The state of water/wastewater utility sustainability: A North American survey

A North American survey on current sustainable infrastructure practices among water and wastewater utilities was conducted in April 2014. The survey queried utilities on the types of infrastructure practices they use, ranging from renewable energy to infrastructure repair to demand management. The survey also collected information on utilities' sustainability-related reporting, project evaluation, and decision-making. The survey found that less than half of utilities that responded implement some form of sustainability practice. Of the 125 US respondents, 18% of utilities reported publishing a sustainability policy or vision statement. A large fraction of utilities reported not using sustainability tools or metrics; 26% of respondents reported using no metrics, and 46% of utilities used no sustainability tools. Energy and water audits (30 and 28%, respectively) were by far the most common tools used by utilities to evaluate the sustainability of their infrastructure. Less than 4% of respondents reported using Envision, the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure's rating system.