U.S. EPA and American Water Launch National 'We're for Water' Campaign in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program is partnering with American Water (NYSE: AWK), the nation's largest publicly-traded water services provider to launch the national "We're for Water" campaign, coinciding with peak water use season in many parts of America. The campaign kicks off today in Los Angeles with two families, located in American Water's California service area of Baldwin Hills, competing against each other to see who can save the most water by checking for leaks, twisting on faucet aerators and replacing inefficient fixtures with WaterSense labeled ones.

Zeke and Nigeria James and their children, Alana, 6, and Reina, 3, and Michael and Ellen Walls and their children, Michael, Jr., 27 and Ashley, 24, reviewed the EPA's WaterSense website (www.epa.gov/watersense) and made changes in their everyday lives to reduce their water usage. WaterSense partner American Water monitored the two families' water use over the course of one week and compared it to their usage during a previous week this summer. During today's kickoff event, the families are showing off what they learned by battling each other in a "check, twist, replace" competition, and the family that reduced their weekly water usage the most will be revealed. A gallon of water from the competition will be saved and become Flo, the We're for Water "spokesgallon."

Flo and the We're for Water team will then depart from L.A. and travel across the country for two weeks, stopping at national landmarks, taking photos with tourists, educating citizens about water efficiency, and recording the trip via Facebook, Twitter, widgets, and the We're for Water website (www.epa.gov/watersense/wereforwater).  The road trip will culminate on August 2, 2010, with an event in New York City.

The We're for Water campaign is a national effort to educate consumers about water-saving behaviors and WaterSense labeled products. The campaign, which kicks off during "peak" water use season in many parts of the country, encourages consumers to adopt simple changes at home to start saving water.

WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. EPA with the goal of protecting the future of the nation's water supply by promoting and enhancing the market for water-efficient products and services. There are currently 525 WaterSense labeled toilets, more than 1,800 labeled faucets and faucet accessories, 74 labeled showerheads, and more than 900 WaterSense irrigation partners.  WaterSense labeled products are independently tested and certified to meet EPA's criteria for both efficiency and performance.  For more information, visit www.epa.gov/watersense or follow the tour at www.epa.gov/watersense/wereforwater.

American Water, a WaterSense Partner, is the largest publicly-traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, providing drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 16 million people in 35 states, as well as Ontario and Manitoba, Canada. California American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water, provides high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 600,000 people.  More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

SOURCE American Water