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Sustainable Water Infrastructure

Effective Water Utility Management Practices

Effective utility management practices are the foundation for building and sustaining the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of the drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems that make up the water sector. Management practices must address all aspects of a system’s operations and maintenance.


Effective Utility Management (EUM) Initiative - This initiative takes a broad look at all aspects of water sector system sustainability, from product quality to customer satisfaction. It is supported through the collaboration of EPA and professional associations across the water sector. The initiative is based on:

Effective Utility Management Practices Roadmap - Moving Toward Sustainability: Sustainable and Effective Practices for Creating Your Own Water Utility Roadmap was developed to assist utility leaders in implementing proven and effective practices over time to improve their operations and move toward sustainability, at a pace consistent with their needs and the needs of their communities.

Effective Utility Management Case Examples – These case examples inform utilities about how their peer water service providers have integrated EUM into their day-to-day operations and future planning initiatives.

Taking the Next Step: Findings of the Effective Utility Management Review Steering Group - This report was done by the Steering Group for the EUM collaborating organizations and presents the findings of its review of the current EUM Attributes. The Steering Group identified key areas of change in the water sector since 2007.

Safe Drinking Water Act’s (SDWA) Capacity Development Program - This state program emphasizes assisting public water systems in acquiring and maintaining their technical, financial, and managerial capacity to plan for, achieve, and continually provide safe drinking water and ensure long-term sustainability.

Moving Toward Sustainability: Sustainable and Effective Practices for Creating Your Own Water Utility Roadmap - This document builds on the EUM framework. It provides utilities of various sizes with a series of proven and effective practices to help achieve the outcomes in EUM. This document supplements the EUM approach and was developed with input from utility managers across the country.

EPA held several webinars to highlight the efforts of leading utilities to implement “Roadmap” practices:


Another set of tools is the use of Lean techniques. Lean is a business improvement approach focused on eliminating non-value added activity or "waste" using practical, implementation-based methods. Lean can help utilities achieve the outcomes embodied in the EUM Attributes.


EPA and its partners work in several areas that support sustainability of water sector systems, including helping systems and communities address resiliency related challenges: