ES&T GUEST EDITORIAL Water industry research on upswing There was a time not long ago when water utilities were considered fair game for criticism regarding the level of their research efforts. Whatever merit there may have been in that critique, there is surely much less basis for it now. Industry-sponsored research is on the move, and the indicators point to continuing growth. A bit of historical perspective helps to explain what's going on and why. The realities of local politics and government helped to ensure that water utility research would be very much a local matter, aimed solely at solving local problems. In contrast with investor-owned gas and electric utilities, most of the larger water utilities are municipally owned, and city councils generally do not cotton to sending local revenues out of town to support national causes, however worthy. Research became such an easy target for budget cutters that water utility managers scratched it from their lexicon; euphemisms were contrived and costs were buried in operational expenses. Nevertheless, in the mid-sixties, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) moved to create a research foundation to serve as a center of information and to undertake research commonly needed by all utilities, large and small. That was before the electric power industry erected EPRI or the gas industry founded GRI. However, access to rate structures has enabled those research institutes to leave water behind in their wake, so to speak. The Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974 provided a new incentive for industry research. A growing awareness that government-sponsored research properly relates to regulatory and public health concerns spurred industry leaders to look to their own resources for practical applied research. New leadership was brought to the A W W A Research Foundation. Dues for A W W A organizational members were increased to provide foundation support, and more than 20 projects were undertaken. Last year, utility spokesmen approached Congress and won an add-on of one million dollars to the EPA budget "for support of industry research on drinking water." The industry, through the foundation, will match that amount, tackling 15 or 20 additional re0013-936X/84/0916-0073A$01.50/0
search targets identified by local communities as priority problems in 1984. Success in the long run will depend on how well the Research Foundation responds to practical needs of the industry—as perceived by local leaders and water utility officials. The next few years will prove to be a critical trial period in the development of a substantial, ongoing industry research program. Local utilities will continue with their individual efforts, which taken collectively are sizable, but managers are coming to realize that the foundation represents their common interests. Not to be overlooked are the technological advances of the past decade. New analytical techniques, the application of risk extrapolation models to animal tests of drinking water contaminants, and increased consumer awareness and involvement have combined to highlight the gap between certain knowledge and supposition. Closing this gap is the function of research. Continued growth depends on the cooperation and involvement of all parties involved; utilities, universities, consulting firms, and the servicing industries and organizations must support a strong and aggressive research program that can lead the way into the nineties and beyond. Happily, water supply professionals in North America are recommitted to providing the world's best water. I have no doubts about the future success of this effort nor the role of the A W W A Research Foundation in it.
© 1984 American Chemical Society
Kenneth J. Miller, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the AWWA Research Foundation, is a past-president of the A WW A and has served on EPA's National Drinking Water Advisory Council. Miller is vice-president and director of Water Engineering at the Denver headquarters of CH2M Hill, an international consulting firm. Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 18, No. 3, 1984 73A
