Consumer Outreach Features, Insights, and Analysis

71. Newark Sets The Standard For Community Engagement And Education With Their New LSLR Program 5/2/2020

    The City of Newark, NJ initiated a Lead Service Line Replacement program in 2018 as part of its efforts to provide clean, safe, and reliable drinking water for all residents. One of the biggest challenges faced by the city is engaging residents as the project gets underway. With a large transient population of renters, it can be hard to get residents and landlords to fully engage in a drinking water program. Not only can a lack of understanding on the part of the public jeopardize their health, it also makes it difficult for Newark to collect information needed to validate their LSLR program.

72. Loveland Takes Guesswork Out Of LCR Requirements 5/1/2020

    The City of Loveland’s Water Utility has served customers for decades, proudly bringing water “from snowy caps to Loveland taps.” When the Lead and Copper Rule went into effect in the early 1990s, it was labor-intensive to find a pool of people in the correct tier to complete the sampling.

73. A World Reimagined — One Where People Realize The Value Of Water 4/7/2020

    Times of significant disruption that put the “normal” way we operate on hold are an incredible opportunity for reflection, pressing the reset button, and starting in a fresh direction. Hopefully, many people are realizing how they have let their lives get so busy that they have lost touch with things most important to them, like family; and they are taking this time to start fresh.

74. Keeping Your Customers Informed With A Customer Portal 4/7/2020

    Water services are no doubt essential, especially during a pandemic when more people are staying home, and cleanliness is a top priority. Ease your customers’ minds during these uncertain times by keeping communications flowing. A customer portal is a perfect way to stay in touch. Here are some ways to use this tool to help your community through this uncertain time.

75. Many Water Utilities, One Message 3/25/2020

    Across the nation, people are rising to the challenge presented by COVID-19. Water utilities and government agencies have focused on key messages about water, such as tap water is safe to drink and we’ll be there when you need us.

76. Water Authority Uses Clamp-On Ultrasonic Flow Meters To Avoid Peak Limit Surcharges 3/25/2020

    A suburban township in the upper Midwest United States buys their drinking water from a major municipal water district. The township’s water distribution system network has four connections to the larger municipality’s water transmission main. The municipality has many wholesale customers and has implemented contracts with each customer to limit the peak flows and the time of day in which they may occur. If a customer exceeds the limit, they are assessed significant surcharges.

77. When It Comes To Water, Is Hindsight 20/20? 3/24/2020

    Back in October 2018, when I started looking to the past to gather wisdom from what people have said about water through the ages, I figured when it comes to water, it’s 50/50 that hindsight is 20/20. So I needed a large sample size. I started collecting quotes from all sorts of people — scientists and screenwriters, poets and philosophers and politicians and pop singers — hoping to provide insight into water and the issues around it. (For more details on my journey, see last year’s World Water Day post.) Some of those quotes can even help us peek into the future.

78. Domestic Water Use Grew 600% Over The Past 50 Years 3/10/2020

    Humanity’s thirst for freshwater has more than doubled since the 1960s, keeping pace with growing populations and economies. One-quarter of the world now faces extremely high water stress, where more than 80 percent of the available supply is withdrawn every year.

79. Digital CX: How Utilities Can Exceed Customer Expectations 2/26/2020

    Most people don’t expect a good digital customer experience from their utility providers. While leading retailers, insurers, and banks have all put serious resources into digital customer experience (CX) and reaped the rewards, utilities have been slower off the mark. 

80. Water Industry Responds To Proposed LCR Revisions 2/21/2020

    With more than 50,000 community water systems (CWS) in the U.S., it is amazing that only 285 individuals had logged public comments on the U.S. EPA’s proposed Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Revisions by the February 12, 2020 deadline. Yet, what those respondents had to say could have a big impact on how we deal with lead in drinking water moving forward. Here is a cross-section of the industry’s response.