Changing the Mindset on Water

Outreach and education are critical elements of conservation efforts.

Conservation is un-American.

We are a society that, as a whole, believes we deserve as much as we want of everything.

The average customer who complains about their lawn going brown because of water restrictions probably wouldn’t have a hard time with the concept of conservation if they were stranded in the desert with a limited amount of drinking water. In that situation, you’d have no choice but to ration water to survive as long as possible. But at home, where you’re paying the mortgage and the taxes, it’s your God-given right to let the water flow, right? 

Both of the profiles in last month’s Municipal Sewer & Water — Clear Lake City Water Authority and KC Water — highlighted an environmentally conscious approach to infrastructure and operations. This month’s profile on Denver Water looks at the utility’s focus on sustainability and the ecocentric mindset that informs almost every aspect of the utility’s operations.

“Our goal is to sustain the community forever, so we need to do our part to be sure we don’t impact the environment any more than we have to,” says Brian Good, chief administrative officer.

The utility runs the largest water-recycling system in Colorado. It treats and returns up to 21 million gallons of water per day to industrial and commercial customers during peak operations. In 2021, the utility recycled slightly more than 2.5 billion gallons of water.

The focus on sustainable operating practices isn’t unusual for the 104-year-old utility, which started educating the public back in the 1930s by putting signs on streetcars urging residents to conserve water.

Denver got a head start on many utilities with its conservation efforts, which is part of its success. It’s not something new. It isn’t a new set of regulations that takes anything away. It’s a mindset, an approach, an ethos, and at its root there’s a plan to ensure future generations have the same access to clean water that Denver’s current residents enjoy today.

It seems to me that the biggest challenge with conservation, of any kind and in any form, is helping the broader population see that it isn’t about taking things away from them. It isn’t about limiting what they have. It isn’t socialist or communist. It’s about preserving what we have and protecting it so we will always have it.

Water, to borrow a phrase, is life. No one has more right to it than any other. Water ties the whole world together and protecting our water resources is a global imperative. The need for outreach and education has never been greater. That’s a big challenge for public utilities, but embracing that challenge can make a real difference in the long term. Help people see beyond their own faucets. Or hoses.

I hope the stories in this magazine give you some insight on different approaches to meeting that objective.

Enjoy this month’s issue. 



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