Should We Trust the Tap? Addressing the Crisis of Confidence in Drinking Water Services
On July 16, 2024, Lori Anne Dolqueist participated in a panel discussion on “Should We Trust the Tap? Addressing the Crisis of Confidence in Drinking Water Services” during the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Summer Policy Summit.
Water utilities in the United States produce some of the safest and most reliable drinking water in the world, and yet there are signs that customers have lost confidence in the quality of their drinking water. Take for example the popularity of bottled water for domestic use and expensive household point-of use (POU) water treatment systems. There are a variety of reasons why customers might be concerned about their water ranging from the overly aggressive and inaccurate marketing on the behalf of bottled water and POU installers to recovering from a legitimate water quality concern/event that while corrected continues to impact customer sentiment. Lori and her fellow panelists discussed various ways that regulated water utilities and the utility commissions that oversee them can maintain customer confidence.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) represent the state public service commissions who regulate the utilities that provide essential services such as energy, telecommunication, power, water and transportation and who have largely shaped the profile and substance of public utility regulation in America.
