American Water Partners with U.S. EPA to Launch National ‘We’re for Water’ Campaign in Los Angeles

American Water (NYSE: AWK), the nation’s largest publicly-traded water services provider, is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program to launch the national “We’re for Water” campaign, coinciding with peak water use season in many parts of America. The campaign kicks off today in Los Angeles with two families, located in American Water’s California service area of Baldwin Hills, competing against each other to see who can save the most water by checking for leaks, twisting on faucet aerators, and replacing inefficient fixtures with WaterSense labeled ones.

Zeke and Nigeria James and their children, Alana, 6, and Reina, 3, and Michael and Ellen Walls and their children, Michael, Jr., 27 and Ashley, 24, reviewed the EPA’s WaterSense website (www.epa.gov/watersense) and made changes in their everyday lives to reduce their water usage. American Water monitored the two families’ water use over the course of one week and compared it to their usage during a previous week this summer. During today’s kickoff event, the families are showing off what they learned by battling each other in a “check, twist, replace” competition, and the family that reduced their weekly water usage the most will be revealed. A gallon of water from the competition will be saved and become Flo, the We’re for Water “spokesgallon.”

Flo and the EPA’s We’re for Water team will then depart from L.A. and travel across the country for two weeks, stopping at national landmarks, taking photos with tourists, educating citizens about water efficiency, and recording the trip via Facebook, Twitter, widgets, and the We’re for Water Website (www.epa.gov/watersense/wereforwater). The road trip will culminate on August 2, 2010, with an event in New York City. In addition to the kickoff event, American Water will help host events in conjunction with the tour stops in St. Louis, Missouri and northern New Jersey/New York City.

The We’re for Water campaign is a national effort to educate consumers about water-saving behaviors and WaterSense labeled products. The campaign, which kicks off during “peak” water use season in many parts of the country, encourages consumers to adopt simple changes at home to start saving water.

WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. EPA with the goal of protecting the future of the nation’s water supply by promoting and enhancing the market for water-efficient products and services. There are currently 525 WaterSense labeled toilets, more than 1,800 labeled faucets and faucet accessories, 74 labeled showerheads, and more than 900 WaterSense irrigation partners. WaterSense labeled products are independently tested and certified meet EPA's criteria for both efficiency and performance. For more information, visit www.epa.gov/watersense or follow the tour at www.epa.gov/watersense/wereforwater.

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, NJ, the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 16 million people in 35 states, and Ontario and Manitoba, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.