REVIVING THE NATION'S PUBLIC WATER UTILITIES TO REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE UNITED STATES
Water utilities play a role in reducing plastic waste. However, infrastructure improvements alone are not likely to reduce bottled water consumption if the public perceives a risk in drinking tap. Therefore, researchers, regulators, and distributors must evaluate why consumers elect bottled water over a municipal source. Public water utilities are an essential service that are bound by many legislative constraints, and they face many unique challenges that bottled water distributors do not. Such constraints include water quality standards that are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In contrast, bottled water companies are monitored by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A unique challenge for water utilities is that they have a powerful commercial competitor in the water market.
Municipalities must consider strategies that will bolster public relations and outreach in addition to improving taste. Several reports reveal the cost of water distribution, reasons consumers choose bottled water, the effects of plastic waste on the environment, and possible strategies to increase public use of tap water.
Many possible combinations of solutions have been evaluated. Such strategies include increased legislative oversight, infrastructure improvements, monitoring stations, district metered areas, Government Performance and Results Act compliance, public outreach campaigns and offering additional services. A holistic look at public water distribution improvements can make a significant impact on revenue and plastic waste reduction.
INTRODUCTION
Public utilities are present throughout the country, regardless of economic development. Essential services and public services are the responsibility of state and local governments. These goods and services are generally not for profit and funded by taxes, bond sales, millage, and usage rates. Delivering and maintaining public goods and services involves increasing costs, bureaucratic discretion, and community engagement. This triad imposes unique constraints on the efficiency and effectiveness of the public utility. Therefore, developing a reliable utility in the public sector poses many unique challenges. Such challenges include failing equipment, obsolete technology, evolving priorities, excessive bureaucracy, shifting political influences, and unstable budgetary resources, to name a few.
This research aims to address the challenges facing public utilities and municipalities' role in regaining public trust and reducing bottled water usage. The methodology includes identifying the challenges public utilities face; identifying why Americans choose bottled water; and identifying possible solutions for reliability, sustainability, and stable finances while determining whether these strategies will positively affect plastic waste reduction.
OBJECTIVE
The focus of this report is to discover whether restructuring the management strategies of public water utilities will improve public trust and reduce bottled water consumption to minimize its contribution to plastic pollution. The following research questions are analyzed to meet these objectives:
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Will making the public water utility more reliable and efficient improve public trust?
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Will improving public trust in water utilities reduce bottled water consumption?
Answering these questions will provide insight into defining and refining the reliability and sustainability of public water utilities.
METHODOLOGY
The methodology below aims to identify the cost of water distribution, reasons consumers choose bottled water, the effects of plastic waste on the environment, and possible strategies to increase public use of tap water.
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Identify the costs of business for water distribution
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Evaluate distribution processes
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Evaluate distribution process failures and vulnerabilities
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Evaluate customer satisfaction
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Review water quality reports
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Evaluate possible operational strategies that result in cost reduction
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Analyze long-term effects of disposable bottled water usage
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Determine whether management strategies will have an effect on plastic waste
RESULTS
Identify the Costs of Water
Production costs of potable water are based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) drinking water treatment technology unit costs models (EPA, 2018). The EPA has developed models to monitor compliance costs for treatment, monitoring, and administrative costs; however, these cost models do not include operations and maintenance for public distribution systems. Therefore, a comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) was used to determine costs for a medium-sized urban public water utility.
The following are production costs for municipal water purification demonstrative of a medium-sized urban municipal water distributor that serves approximately 345,000 customers:
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The operating budget for a highly urban population of this size for 2020 is approximately $113.5 million.
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The projected 2020 revenues from water sales are $166.6 million.
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According to the American Water Works Association (AWWA), tap water's national average costs are $0.004 a gallon (AWWA, 2020).
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Costs of the bottled water industry average is $1.07–$2.49 per gallon.
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Figure 1 is an illustration of the bottled water distribution process and the associated costs (Felton, 2020).
Citation: Performance Improvement 61, 2; 10.56811/PFI-20-0047
Evaluate Distribution Processes
Public Utility
According to a 2018–2019 CAFR, a medium-sized water purification plant typically yields about 146 million gallons per day (MGD) of finished water, which equates to approximately 54 billion gallons of water per year (Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, 2019).
