WC146 JanFeb 2026 - Magazine - Page 11
DRINKING WATER
Water: A Love Taken for Granted
Water utilities have a responsibility to communicate proactively to
earn our trust when it comes to drinking water BY ROBERT HALLER
Reliable water services have become an
automatic expectation. However, these concepts of
reliability and a昀昀ordability have been continually
challenged in the last couple of decades.
T SEEMS UTILITIES are always having to compete
for funding to maintain and replace their water and
wastewater systems—not just at the provincial or federal level, but within their own municipal organization.
Being in the water utility industry, it is incomprehensible to me that water isn’t universally declared the most
important thing on this planet and everyone’s highest
priority—not oil, not rare metals, not transit systems,
not even the current need for shelter. We cannot exist as
humans without a safe, reliable supply of drinkable water.
In fact, as scientists explore the billions of planets in our
galaxy, the most important thing they are looking for is
Getty Images
I
Robert Haller is the executive
director of the Canadian Water
and Wastewater Association.
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
the potential for water. Otherwise, we move on to the next
planet. Deep down, I expect everyone knows that they
need water more than anything else, but for most Canadians, it has always been there, right at our tap, and almost
for free.
The vast majority of Canadians and Canadian businesses have relied on urban municipal tap water for over a
century; and rightly so. Millions of Canadians have been
safely drinking tap water and staying healthy. Yes, on a few
occasions, when something went wrong or people were
careless (like in Walkerton or Flint), people were harmed,
but for the most part, they have been well served. Reliable
water services have become an automatic expectation.
However, these concepts of reliability and affordability
have been continually challenged in the last couple of
decades.
WATER C AN ADA • JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2026
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