AWWA is recognizing the generations of tap water providers who ensured Americans had an ample supply of safe drinking water as part of the Association's celebration of National Drinking Water Week.
Clean water is essential to our lives and our lifestyles, every single day.
American communities have not always enjoyed the benefits of having an ample supply of safe drinking water at their disposal. In fact, less than a century ago, thousands of Americans died every year from waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera and dysentery. Because of the persistent threat from these illnesses, communities' public health officials, doctors and engineers banded together to form local systems for drinking water disinfection and delivery. Part of that effort led to the creation of the American Water Works Association to ensure that these fledgling community water systems could work together and promote the availability of safe drinking water to as many people as possible. By banding together, communities and their water providers were able to largely eradicate deadly waterborne diseases through proven disinfection techniques and a strong commitment to public health.