Leading Bottled Water Distributors
Dasani (owned by Coca-Cola) and Aquafina (Pepsi) primarily use tap water from public water supplies, which is also the source of nearly 64% of the bottled water sold in the United States. Both obtain potable water from several cities and then treat the water. See Figure 1 for an illustration of the bottled water distribution process and the associated costs (Felton, 2020).
Evaluate Public Water Utility Vulnerabilities
Public water utilities are particularly vulnerable to asset failures, cash flow and financing challenges, political influence, and bureaucratic failures. The issues above are echoed in the AWWA annual survey among water professionals, which further highlights the top issues facing public water utilities.
Asset Failures
According to the 2020 “State of the Water Industry” report (see Table 1), renewal and replacement of aging water and wastewater infrastructure are the top issues facing water utilities.
Cash Flow
According to the 2020 “State of the Water Industry” report (Table 1), financing for capital improvements is the second most important issue among professionals. In the “Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment Sixth Report to Congress,” approximately 464.6 billion dollars is needed per state to upgrade public utilities (Table 2; EPA, 2018).
Political Influence
In public utilities, the local government operates the water system, whereas elected officials make significant policy decisions that determine the cost, availability, and quality of these services. Regulatory departments set rates and determine the capital improvements and their respective importance to address the constituents' needs.
Bureaucratic Failures
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental advocacy group, nearly 80,000 reported violations of drinking water safety regulations in 2015. Of those, more than 12,000 were health-based violations or cases that involved actual contamination problems, whereas “repercussions for violations were virtually nonexistent. Nearly nine in 10 violations were subject to no formal action” (Pullen-Fednick et al., 2017, p. 7).
Evaluate Customer Satisfaction
Public Water Utility
J.D. Power conducts “The U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study” and measures satisfaction among residential customers of 90 water utilities that deliver water to at least 400,000 customers. It is reported in four geographic regions and two size categories: midwest large, midwest midsize, northeast large, northeast midsize, south large, south midsize, west large, and west midsize. Overall satisfaction is measured by examining 33 attributes in six factors (listed in order of importance): quality and reliability; price; conservation; billing and payment; communications; and customer service. The 2020 study revealed the following:
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One in four customers never drink their tap water.
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Bad taste is hard to swallow.
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Proactive communications have a powerful effect, but few utilities deliver (J.D. Power, 2020).
Bottled Water Supplier
According to Statista, in the United States, about a fifth of consumers drank mostly bottled water in 2018. Despite being continuously monitored for safety reasons and being much cheaper than bottled water, only around 10% of Americans drank tap or filtered water exclusively that year (see Figure 2); whereas, globally, the United States is number no. 4 in bottled water consumption (see Figure 3).
Citation: Performance Improvement 61, 2; 10.56811/PFI-20-0047
Citation: Performance Improvement 61, 2; 10.56811/PFI-20-0047
According to the statistics and market data on consumer goods and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), the Top Bottled Water Brands in the U.S.—Dasani, Aquafina, and Glacéau Smart, all vendors of purified tap water were the top three bottled water name brands in the United States in 2019. Dasani and Aquafina bottled water both generated sales exceeding one billion U.S. dollars in that year. However, sales of private label bottled water amounted to around 3.02 billion U.S. dollars in that year, surpassing sales of any name brand by a large margin” (Statista, 2018).
Evaluate Operational Strategies That Result in Cost Reduction for Public Utility
The primary objective for quality management implementation and strategies is to maximize operations and life of assets. Such strategies include predicting possible failures, identifying potential hazards, strengthening coordination efforts with intergovernmental agencies, strengthen relationships with customers and the business community, and ensuring timely and properly coordinated responses to emergencies. Quality management opportunities include the following:
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Maximize emergency response and install warning systems and communication systems to protect life, the environment, and personal and public property.
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Update rehabilitation and construction management processes to mitigate hazards and threats, streamline construction and work order processing.
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Reduce vulnerability and by initiating and sustaining preventive maintenance and investing in state-of-the-art utility upgrades.
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Integrate water quality and delivery, such that the water leaving the water treatment plant and the water used in the home is of equal quality.
