2025 State of the Water Industry Report: American Water Works Association Announces Release

The American Water Works Association (“AWWA”) announced the release of its 2025 State of the Water Industry Report (“Report”).

AWWA describes itself as the:

…largest nonprofit, scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water, the world’s most vital resource.

The organization states that it has approximately 50,000 members.

AWWA annually publishes a State of the Water Industry Report. The annual Report has been published by AWWA since 2004.

The 2025 Report is stated to be based on “insights from 3,575 water professionals surveyed in late 2024.” It is described as providing a comprehensive look at “the most pressing challenges and priorities facing the North American water sector.”

The survey is stated to have indicated:

• Aging Infrastructure: Ranking as the second most pressing concern, many systems are reaching or exceeding their design lives, necessitating significant investments to ensure continued service and public health protection.
• Emerging Contaminants: Nearly 45% of respondents indicated significant concern about per- and polyfluorinated substances – commonly known as PFAS — a sentiment driven by new regulatory pressures and the need for investments in advanced treatment.
• Workforce Challenges: Workforce issues are a major concern for utilities — ranked seventh in the top ten challenges this year — as they face the challenges of an aging workforce, recruitment difficulties, and the need for specialized skills.
• Technological Evolution: Cybersecurity is ranked eighth in top challenges, with 73% rating it as very to critically important, though 26% of small systems report low to no ability to implement measures.
• Public Trust: Ranked fourth in top challenges, 60.6% of utilities have customer communication plans implemented or in progress, crucial for maintaining trust in an evolving media landscape.

A copy of the Executive Summary can be downloaded here.