Sustainable and Ethical Processes Related to American Water Company - Article Example

Engineering-case study Name Institution Course Tutor Time American water- An analysis of sustainable and ethical methods Abstract The article seeks to identify the sustainable and ethical processes related to American Water Company, and their positive contribution to the community. American water has it’s headquarter at Voorhees, New Jersey and was founded in 1886 as a utilities industry. The company provides water to businesses and domestic homes at an affordable price. As a water supplying company, it is capable of meeting challenges related to safety and security of its water. The company focuses much as management of water, as well as reuse of water in the 30 states that it operates, as well as Canada. Some of the activities carried out by the company is protection of the community from effects of water storages through fencing the dams and constructing large walls surrounding all the water storages in all its facilities. The company implements all the necessary processes to control and reduce the extent of wastewater through providing education to the local community and financing some of the community projects. American water ensures that there are enough water supplies in all regions of its operation. The American water respects the needs and rights of the local community and it is also concerned about the culture of the population around its operational areas. American water demonstrated that it values sustainability and it continues with its operation through reduction of effects on the environment and the community, together with improvement of ethical values. The company is an example of utilities having positive impact on the local community through its focus to its sustainability and maintaining the ethical responsibility of the local community. Introduction America n water is a company with its headquarters at Voorhees, New Jersey and it is a water utilities industry. The company aims at enabling a new water paradigm through protection of climate change demonstrated by capital planning decisions. The new water paradigm is a paradigm that focused at water for the recovery of the entire climate where people research into climate change because of challenges of getting clean and safe water in the United States (American Water, 2014). The demand of clean water face challenges from increased problems from management of resources, such as greenhouse, increase of carbon dioxide, energy consumption, as well as effects of urban heat (Water news, 2012). The American water claims that water is the indispensable raw material and as an American water network, the company supplies water at a low cost (American Water, 2009, 32). It develops innovative water management technologies and practices since its establishment in 1886. More than 40% of Fortune 1000 companies claim that shortage of water is catastrophic to their functioning. Water and water management, as well as water infrastructure development are aimed at providing sustainable and quality life to the local community. American Water, Corporate Responsibility Report, (2010), points out that the company involves watershed strategies where there is application of sustainable water systems and designing of new water systems. Coomes, Rockaway, Rivard, & Kornstein, (2010), claims that, the company focuses at sustainability through supply of adequate water through the new water paradigm where there is conservation of the environment to support the American community. American water builds major redundancies into communication and energy systems (American Water, 2014). The company recognizes the challenges related to availability and supply of water in the society, making the American water project a suitable case study to analyse for ethical, and sustainability considerations leading to better outcomes to the local community. Commitment to sustainability American water is a company dealing with water and wastewater management and it works towards providing people with sustainable assistance and reports regarding the usage of water and other water related issues in America (Singer, 2006, 78). The company provides water to businesses, residential homes, as well as performance of non-regulated contract operations to the municipalities owning some utility systems (Willis, Scarpa, & Acutt, 2005, 2). The presentation contains the water how it influences the economy, water usage, and the requirements of the infrastructure, regulations, financing, governance, and education to the society. The titles of the presentation provide the required information related to ethical goals and sustainability focused by the American water (Veerapaneni, Long, Freeman, & Bond, 2007, 97). The company is in progress with its aim of enabling the new water paradigm to be successful in America through provision and implementation of solutions to enable America to meet water supply challenges. Khiari, (2004, 34), identifies that the goals of the company will positively influence the community since the primary focus of the company is to provide more water to the American community. Water demands continue increasing in America was the local community faces challenges related to water supply, such as scarcity of water, water infrastructure, as well as some fragmented approach to the issue of water supply. American water reclaimed wastewater for some process applications at the utility systems. The company used this to cool water, together with hydrogen production, thus providing clean and safe water to the Americans. The American water provided both water, as well as wastewater infrastructure for investment of clean water for the benefit of