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Upgrade capital planning to incorporate a viable critical decision analysis to all annual reports.
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Implement high-reliability organizational theory with public utilities.
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Offer additional purification services.
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Improve quality above baseline standards set by the EPA.
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Engage in community outreach.
Analyze Long-Term Effects of Disposable Plastics
According to a Consumer Reports investigation, customers are increasingly concerned about municipal tap water quality; thus, bottled water is surging in popularity. However, the investigation found that in some cases, bottled water on store shelves contains more potentially harmful constituents than tap water flowing into some homes (Felton, 2019). Long-term effects of disposable plastics and environmental viability are a hot topic. Some of the long-term adverse effects being researched are described in the following paragraphs.
Microplastics
Microplastic pollution is perhaps one of the most widespread and long-lasting anthropogenic changes to the surface of our planet (Barnes et al., 2009). The World Health Organization (WHO) published a report in 2019 discussing the concerns of microplastic found in drinking water. Figure 4 illustrates the volume of microplastics found in various water sources (WHO, 2019). As seen in Figure 4, bottled water has been found to contain more microplastics than treated tap water. Research into the adverse effects of these pollutants is ongoing.
Citation: Performance Improvement 61, 2; 10.56811/PFI-20-0047
Carcinogens
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial synthetic chemical used to make certain plastics and is present in many plastic bottles for food and beverages. This constituent is a colorless solid substance soluble in organic solvents and poorly soluble in water. Human exposure occurs when BPA leaches from plastic-lined food and beverage containers, including water bottles (Brotons et al., 1995). Research into BPAs confirms they contribute to cancer development of breasts, ovaries, and the prostate (Gao et al., 2015). Additional research is being analyzed for the harmful effects of dehydroepiandrosterone found in polyethylene terephthalate plastics.
Pollution
Research has estimated that, between 1950 and 2015, a total of 8.3 billion metric tons of virgin plastic was produced globally. Of that, approximately 6.3 billion metric tons were turned to waste, with approximately 79% ending up in landfills and the natural environment, whereas only 9% was recycled (Geyer et al., 2017).
Human and Animal Ingestion
Biodiversity is a requisite for life on this planet. Plastic ingestion appears to be widespread throughout the animal kingdom and is currently moving through all major food webs across the planet. Terrestrial, freshwater, and marine food webs are all at risk, with potential implications for individuals, populations, and ecosystems, as well as human health (Jâms et al., 2020).
DISCUSSION
Given the price per gallon of bottled water, one can surmise that Americans are able and willing to spend money on water. Researchers, regulators, and distributors must evaluate why consumers elect bottled water over a municipal source. Although the water in the United States is treated to meet potable water standards, according to the International Bottled Water Association less than 1% of municipal water is used for human consumption, whereas the rest is used for bathing, watering gardens, cleaning, and cooking. Figure 5 illustrates that 80% of all spent potable domestic-use water gets returned to the collection system to be treated without being consumed (International Bottled Water Association, 2021).
Citation: Performance Improvement 61, 2; 10.56811/PFI-20-0047
Public water utilities are an essential service that are bound by many legislative constraints, and they face many unique challenges that bottled water distributors do not. Such constraints include water quality standards that are regulated by the EPA. In contrast, bottled water companies are monitored more loosely by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) These municipality-wide distribution systems must be adequately pressurized and maintained on climate and pollution to source water, along with federal, state, and local oversight of operations. Additionally, a unique challenge for water utilities is that they have a powerful commercial competitor in the water market.
Research suggests three main reasons bottled water is purchased: taste, safety, and convenience (Hu et al., 2011). Therefore, regulators, government entities, and public water utilities must develop an integrated approach to efficiency, reliability, sustainability, and reviving public image while addressing these three factors and the system's constraints.
