get the message out and explain how water/wastewater systems work. Advertising on local media, particularly television, is one method. In today’s society, video messages are extremely effective, much more so than written documentation sent along with a utility bill. The average customer does not know how they receive clean water and how we keep the rivers, lakes, bays, etc. clean. The message also should point out that water is a limited resource that must be preserved. We can learn from other industries such as the power and the oil and gas industries: If you want support for needs in your industry, you must tell the customers the benefits of your work. We all have seen their TV ads.

Why is advocacy important? If we don’t advocate for the needs of our industry, other industries will get the attention and funding. Lawmakers and regulatory organizations will make decisions without understanding all sides of an issue. There are many issues for which we as water professionals should be advocating and providing direction, including:

• American Iron and Steel Act – Impacts on municipal projects
• State Revolving Funds – Much-needed federal funding
• Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank Authorization – Financing of export projects
• Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 – Impacts on transportation of important chemicals used in the water industry

As water professionals, we have a duty to support those professional organizations that advocate for the needs of the water industry. This means supporting organizations such as the Water Environment Federation (WEF), American Water Works Association (AWWA), Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA), etc. with our time and input on the issues.

In addition, as citizens we need to reach out to our Congressional representatives to let them know our opinions on the issues listed above as well as other water-related issues. I have found that my Congressional representatives often don’t know the details on how the decisions and positions they take on some of these issues impact the people they represent. Also, I have found they truly don’t realize how successful many existing water industry programs are, such as the State Revolving Funds (SRF) and the Ex-Im Bank. I reached out to my representatives and found that some supported items I believed in, but others didn’t. I learned from their responses that some of them did not understand how the programs worked and how they impacted jobs for citizens and the companies within their congressional territory.

In conclusion, the water industry is a great business, doing great work to make lives better for many people with clean drinking water, rivers, bays, oceans, etc. To continue this work, we must educate our customers so they will be willing to pay for it, and become advocates by contacting our Congressional representatives to make sure our interests are clearly heard. This doesn’t mean sending one letter from a company or a person, but having many letters sent showing how legislation and funding impacts many companies and people. Numbers matter in making sure the water industry’s needs are clearly heard.

John Dyson is Commercialization Manager for De Nora Water Technologies. He serves on the WWEMA Board of Directors and is Chairman of the WWEMA Legislative/Regulatory Committee.