No utility wants to issue a Boil Water Notice, but if it does happen, it’s important to get it right. Even if your utility has had a long, unblemished record of delivering high-quality water, a mishandled contamination event will leave a bad taste in your customers’ mouths (so to speak).
Wastewater service charges vary considerably across EPA regions and States. That’s one of the key findings from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (NACWA) Cost of Clean Water Index. If you live in Montana, Wyoming or the Dakotas (EPA Region 8), your average service charge of $261 a year is considerably less than the $884 your fellow Americans up in New England (EPA Region 1) are paying. As you can imagine, much of the difference is to do with population size and geography.
It has been 32 years since the amended Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) banned the installation of lead pipes in water systems nationwide. Unfortunately, that decision has not yet translated into action for every lead service line (LSL) installed before that point. Fortunately, someone has done a lot of legwork toward getting a handle on that process. Here is a preview of the help they have to offer.
Eileen O’Neill, Executive Director of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), joined Water Talk from WEFTEC — the world's largest annual water quality event — to discuss WEF initiatives, the state of the water/wastewater industry, and challenges and opportunities for the future.
Observations from a conversation with Water Environment Federation (WEF) President Jenny Hartfelder
Traditionally (and unfortunately), contact between water providers and their customers has been mostly negative. Utilities might only share news on rate hikes, health advisories, service or traffic disruptions, etc., and typically only hear from customers who have a complaint. However, there are utilities with great reputations and relationships in the communities they serve; and the key to their success, besides providing excellent service, is a focus on positive communication.
There is a lot of talk in the water sector about the "value of water". We want the public to understand it — and pay for water's full cost, including collection, treatment, and delivery — but how many utilities really know the value of their own product? Would you ever think about branding it? Louisville Water Company did.
Inflow and infiltration (I&I) are ongoing concerns for many wastewater utilities. Even with diligent maintenance of infrastructure, there are limits to what can be controlled. One example of that is leakage in the lateral service lines connecting the sewer utility’s main to sewer customer buildings. Here is how one municipality took advantage of federal and local funding to encourage nearly 2,500 customers to upgrade deficient connections in their lateral service lines — to the tune of more than $4 million.
In just eight years at DC Water, which provides drinking water, sewage collection, and sewage treatment in Washington, D.C., serving more than 600,000 residents, George Hawkins transformed the utility from insular and guarded to open and innovative.
A utility in Indiana has bolstered its emergency planning by pretending one really did take place.
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