Challenges
Legislative
Public utilities are directly faced with a responsibility to protect the health and welfare of the public and environment through safe drinking water. This regulation is referred to as The Safe Drinking Water Act and was passed in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation's public drinking water supply (Gov.info, 1996). These standards were developed to protect against both naturally occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water. Because of this critical responsibility, water quality standards are highly regulated. Regulating agencies such as the EPA, Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Health and Hospitals has full authority to monitor, track, and change the monitoring criteria by altering distribution criteria and code, narrowing the allowable concentrations of constituents in the water, and adding new constituents. For example, in February 2020, the EPA proposed a decision to begin regulating the man-made chemicals used in the manufacturing of many industrial and consumer products, Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, in drinking water (EPA, 2020). Regularly testing public tap water for safety also requires public utilities to make the information available to the public.
Whereas the regulating authority of bottled water is the FDA, that agency does not require bottled water companies to use certified laboratories for water quality testing nor report test results.
Commercial Water Competitors
Due to retailers' dubious beverage-marketing strategies, consumers perceive a significant safety in bottled water. These retailers capitalize on advertising techniques, media reports featuring failures and inefficiencies of municipal water distributors, and lack of transparency by domestic suppliers. Such marketing tactics rely on degrading public trust in the utility. Robert Morisson of Pepsi North American Beverage and food has been quoted as saying, “The biggest enemy is tap water . . . it just has its place. We think it is good for irrigation and cooking.” (Gleick, 2001). Additionally, an investigation into market practices reveals that Coca-Cola partnered with restaurants to market consumers in commercial dining establishments in a movement to sell Dasani-brand bottled water dubbed “H2NO.” The Coca-Cola Company uses public water as its primary source for Dasani (Gleick, 2001).
Bottlers continued to discredit tap water, and records show that bottlers view the deterioration of the nation's public water infrastructure in the context of their business prospect. This has proven to be a highly lucrative business model. For example, on the basis of documents obtained through public records requests, we estimate that in 2018 Coca-Cola and Pepsi combined paid Detroit at least $1.4 million for 198 million gallons of water. Coca-Cola confirmed to Consumer Reports that the company returns about half the water as waste (Felton, 2020).
Failing Infrastructure
Aging infrastructure and demand for system repair and rehabilitation is a chronic problem in many municipalities across the United States. The nation's volume of repairs is extensive and must be managed with a strategy and a goal to have communities aligned with a vision for sustainability. Municipalities must begin to develop turnaround models to bring about the necessary improvements for the benefit of their respective communities.
Integrated Management Approaches and Intended Outcomes
Public water utilities have developed specific capabilities and strategies worth preserving; however, it is in the country's best interest for the utilities to reevaluate their operating strategies. Updated strategies should focus on reliability and sustainability to protect current and future investments and be forward-thinking when addressing the plastic-pollution crisis. Strategies must be integrated and address safety and public trust, convenience, taste, and the existing challenges and constraints.
Monitoring Stations
Utilities can consider an upgrade to monitoring and communications infrastructure and install monitoring stations throughout the network. The EPA has developed guidelines for these monitoring systems titled “Dashboard Design Guidance for Water Quality Surveillance and Response Systems.” The dashboard manages information that supports access and visualization of analytics generated from water-quality monitoring stations. The monitoring stations enable water utilities to detect and notify staff regarding constituents of concern in real time. The data may be used with predictive analytics for triggering alerts (EPA, 2017).
Intended outcome: This approach will provide a layer of transparency and build customer confidence that the drinking water is safe.
District-Metered Areas
Public utilities may include the implementation of district-metered areas (DMAs). DMAs can be used to identify areas with the highest leakage. Combined with identifying and assigning pipe network importance and other factors, the water distribution DMAs can be strategically sequenced for rehabilitation, reconstruction, and maintenance activities. The objective is to make the most of all efforts oriented towards reconstruction and rehabilitation so that the DMA strategy employs preventive concepts to avoid responsive action planning (Salomons et al., 2018).
Intended outcome: DMA can result in a reduction in negative effects due to asset failures and emergency response planning. Planning for outages and informing the public in a timely manner will increase the reputation of the utility. The vulnerability reduction concept is proactive because it can reduce the probability of loss before it becomes a threat or results in loss of life or property. Implementing this concept will minimize the magnitude of damages.
