CONSUMER OUTREACH RESOURCES

• All For One And One For All — For Water's Sake

  Societal well-being is hugely dependent on a clean and available water supply, which is becoming increasingly dependent on community engagement and education.

• End Users Demanding Electronic Bottle Fillers In Drinking Fountains

  A new analysis by Verify Markets on the North American Water Dispensing Solutions/Drinking Fountains Market shows the market was valued at $269.5 million USD in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 5.0% from 2021 to 2028. The market includes both indoor and outdoor drinking fountains; indoor applications made up most of the drinking fountain sales revenues in 2021.

• Misconceptions About U.S. Water Infrastructure

  The U.S. has more 148,000 drinking water systems which distribute 39 billion gallons of potable water to homes and businesses nationwide. For those who work in the drinking water and wastewater treatment industry, the size, scope, and challenges to the country’s water infrastructure are well known.

• What It Means To Support Equitable State Investments In Water Infrastructure

  The current federal and state system of water infrastructure funding is designed to improve the way we move, treat, or store water, wastewater, or stormwater. It’s not inherently designed to target disparities in infrastructure quality and service. Addressing these disparities requires reimagining the dominant ways water is funded in the United States. At the same time, the water investments coming through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are already slated to flow through long-standing channels, so those who care about advancing equity must continue to innovate within this existing system.

• AMI Adoption: Challenges And Opportunities For Local Water Providers In California

  Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is particularly impactful in drought prone areas, incentivizing water conservation and alerting both service providers and consumers to possible leaks in real time. Researchers at UC Berkeley have used FirmoGraphs’ database of meeting minutes and capital improvement plans to analyze recent trends in AMI adoption among California drinking water agencies.

• Reconsidering 'Environmental Racism'

  Water Online recently published an article for Water Innovations on environmental racism — Environmental Racism In America: How It's Affecting Vulnerable Communities — and I paused during the editing process to consider watering down the key phrase to "environmental injustice" before ultimately deciding that I might also be watering down the transgression itself. However, the very consideration made me wonder why I had the instinct to tone it down in the first place.

• Water Is Health

  World Water Day both celebrates clean water and reminds us that 2 billion people live without access to it. Safe drinking water is one of the most fundamental elements of health — healthy water keeps people healthy; sick water makes people sick.

• Environmental Racism In America: How It’s Affecting Vulnerable Communities

  The history of decisions that have led to environmental pollution, with impact on some more than others, calls for corrective measures to atone for the injustice.

• The US Water Alliance Recovering Stronger Team Releases Report On Community-Driven Water Utility Consolidations And Partnerships

  The US Water Alliance and partners just released a report entitled Catalyzing Community-Driven Utility Consolidations and Partnerships. Based on an in-depth stakeholder process as part of the Alliance’s Recovering Stronger initiative, the report examines strategies, tactics, and resources for community-driven consolidations and partnerships in the state of California. Though focused on California, this report reveals lessons and ideas that can spark similar dialogues and progress in communities across the nation.

• The Age Of Aquarius

  The cast of Hair seemed to know the start date of the Age of Aquarius — "when the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars" — though astrologers have argued for centuries about when the sun would be lined up with the constellation of the water carrier and signal the start of an era of enlightenment.