Standards: A Core AWWA Mission

摘要

Failing infrastructure, disease outbreaks blamed on contaminated drinking water, and the need for standards ―particularly for new technol-ogy―dominated the conversation. Sound familiar―Actually this meeting occurred March 29, 1881. The participants consisted of waterworks superintendents, consulting engineers, manufacturers' representatives, a contractor, a professor, and even "a distiller and saloon keeper." They were drawn together by the common need to share experiences, concerns, and information. The result was the formation of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) that the founders stated was to be "for the exchange of information pertaining to the management of waterworks, for the mutual advancement of consumers and water companies, and for the purpose of securing economy and uniformity in the operation of water companies."