American Water Works Co., the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, is celebrating 30 years of its dedicated research department, and its efforts to advance innovation in water treatment and delivery.
American Water created the Innovation & Environmental Stewardship department in 1981 with the simple mission of better serving its customers through addressing emerging water quality or regulatory issues, evaluating and recommending new technology to enhance existing operations, supporting operations with technical and operational expertise, and enhancing the corporate brand through industry thought leadership.
Over its 30 years of operation, American Water’s research team has been awarded more than 65 competitive research grants totaling over $28 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), American Water Works Assn., the Water Research Foundation, the WateReuse Research Foundation, the Water Environment Research Foundation and state agencies. The team has also been granted three U.S. patents based on their research.
The research team has won many honors and accolades from industry groups, winning several times the coveted American Water Works Assn. Publication Award for "the most notable contribution to the science or practice of water utility developments."
In 1993, the group was asked by the EPA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to conduct the analyses for Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee during the largest waterborne outbreak in U.S. history. Other notable accomplishments have been studies to control microbial contaminants in drinking water, advanced water treatment technology and infrastructure, and wastewater reuse and desalination.
In 2009, American Water introduced the Innovation Development Process, which combines American Water's research and development, technical expertise and infrastructure assets with innovations from within the company and from business partners to create greater efficiencies in the areas of water reuse, desalination, wastewater operations and bio-energy.
Source: American Water Works Co. Inc.
