Taking Care of People

Supporting Our Communities

Our company is stronger when we use our resources to contribute to the health and success of the communities in which serve. Through philanthropic support, active engagement with our stakeholders, and a strong program to prepare our communities and our company for emergencies, we strive every day to live by our commitment to being good neighbors and corporate citizens.

Community Support

We support local communities and charitable organizations in our districts through volunteerism, in-kind contributions, and financial donations. We refine our corporate giving strategy to adapt to changes in stakeholder needs, with contributions to organizations across a range of focus areas, including veteran services; assistance for at-risk or underserved communities; educational services; disaster and emergency response; healthcare; animal welfare services; economic growth; and environmental sustainability. We donated a total of approximately $2.2 million to local organizations through our philanthropic efforts in 2021.

Stakeholder Engagement and Public Participation

Our approach to stakeholder engagement and public participation is consistent, transparent, informative communication. Through a variety of engagement methods, we foster meaningful relationships, receive input, identify opportunities to address concerns, and share critical information with the communities we serve. We participate in several business and industry organizations and partner closely with local city council members, county supervisors, Chambers of Commerce members, and other engaged leaders.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

Our number one priority is to provide an uninterrupted supply of safe, clean water, even in times of crisis. It takes extensive planning, infrastructure maintenance, and training to help keep our customers and employees safe during emergencies. We conduct numerous training exercises and simulations with internal and external stakeholders to prepare for emergencies and build resiliency into our supply chain. In addition to our Emergency Operations Centers, we have Emergency Response Plans for each district and Emergency Action Guidebooks for our employees, which enable us to prepare, respond, and recover from potential emergencies quickly and effectively. We also offer online resources to our customers to help them prepare for the unexpected.

Serving Our Customers

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. Whether we are conducting a water quality test, enrolling a customer in our low-income assistance program, or safeguarding customer data, we are motivated by our commitment to improving the quality of life for those we serve.

Drinking Water Quality and Customer Safety

The health of our customers and their families depends in part on the quality of the water we deliver. We provide safe, high-quality drinking water that meets or surpasses more than 240 federal and state water quality standards through our extensive water quality assurance program. Beyond the comprehensive, routine treatment, testing, and monitoring we conduct throughout our water systems, we have implemented several additional initiatives and programs. We collect more than 70,000 water samples from our water systems and conduct more than 400,000 water quality tests every year.

Water Affordability and Access

We work hard to make water service affordable and accessible to those we serve by operating efficiently, managing our water supply responsibly, charging rates that reflect the actual costs of service, and providing payment assistance to low-income customers. In addition to our Customer Assistance Program (CAP) that offers a 50% reduction in the monthly service charge for qualifying low-income customers, our Rate Support Fund provides a subsidy that offsets the monthly bill for all customers in our highest-cost districts; we provide flexible, penalty-free, interest-free payment arrangements and extensions to our customers; and we offer a stockholder-funded hardship grant program to protect access to water.

Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

We are committed to investing in the right people, processes, and technology to protect our operations, our people, the customers we serve, and the information we hold. Our approach to cybersecurity and data privacy includes policies, procedures, and programs aligned with leading standards and in compliance with cybersecurity standards and data privacy laws.

Each year, we provide our employees and contractors with refreshed, online security awareness training and engage expert consultants to validate our controls and identify any deficiencies. We also partner with a third party-managed Security Operations Center (SOC) to monitor network traffic 24/7 and detect, evaluate, and respond to cybersecurity threats and incidents in real time.

Customer Service

We have long said there is a reason we have “Service” in our name—our customers are at the heart of what we do. We are committed to providing excellent customer service and leveraging emerging technologies to meet evolving service needs. We care about our customers and our service team embraces our purpose: enhancing quality of life for those we serve.

Engaging Our Workforce

Our CEO, Marty Kropelnicki, has a well-known saying: “We aren’t a ‘pipe company,’ we’re a ‘people company.'” We believe that if you put people first, everything else falls into place. That’s why we are committed to caring for our workforce by fostering a diverse and inclusive culture, providing training and development opportunities, and protecting our employees’ health and well-being. We strive to make our company a place where everyone is valued and has an opportunity to succeed.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality

By integrating diversity, equality, and inclusion into every aspect of our business, we create a company culture where everyone can thrive. We promote cultural awareness at every level of the organization and integrate inclusion into our hiring processes and company culture. Our Business Code of Conduct provides equal opportunity regardless of religion, gender, age, race, cultural origin, sexual orientation, or disability, and we enforce a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

View Our Code of Conduct View Our Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Policy

Talent Management

Our ability to create a work environment that attracts and retains the best talent, impacts the skills, health, and success of our workforce, as well as our ability to serve our customers. We seek to give our employees every opportunity to thrive. This includes providing competitive benefits, fostering a supportive and engaging work environment, providing training and career development opportunities, and promoting overall wellness. This also includes protecting the rights of our employees, including safe and just workplace conditions, fair labor rights, freedom of association, and collective bargaining. We also partner with local colleges, high schools, and organizations to provide technical skill development opportunities and encourage rising talent to consider careers in the water industry.

Workplace Health and Safety

We believe that safety, communication, and risk prevention are the foundations for a culture of protection of our workforce. This includes protecting the rights of our employees, including safe and just workplace conditions, fair labor rights, freedom of association, and collective bargaining. We provide continuous safety and communication training as well as monitoring of systems, equipment, technology to ensure the safest work environment.