Environmental Performance American Water is committed to being a steward of the environment. We understand that our operations and activities have an impact on the environment, and it is our responsibility to minimize these impacts while providing affordable and reliable water and wastewater products and services to our customers. We have set aspirational goals related to our environmental performance. These include reducing our carbon footprint and waste by 50 percent over the long-term. American Water Environmental Policy
The American Water Environmental policy applies to all parts of the business for which we have control. The objective of this policy is to clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of each operating unit to support this effort. American Water’s Commitment: - Ensure compliance with all relevant environmental laws, regulations, and standards.
- Compliance will be monitored and reported on a regular basis
- Sustain the environment through responsible business practices which promote environmental stewardship with a holistic approach to the prevention of pollution.
- Promote environmental stewardship in our business offerings, and where our operations, activities, or practices could impact the environment
- Encourage our partners, suppliers, agents, and contractors to adopt similar standards
- Discuss our environmental performance with our stakeholders
- Ensure efficient use of natural resources, including energy, in both our operations and during construction.
- Work to achieve a high level of energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- Minimize resource consumption and waste production in capital projects and new construction
- Partner with our communities to protect watersheds, develop sustainable water resources, and promote water conservation and use efficiency
- Promote recycling, reuse, or energy recovery of wastes
Each operating unit is responsible for managing its environmental impact in a systematic way through the implementation of an Environmental Management Plan that includes both regulatory requirements and stewardship opportunities. Environmental Stewardship
American Water complies with numerous federal and state regulations, developed under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and other federal and state statutes. To ensure compliance with applicable regulations and track our environmental stewardship efforts, we employ an Environmental Management Plan system in tandem with an internal environmental audit program. Environmental Management Plans
Our Environmental Management Plans outline regulatory requirements and environmental stewardship opportunities at each of our facilities. Specifically, these plans summarize environmental regulations such as safe drinking water, clean water, and clean air that apply to a particular facility. These plans are developed at the system level and include facility-specific requirements and designation of the employees responsible for implementation. Environmental Management Plans are reviewed quarterly and updated as needed to include new requirements and changes in responsibility. Environmental Audits
Through our internal environmental audit program we assess our environmental management plans, procedures and physical facilities. The audit program also assesses drinking water and wastewater services, and is intended to proactively identify issues and allow us to remediate them. Our goal is to audit all regulated and market-based operations at least once every five years (or more frequently, if possible). Over the last two years, American Water has performed over 75 audits covering over 200 treatment plants at almost 150 drinking water and wastewater systems across our operations.
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