AWWA And The State Of Drinking Water

American Water Works Association (AWWA) Executive Director David LaFrance sits down with Water Online Radio to talk about the critical issues facing utilities, and how the ACE conference and AWWA contribute to solutions for these issues and the provision of safe drinking water.

Todd Schnick: We're coming to you live from Dallas, Texas.  This is day two of AWWA ACE 2012 and Water Online Radio.  I'm your host Todd Schnick.  Joining me is my colleague, Todd Youngblood.  Todd, this is the guest we've been waiting for.

Todd Youngblood: I've been waiting for this since about three weeks ago when we found out we were going to have him on here.

Todd Schnick: Let's just get right to him.  So pleased to welcome David LaFrance, who is the Executive Director of the American Water Works Association.  Welcome to Water Online Radio.

David: Hey, thanks, guys.  Glad to be here.

Todd Schnick: David, it's our pleasure.  Before we get into it, take a second and tell us a little about you and your background.

David: I've been the Executive Director for AWWA for a little over two years.  Before that I was a water facility professional with Denver Water for 16 years.  I've been coming to ACE for years and years and years, just as a water utility professional.

Todd Youngblood: David, how do you think it's going so far?

David: It's going great.  We just had our Opening General Session.  The room was packed.  There is a huge buzz going on.  Lots of energy.  Our exhibit floor is awesome.  It's set up beautifully.  Lots of people here learning a lot of different things.

Todd Schnick: We heard a little applause.  We thought that was for us.  It probably wasn’t us.  It’s probably your Opening Session.

David: Well, we’re happy you're here too.

Todd Schnick: What are some highlights so far?

David: The show's got a lot of different technical sessions, a lot of different leaders and professionals who are here.  When you come to ACE, you get a chance to meet with the legends of the industry, and they're all here passing on the knowledge that they have for everybody to share.

Todd Youngblood: AWWA does a lot of things for this industry, but the conference itself, how does that fit into the larger role that you play?

David: This is our crown jewel.  It is the show that we put all of our efforts into.  It’s when we can bring all of our members together in one location and they can work together, exchange ideas, and really add to the industry as a whole for the benefit of their customers, the people who drink safe drinking water.

Todd Schnick: We've been talking with all of our guests about all the trends in this water industry.  What do you think are the major issues facing the water community at this time?

David: I'm glad you asked that.  AWWA does a survey of our members, and we call that the State of the Industry Report.  That State of the Industry Report is published in our journal, AWWA Journal, and it's just out this month.  It really tells us exactly what's on the minds of our members and of the industry itself.

So the big issues right now: infrastructure replacement, financing of that infrastructure replacement, water quality issues, and really workforce.  Those are the hot buttons, and you can learn about all of those things here at AWWA and at our ACE conference.

Todd Youngblood: David, I'm always interested when somebody uses the word “finance” or “money,” or something around that.  What kind of things is AWWA doing specifically to help water utility operators save money?

David: We do a few things.  We've got best management practices that our utilities can use, and they can learn how to make sure that their water utilities are run efficiently.

We also publish the authoritative resource on how to set your water rates, so that when a water utility is setting the rates for their customers, they make sure that the rates are set fair and equitable and generate enough revenue, but really do that in a way that it makes it affordable for their customers.

Then the final thing that we're doing is we're doing some advocacy work in D.C. to try and get creative, low cost financing for water utilities because the utilities' major investment is in capital infrastructure, and that capital infrastructure costs a lot of money.  The best way to save for their customers is if they can borrow that money at low cost.

Todd Schnick: We've been talking an awful lot about ACE 2012 itself, but tell us more about AWWA itself and, more importantly, plans for the balance of 2012.

David: AWWA, our mission is to unite the water community.  We do that through our advocacy program, through our knowledge creation and exchange, which is done at places like this. 

We really do it through our really robust network of water professions.  We have over 50,000 members.  We have everybody from the top general managers of water utilities and corporations, all the way to the guys who are in the trenches digging the pipes and making sure water gets delivered safely every single day.

Todd Youngblood: We’ve also had a couple of folks on the show so far that talked quite a bit beyond water technology itself.  We talked about the electrical grid and FERC and NERC and all kinds of different government regulations.  What role is AWWA playing with those folks that are closely connected to the water industry, but not directly in it?

David: Probably two things.  One, we work pretty closely with EPA making sure that the decisions that they make are based upon sound science and not based upon other sorts of non-supported ideas.  Then the other one is, we work with all of our broad network of folks from the other utility industries and the other associations just to make sure that we're able to bring the smartest ideas to our water customers.

Todd Schnick: David, let me ask you a question that's really important to the Water Online audience.  Drinking water treatment is an area very, very ripe for innovation.  What can AWWA help to get people there?

David: That's really important too, because really what we stand for is safe drinking water, and when we look at that we look to our neighbors in other countries, what are they doing? We look to the technologies that are emerging. What kind of technologies can we bring in that are efficient in terms of making sure that the water is safe and cost effective as well?

Todd Youngblood: You just alluded to integrating different technologies and different groups.  What are some of the new groups or sets of knowledge in innovation that are coming into this industry that you're looking at?

David: Really, there's emerging technologies every day and researchers who are coming out with new ideas about how to do this so that the general public has safe water, so that when water comes to our kids' schools and when it goes to churches and places of worship and every place in our communities, that it's safe for everyone.

Todd Schnick: David, I have to ask how can people take advantage of the balance of the ACE 2012 and where can they learn more information from AWWA itself?

David: They can learn everything they need to know about AWWA at www.awwa.org.  Then, throughout this conference, this is really the place where legends gather.  Every time that I came here as a utility professional, I would go to the technical sessions, I would walk this exhibit floor, and I'd meet with all the exhibitors. And, without a doubt, every time I came to this conference when I was with the utility, I went home with new ideas that benefited my customers.

Todd Schnick: I can tell on behalf of Todd and myself and all of us at Water Online, we're grateful for you putting on this event and all of the good work that you’re doing.

David: We're happy you guys are here too.  Thanks.

Todd Schnick: All right, thanks David.

Todd Youngblood: David LaFrance, Executive Director of American Water Works Association, it's great to have you.  Thanks again for joining us.

David: Thank you.

Todd Schnick: All right, that wraps this segment.  On behalf of our guest, David LaFrance, my co-host Todd Youngblood, all of us at Water Online, I'm Todd Schnick, and we'll be right back with our next guest.