Water utility communication practices—what Contributes to Success?

Abstract

Water utilities in the United States must communicate with a variety of stakeholders, including customers, the media, boards, and citizens' groups. Often, they must disseminate negative, unpleasant, or unwelcome information about rate hikes, conservation measures, water source pollution, expensive infrastructure projects, and management or ownership changes. The biggest challenge facing water providers today is finding effective ways to convey their variety of messages to this range of audiences. To better understand the communication practices of US water suppliers, a national survey of 175 utilities was conducted to obtain hard data about the toughest topics, toughest audiences, communication techniques used, and utilities' perception about the success of their communication efforts. Survey responses indicated that water quality was the toughest topic and residential customers were the toughest audience. Of the approximately 60 communication techniques used, news releases were the most common. As to success, nearly three quarters of respondents rated their communication efforts as very or moderately successful. Statistical analysis of survey responses showed that successful communication efforts were correlated with 10 principles of authentic communication: communication must be truthful, fundamental, comprehensive, relevant, clear, consistent, accessible, timely, compassionate, and allow feedback. By adopting these proven principles as best practices, water providers can become more effective in communicating with their various constituencies on today's increasingly complex water issues.