Why Utilities Should Keep Water Conservation Top of Mind | WWD Weekly Digest

Water is the new oil. Or at least those in the water industry already recognize it is as precious or more precious than oil. Making the most with the water resources is critical for arid states like those in the Colorado River Basin and along the U.S. coast lines. But water scarcity can also mean waning groundwater aquifers in the midwest or such terrible water quality that clean water is hard to come by.

Margaret Hunter is an engineering manager for the planning program and water conservation for American Water. In the February 2021 issue of WWD, she contributed an article outlining the principles of water conservation for utilities to consider and implement in their facilities. She explains why it is dangerous to ignore water conservation discussions and why it is critical to lead by example to ensure the customers buy into water conservation messaging and best practices. She also explains what American Water is doing to advance water conservation issues within its network of facilities and how that can be applied to utilities industry-wide.

• Intro: (0:00)
• Why utilities ignoring water conservation discussions is a mistake: (0:40)
• Water scarcity can be due to water quality concerns: (1:45)
• How American Water leads by example in water conservation: (2:37)
• Advancements in technology that serve water conservation goals: (4:04)
• How acoustic monitoring for leak detection reduces water loss: (5:38)
• The importance of customer connection for water conservation measures: (6:49)
• Water conservation versus water efficiency word choices: (8:45)
• Outro: (9:28)

Additional Resources

• Watch last week’s video: https://www.wwdmag.com/videos/IncreasingDemandforUltravioletMarketPandemicChallengesWWDWeeklyDigest
• Read American Water’s blog on water conservation: https://waterstreet.blog/2020/07/08/outdoor-water-conversation/
• Read American Water’s blog on unsustainable water practices: https://waterstreet.blog/2020/02/12/unsustainable-water-practices/

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