4th December, Houston - The Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) network inaugurated six new members during the 2019 American Water Summit (AWS). With the newest inauguration event, the LUOW network now includes 49 members in total, all of which represent the gold standard of utility innovation and performance.

The inauguration took place on Day 1 of AWS 2019, November 13th, and the six new utilities accepted for LUOW membership were:

• Philadelphia Water Department, represented by Commissioner, Randy Hayman

• Clean Water Services, represented by CEO, Diane Taniguchi-Dennis

• Great Lakes Water Authority, represented by General Manager, Sue McCormick

• Tucson Water, represented by Director, Timothy Thomure

• Orange County Water District, represented by General Manager, Michael Markus

• Unitywater, represented by CEO, George Theo

The six new member utilities were approved and accepted into the network by the LUOW Advisory Board.

In order to join the LUOW network, representatives from each of the utilities are required to present their three most outstanding innovation successes, out of 14 potential innovation areas of the network. Of the six that were inducted into LUOW at this event, 3 utilities had innovations in the wastewater treatment & environmental impact category, which demonstrates their commitment to go beyond regulatory requirements and towards sustainable, circular economy.

Successful campaigns in this category include Orange County Water District’s largest potable reuse facility in the world that uses one-half the energy it takes to  import water and one-third the energy to desalinate seawater;  Great Lakes Water Authority’s Rouge River Outfall  Disinfection Facility, and Clean Water Services’ creation of the Natural Treatment System at Fernhill enabled an upstream discharge to the river year-round from the Forest Grove water resource recovery facility, and planting 10 million trees and shrubs on 25,000 acres.

These examples add to the variety of utility innovations already exhibited by the network’s membership, which include initiatives ranging from responses to drought, floods and water quality, to stellar financial management, business development, and productivity measures.

Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, CEO of Oregon’s Clean Water Services, explained why her utility wanted to join the Leading Utilities of the World: “I believe we’re at the dawn of a One Water revolution. The Leading Utilities of the World network offers a powerful platform for sharing knowledge around transformations in resource recovery, automation, artificial intelligence and the internet of things. We are honored and excited to join with water entrepreneurs to accelerate the invention and adoption of the new water solutions that our planet so urgently needs.”

In addition to several other international events throughout the year, the LUOW network will come together again at the 2020 Global Water Summit in Madrid, Spain on 29-31 March 2020. The Summit will feature the next inauguration ceremony, where utilities will present their successes in the network’s innovation areas and be accepted for LUOW membership.

Find out more about the Leading Utilities of the World Network and its activities: www.leadingutilities.org.

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Notes to Editors:

Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) is a network of the world's most forward-thinking water and wastewater utilities, as defined by the network’s 14 distinct innovation areas. Its members represent the Gold Standard of utility innovation and performance throughout the developed world’s water sector.

LUOW is an initiative of the Global Water Leaders Group, a CEO-level non-profit organisation aiming to create a better story for water worldwide. For enquiries regarding the Global Water Leaders Group, contact the Secretary General, Samantha Yates at sy@globalwaterleaders.org.

Find out more about the Global Water Summit here: http://www.watermeetsmoney.com/.  There is more information about the American Water Summit here: www.americanwatersummit.com/.

Press contact: Danielle Shaw, dshaw@globalwaterintel.com - Water Leaders Ltd, Suite C, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford OX1 1XX, UK. Tel: +44 1865 204 208