Critics Say El Paso Is Encouraging Water Wasting

After pushing customers to conserve water for years during the drought in Texas, El Paso Water Utilities is trying the opposite tactic, encouraging ratepayers to use more.

A new television ad uses the new strategy. “The first half of the 32-second commercial shows some of the work involved in getting water to customers, but the second half of the commercial promotes water use,” the El Paso Times reported.

“It shows a woman watering her outdoor plants, a father and son playing with straws in glasses of water, a woman soaking in a bathtub full of suds, and youths having a water balloon fight in a yard,” the report said. The narrator says in the background of the ad, "So, fill your glass, your tub, or your balloons."

The tagline of the commercial is "El Paso Water Utilities — Water Forever."

Is the utility attempting to drive revenue by encouraging customers to waste water? Conservation is a tricky business for utilities, many of which lose money when customers cut back on usage. National Geographic explained the tension like this: "The need for more reliable revenue is more important than ever, as water service providers contend with prolonged droughts and aging infrastructure. Unfortunately, this need for revenue can make conservation the unwanted stepchild of water utilities."

Christina Montoya, the utility's communications and marketing manager, denied that boosting water sales is the intent of the ad.

"The intention is not to sell water," Montoya said, per the Times. "Conservation is important, and a line in the commercial says, 'harvested, filtered, and conserved.' We always consider conservation one of our resources in our water portfolio."

She said the intent of the ad is “to educate the community on the hard work and care that goes into creating a high quality, sustainable water supply that is delivered to our customers every day. The second half shows customers using the water we have worked hard to deliver to them every day. It does not promote wasting water.”

The tagline Water Forever is "another way of saying sustainable water supply," Montoya said. "We think it is another way, a more impactful way of saying sustainable."

Montoya said she has received mostly positive feedback from the public and from utility employees about the ad. The utility spent $153,614 on production and airtime, and has budgeted $60,000 to re-air it later this year, the Times reported, citing Montoya.

Rick Bonart, a former member of Public Service Board, the utility regulator, criticized the ad.

"What do they mean by 'water forever’?" he said, per the Times. "Are they trying to promote potable (sewage water) reuse, hence 'water forever,' or is it just a terrible message? If you get a message that it's OK to waste water, that's not a good commercial."

Jesse Sanchez, a civil engineer, published an opinion piece criticizing the ad in the El Paso Times.

For the past 25 years, [the utility] has been a nationwide leader for water treatment, conservation and sustainability practices. It is a great surprise to know that it commissioned and endorsed a commercial that appears to encourage carefree and wasteful practices such as filing baths and water balloons with no thought of the long-term repercussion to our limited water resources.

Here is the transcript of the ad, per the El Paso Times:

This is fine water brought to you by scientists, and artisans, action heroes.

Harvested, filtered, tested, perfected, and conserved right here in the middle of the desert.

And it is available on tap, from any tap. So, fill your glass, your tub, or your balloons.

El Paso Water Utilities -- Water Forever.