the local community (Climate Ready Water Utilities, 2010). American water spent more than $300 million on replacement of cast iron program in America and consumes approximately 45,000 miles of the main pipes in the vast network. The company has many water systems in the United States with eight percent of the major systems serving more than 81 percent of the local population. The company financed and managed the requirements of the smaller systems through environmental protection agency and enabled the municipalities to retain and attract many qualified operators (Water news, 2012). In the 30 United States and Canada, there are many water systems whereby the top ten serve more than 76 percent of its population. American water provided education whereby the industries, utilities, together with water professionals, as well as governments were urged to play a significant role of communication about the value and need of water (American Water, 2014). This entails the importance of water in economic development, the challenges faced by American utilities, infrastructure requirements, the need for environmental protection and the full cost of water. The company understood that water is an earned right, but not an entitlement. American water has some policies that enable it to achieve its water risk management objectives, and allow it to communicate to its customers about interaction between water prices and its conservation measures. The company revived the aging water infrastructure, thus providing the local community with adequate water. American Water, Corporate Responsibility Report (2010), argues that the company supports water conservation in American since it is significant in enhancing its reputation to its customers and it contributes to all the corporate sustainability efforts of the company to the local community. Ultimately, American water constructed a water treatment plant to assist ensure supply of enough water to the growing population in America and solve the ongoing problem of severe water particularly in Kentucky. Environmental management The American water is concerned about the state of the environment in America because environment is the primary source of American water. The government of America focuses at geographic management of the water systems since this would also boost the management of wastewater infrastructure in the United States in general. It is clear from American Water, (2009), that the company supports the provision of penalties to entities failing to meet environmental safety standards. Soil is very important because it holds water, thus the need of its conservation. Climate Ready Water Utilities, (2010), postulated that American water works towards replacement of the older and inefficient water pumps in all water treatment plants by 2017 and back-up the needs of the local community. This enhances conservation of environment because there is reduced leakage of water from the old pipes (Shih, Harrington, Pizer, & Gillingham, 2006, 106). The company encourages water systems to ensure that the soil and plants are handled rightly because they lead to availability of water. American water believes that environment provides affordable and clean water to all of its customers. From the argument of Association of the Metropolitan Water Agencies, (2009), the company’s power to process, treat and supply water to its customers is influenced by its variation, as well as intensity of rainfall, which can be influenced by drought and flooding. There are water treatment plants that are located close to the water sources in order to make the available water useful and to take care of the environment. The American water company operates some facilities in hurricane-prone regions, such as wastewater system in Jefferson Parish and customer call center in Pensacola, which was affected by some floods from the 2005 hurricane Katrina. This makes the company to be careful about the surrounding and supports planting of trees and conservation of the surrounding environment. American water is concerned about the neighbouring companies to all its facilities and ensures environmental conservation to avoid invading in operation of other companies. As articulated by Harrell, & Ranjithan, (2003, 99)The American water company has an environmental management corporation that provides the necessary technology together with operational water and wastewater systems through contract basis to allow the industrial customers to reuse and treat the wastewater for their industrial processes. American water handles the wastewater together with environmental mitigation measures in a manner that it manages to invest in practices and systems aiming at success of water conservation, thus making economic sense (Min, Kim, Oh, Regan, & Logan, 2005, 4966). The company has increased the number of mature shade trees for provision of shade to the local community. The company campaigns against trimming and removal of trees to prevent storms and wind challenges (Walton, 2012, 45). The water sources are surrounded with large fences to prevent water from running out of the dams and disturbing the local community. Commitment to ethical conduct The American water company values and respects the rights of the American people and plays it role with maintenance of people’s rights and culture, traditions, customs, as well as identity (Association of the Metropolitan Water Agencies, 2009). The American water demonstrates its integrity through acquisition of the environmental heritage clearance permit that allows it to operate in all the functional states and in Canada. It is the custom of the company to manage water and the climatic changes, since it understands the climatic changes experienced in America. According to Willis, et al. (2005, 2), the company respects the needs of the local community by providing the required services at a cheaper cost and its employees are respected without any discrimination related to culture or ethnic differences. Summary of the key outcomes Through the analysis of the American water case study, it is clear that many ethical and sustainable results have led to some positive influences to the American community. The American water company has acknowledged the needs of the American people related to water shortages and management of the available water as the major supplier of water in 30 American states and Canada. The company respects the right of the local community together with rights and dignity of its employees in all its operational facilities. The company supports maintenance of the quality of the land and environment because all its activities are based on environment, which allows it to meet the needs of its customers. Using the new technology, the company replaces the old pipes and influences its operation by makes work easier and serving its customers efficiently. The company builds large walls and fences to protect the local community from effects of water leakage and flooding, as well as pollution of drawn water by people with bad intensions. American water takes care of the needs of the local community and this is an indicator of its operation having positive impact on ethical and sustainability responsibility. The company supplies water to the Americans in an affordable cost and it is committed to educating the local community about the value of water and means of reusing and managing water. The company has some renewed focus to the plan of business continuity and timely communication with the government, regulatory agencies, other utilities, as well as the media and its customers. The company is concerned about the future water availability in America, as well as changing climatic conditions experiencing the local community. The company focuses at meeting its objectives of water risk management in order to meet the needs of the local community. The company puts sustainability operation as the option and this is demonstrated through looking at sustainable options that would decrease the negative effects on the environment. American water has demonstrated various sustainable and ethical systems and continued to find better solutions to water scarcity and lead to more positive impact to the American community. References American Water, 2009. “Innovation & Environmental Stewardship: Review of Significant Water IndustryTrends,” http://www.amwater.com/files/I&ES%202009%20Review%20of%20Water%20Industry%20Trendpdf. American Water, Corporate Responsibility Report 2010, available online at http://amwater.com/files/AMER0838_CR%20Report%202010_8_23.pdf. American Water. 2014. Case study: Weathering the Storm: Building Business Resilience to Climate Change. Available online at; http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/cs-american-water.pdf Association of the Metropolitan Water Agencies, 2009. National Association of Clean Water Agencies and Association of the Metropolitan Water Agencies, Climate Change: An early analysis of Water and Wastewater adaptation Costs Available online at http://www.amwa.net/galleries/climatechange/ConfrontingClimateChangeOct09.pdf. Climate Ready Water Utilities, 2010. Final Report of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, available online at http://water.epa.gov/drink/ndwac/climatechange/upload/CRWU-NDWAC-Final-Report-12-09-10-2.pdf Coomes, P.; Rockaway, T.; Rivard, J.& Kornstein, B. 2010. Center for Infrastructure Research, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Louisville, “North America Residential Water Usage Trends Since 1992,” sponsored by the Water Research Foundation and the U.S. EPA, 2010, available online at http://www.waterrf.org/PublicReportLibrary/4031.pdf. Harrell, L. J., & Ranjithan, S. R. 2003. Detention pond design and land use planning for watershed management. Journal of water resources planning and management, 129(2), 98-106. Khiari, D. 2004. Committee Connection--AWWA's Taste and Odor Committee Seeks to Understand and Solve Taste and Odor Problems in Drinking Water (PDF). Journal-American Water Works Association, 96(2), 32-36. Min, B., Kim, J., Oh, S., Regan, J. M., & Logan, B. E. 2005. Electricity generation from swine wastewater using microbial fuel cells. Water research, 39(20), 4961-4968. Shih, J. S., Harrington, W., Pizer, W. A., & Gillingham, K. 2006. Economies of Scale In Community Water Systems (PDF). Journal-American Water Works Association, 98(9), 100-108. Singer, P. C. 2006. DBPs in Drinking Water: Additional Scientific and Policy Considerations for Public Health Protection (PDF). Journal-American Water Works Association, 98(10), 73-80. Veerapaneni, S. V., Long, B., Freeman, S., & Bond, R. 2007. Reducing Energy Consumption for Seawater Desalination (PDF). Journal-American Water Works Association, 99(6), 95-106. Walton, B. 2012. “America’s Water Infrastructure Shows Its Age,” Circle of Blue, http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2012/world/americas-water-infrastructure-shows-its-age-the-national-debate-about-how-to-pay-for-repairs/. Water news, 2012. American Water Works Association, Buried No Longer: Confronting America’s Water infrastructure Challenge, available online at; http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/AWWA_BuriedNoLonger.pdf. Willis, K. G., Scarpa, R., & Acutt, M. 2005. Assessing water company customer preferences and willingness to pay for service improvements: A stated choice analysis. Water Resources Research, 41(2). Read More