North American Water Utilities
Find North American water utilities
In the United States, water utilities offer a range of services, including drinking water and waste water treatment. Some North American water utilities even offer recycling and trash removal. In most areas of North America, water companies operate as regulated monopolies, meaning only one water company services your business.Even if you only have one water utility offering service in your part of the United States, water utilities offer different levels of service. Before you sign up for service ask the following questions:
1. Do I have a choice? Can I choose who provides my drinking water and sewer services or does only one company or government agency operate in this area?
2. Do I want any extra services from the water utility, like a separate water meter for landscaping or cardboard recycling?
3. Can I get these extra services elsewhere for less money?
Take these simple steps to find a water utilities company in North America
Call your city or county and ask them how many water utilities service your address. If only one company services your address, they can give you the contact information. If you don't know which county your business is in, the US Census Bureau has a web site that will tell you.
Try: The American Water Works Association offers a comprehensive list of all United States water utilities and other North American water companies. To find a North American water company outside the United States, AWWA has a database of Mexican and Canadian water utilities as well. White Fence can help you connect to your local water utility as well as related services like natural gas.
Investigate the quality of the drinking water
A North America water company has a legal obligation to provide you safe drinking water and to let you know what things they test for and how they treat your drinking water. Once a year every water company in the United States must release something called a Consumer Confidence Report, or CCR. These reports list all the parameters the water utility tests the water for and what results they found. They also explain how the water company treats and disinfects the drinking water.
Try: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists water quality fo every United States water utility. The EPA makes these statistics available to anyone on the Where You Live section of their web site. Canada doesn't require CCRs but Health Canada does mandate safe drinking water guidelines.
Decide what other services you want the water utility to provide
Unless you have a septic tank, most American water companies include waste water treatment as part of their potable water service; you don't even have to ask. If you plan to do a lot of irrigating as part of your business, explain that to your water utility and ask about a second meter that doesn't include waste water. Trash removal, recycling and gas are all services frequently offered by American water companies.
Try: Businesses often don't have to use the recycling and trash services offered by their water utility, so it pays to check with other companies to see if they service your area. Waste Management and Allied Waste, two of the larger recycling and solid waste companies in North America, offer these services throughout the United States and Canada.
- North America water companies will help you cut your water costs. Once you find a water company, ask what incentives they have to help lower your bill. Many United States water utilities have ultra-low flow toilet rebates, tips on native plants and landscaping that won't need water other than rainfall and shallow well programs that reimburse the cost of digging a shallow well for irrigation.
- Be vigilant about leaks. Running toilets and dripping faucets may seem like no big deal, until the bill comes. If your bill seems excessive, call your water utility and tell them. They can help find the problem and, in some instances, credit your bill if you can prove you repaired the leak.
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