Government Performance and Results Act
Failures and inefficiencies of municipal water distributors and lack of transparency in public utilities have tarnished the public trust and exposed system reliability problems. Public utilities may consider following the framework of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The GPRA was enacted in 1993 and modernized in 2010. This act is designed to improve program management throughout the federal government. Each agency is required to develop a 5-year strategic plan outlining its mission as well as long-term goals for the agency's primary functions, performance measures, and reporting results. The strategic plan is updated every 3 years (GPRA Modernization Act, 2010).
Intended outcome: Millions of dollars may be saved by strengthening management and procurement practices. Assessments for capital projects and major initiatives will follow this plan and enforce accountability in the utility. The protocols are intended to help the utilities remain focused on the plan even during unstable and transitional periods.
Public Outreach Campaigns
The United States is the fourth largest consumer market per capita for bottled water globally (Statista, 2019). Therefore, public water distributors must make a concerted effort to address why consumers choose bottled water over tap water. European countries are exploring ways to promote tap water. These countries have begun looking at improving access, upgrading quality standards to beyond regulatory compliance, enhancing transparency concerning tap water's benefits, making tap water more accessible, and communicating the economic, environmental, and social benefits (Tosun et al., 2020).
The United States may consider exploring the success of these initiatives and employing customer satisfaction surveys, taste surveys, increasing public awareness of pollution, and exposing the truth behind bottled water retailers' marketing practices.
Intended outcome: Reduced bottled water consumption, revived trust in public utilities, and increased public utility revenue are some by-products of increasing public awareness. Educating the public on the extent of the waste and the adverse effects of pollution associated with bottled water distribution is paramount to reviving public trust. The exposure will allow consumers to make more responsible ecological and financial decisions regarding disposable plastic bottles and bottled water source products. Public water utilities must be active in environmental protection by raising awareness among the communities they serve to combat the waste associated with the unnecessary consumption of bottled water.
Offering Additional Services
Bottled water costs have risen by more than $200,000 over the past 5 years. Some government offices have even included an expense for bottled water in their annual budgets. According to a report by the Boston Herald, Massachusetts taxpayers are picking up the $1.1 million tab for state workers to drink bottled water; this exposes a waste of tax dollars when government buildings are typically exempt from paying for tap water (Markos, 2019). Utilities may offer the service of installing additional in-line filtration to homes and businesses to offset the customers' concerns or preference for bottled water. Additionally, the utilities should also develop online resources to help customers select the filter that meets their needs of improving taste or odor. The public utility will ensure that the public has the tools and options to make responsible and appropriate household decisions.
Intended outcome: The outcome is increasing the level of service, restoring public trust, enhancing the revenue stream, and reducing plastic waste. Focusing on meeting public need requires a fully coordinated effort and often new approaches to services offered. Administrators and municipal governments need to work together to decide the best strategies for the utility to meet its mission and meet the needs of its respective communities. Consumers have shown their willingness to pay for purified tap water. Therefore, public utilities may find a beneficial way to fill this need.
CONCLUSION
Regulators and utility directors must take a holistic review of their respective public water utilities, incorporate an integrated framework, and produce a plan to develop a vision to increase tap consumption in the future. This review must engage the entire community of water professionals, policymakers, and stakeholders to be viable. Comprehensive, integrated strategic plans must include a path forward with a vision to systematically upgrade water utilities' operational procedures and policies and define where utilities need to be in the short-, mid-, and long-term. Time horizons and milestones are essential to help carve the path forward for water distribution and waste reduction.
Revised operational visions should define the structure, management, organizational culture, customer relations, and level of service the utilities wish to establish. The plans should be comprehensive in scope and anticipate any current or upcoming regulatory requirements. They should have well-developed cost savings, a financial wellness provision that reduces the tax and ratepayers' burdens, and sound and responsible technical and engineering processes. The plans must be effective and efficient ways to prioritize, coordinate, and sequence projects with minimal effects on the public while also taking a holistic review of operational processes. The review of the processes must be honest and accurate to implement real, meaningful change, and they must be adequately updated, developed, monitored, controlled, and revised accordingly to ensure long-term success. Transparent and responsible management protocols increase public trust and are the first steps to ensure a resilient and sustainable system.
Effective, sustainable, reliable, and trustworthy public water utilities and subsequent plastic pollution reduction is the desired outcome for the study. Upon evaluating report data, updating the operational strategies with successful implementation and control will dramatically improve water utilities' inner workings in part and whole and reduce plastic pollution from bottled water waste. The viability of the utility requires the leadership to apply focus to adaptability and reliability. Therefore, the public utility should also seek to adapt to social, environmental, economic, and technological changes. Relationships and alliances must be formed to transform a public utility. These alliances can be established with transparency, increased communication, and community support. The public utility should seek support from the local, state, and federal governing bodies and the professional community. Communication with community leaders avoids contradictory public statements and confusion. This support is essential for the utility's ability to tap into the community's needs and strategize accordingly.
Updated operating procedures and policies will likely lead to fewer boil water notices, proactive repair strategies, increased savings, and financial well-being and instill trust in the organizations. When the community trusts that their water is safe, they will be less inclined to purchase bottled water and rely on tap water to fulfill their needs. Moreover, implementing sustainable quality-management approaches to public utilities may have a positive environmental effect on pollution reduction and the associated waste streams.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
Further analysis of incidents and a national needs survey may provide a tool for the utility provider and the regulators to evaluate resilience benefits. Pilot programs may be beneficial and the first step into benchmarking the present level of service and provide foundations to build strategic plans that incorporate waste reduction practices and community outreach plans. The information gained from these pilot programs will assist management in identifying priorities and opportunities to enhance investments and maintenance, reduce the costs of reactive incident management, and generate sustainable utilities.
Some pilot programs, such as those provided by ProRate Energy Inc., support public utilities in providing ratepayers choices in the source of energy they use (ProRate, 2019). In doing so, ratepayers can also store, sell, and invest in renewable energy and energy-efficient investments, whereas the public utility may benefit from price arbitrage from one of many wholesale marketplaces of energy. In addition, if the public water utility can keep tap water clean and safely drinkable, it will inevitably reduce the amount of plastic used in water bottle consumption.
This research is worth exploring further to assist in a solid business and engineering a best practices “road map” for public utilities.
Dasani Water: From Tap to Bottle. Sources: Beverage Marketing Corp. and water billing records from Coca-Cola in Detroit and Pepsi in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Per Capita Consumption of Bottled Water in the United States 1999–2019 (in Gallons)
Per Capita Consumption of Bottled Water Worldwide in 2018, by Leading Countries (in Gallons)
Microplastics in Surface Water Supply 2019 (Gao et al., 2015)
How Much Water Do We Use? Source: Water Research Foundation, Residential end uses of water, version 2, 2016 (International Bottled Water Association, 2021)
Contributor Notes
SHANNON (OLDFIELD) BLANKS is a Sr. Principal Engineer at Council Utilities Regulatory Office New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a M.S. in Engineering Management. Email: soldfield2013@gmail.com
SYED ADEEL AHMED holds a B.S. in Electronics & Communication Engineering from Osmania University and two M.S. degrees from the University of New Orleans, in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) and Engineering Management (MSENMG). He is a Microsoft Certified Professional and Business Strategy Game Champion. Dr. Ahmed was awarded his Ph.D. in Engineering & Applied Sciences in 2006 from the University of New Orleans. He has published more than 40 top Journal research papers and book chapters. Dr. Ahmed has been in the teaching and research profession for over 20 years. He has taught math, physics, engineering, business and computer science courses at the undergraduate and graduate level at Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, Xavier University, Southern University of New Orleans, Dillard University, Delgado Community College, and Nunez Community College. Additionally, he is a Ph.D. degree, master's degree, and bachelor's degree advisor for several graduate and undergraduate students. Email: sahmed1@xula.edu
BRENDAN JAMES MOORE is a philosopher and instructional designer currently working on a leadership development program at Ochsner Health Systems in New Orleans, Louisiana. His background includes 10+ years of university ethics teaching at Ohio University and Tulane University and several years of work in the area of information technology, instructional technology, and applied computing systems. Mr. Moore is a former PhD student in the area of philosophy with two master's degrees in philosophy (one from Tulane University and another from Ohio University) in addition to a master's in Information Management and a masters in Engineering Management, and is currently working on a PhD program in engineering. Mr. Moore is passionate about teaching, process improvement, energy efficiency, and philosophy. Email: bmoore@tulane.edu
