California American Water Unveils ‘Value of Water’ Campaign

California American Water has announced its “Value of Water” campaign, an educational outreach program to inform customers about the tremendous value of their water service.

The four-month long campaign will feature bill inserts, briefings and public presentations as well as social media outreach via Facebook and Twitter all aimed at demonstrating the vital importance of tap water and the significant value customers realize in having uninterrupted and quality service delivered to their homes and businesses everyday.

“We are using this campaign to remind customers the vital role tap water plays in their daily lives and the value they receive for this service,” said California American Water President Rob MacLean. “The average cost of a gallon from California American Water is about a penny per gallon. For most customers, the water bill is the lowest utility bill they pay each month. That’s remarkable when you consider the vast and often complex infrastructure that goes into its treatment and delivery.”

The value of this service, MacLean said, can be well illustrated when compared to the price of bottled water. Depending on the brand, customers can pay more than 250 times more for bottled water than they can get for the same volume of water at home. In addition, tap water is held to significantly more stringent state and federal quality standards than bottled water. Tap water is also much more environmentally friendly than bottled water, which results in millions of plastic containers being thrown away every year often in landfills and as litter in our public spaces and roadways.

“These are just some of facets of our service that we wish to share with the public during the course of this campaign,” MacLean said. “We also want to demonstrate the need for continued investment in the infrastructure that treats and delivers this vital resource.”

The campaign will run in two phases until end of the year. The first phase will highlight the tremendous value of tap water and the critical role it plays in our communities. The second phase will focus on water quality and the comprehensive and costly methods of treatment and testing.

California American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), provides high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 600,000 people.

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 15 million people in more than 30 states, as well as parts of Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

In 2011, American Water is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a yearlong campaign to promote water efficiency and the importance of protecting water from source to tap. To learn more, visit www.amwater125.com.