BALTIMORE, Md. & WILMINGTON, N.C., Dec. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The new Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) announced by the EPA on Dec. 16 will create several significant challenges for thousands of the nation's water utilities. The challenges are not just tied to the LCR's new compliance requirements, but to the variety of sensitive communication efforts that water providers must conduct to assure the public that their drinking water is safe. If their COMMS efforts fail, the utilities risk losing their reputations.
Under the new Lead and Copper Rule, the country's water providers will need to:
- Change the lead testing process their customers must conduct in both their homes and businesses;
- Search for lead by conducting detailed inventories of all their water lines;
- Conduct lead testing in their service area's non-secondary schools and childcare facilities; and
- Notify all customers within 24 hours of a systemwide lead exceedance.
These new LCR requirements will overwhelm the thousands of water utilities that are ill-prepared to take on the communication efforts that will be necessary, either due to a lack of staff or a lack of expertise in handling multi-stage public information campaigns.
To help utilities of all sizes nationwide, leading water industry-focused public relations firms WaterPIO and WaterComm.Co have launched a new platform for Lead and Copper Rule communications compliance: LeadCopperRule.com.
Findings under the new Lead and Copper Rule will shake public confidence in the nation's drinking water. LeadCopperRule.com will supply water providers with everything they need to communicate successfully under the new LCR. Its turnkey packages provide tried-and-true internal and external communication plans and products immediately ready to help every utility preserve public trust in its water.
In addition to 24/7 crisis communication services, LeadCopperRule.com's COMMS plans, products, and consulting expertise will enable water providers to:
- Properly explain the LCR's new testing processes to ensure customers correctly take their water samples;
- Proactively inform the press, social media, elected officials, and community leaders about lead service line inventory efforts, protecting utilities from angry pushback at the very start of what could be a three-year-long process;
- Respectfully communicate lead testing in schools and childcare facilities so that parents feel fully engaged and informed from the very start; and
- Instantly release perspective-providing emergency notification materials when a utility must alert its customers to a systemwide exceedance in just 24 hours.
"As water-related communication mandates continue to roll out over the next several years, it will be imperative for utilities and local governments to communicate proactively about lead to avoid creating fear," said Eboni Green, Principal, LeadCopperRule.Com. "Our platform provides ready-to-use solutions for water providers of all sizes so they can communicate with confidence under the new LCR."
"For decades, water providers didn't communicate about their lead and copper efforts because they wanted to avoid talking about such a sensitive subject. Now, they don't have a choice," said Mike McGill, Principal, LeadCopperRule.com. "Utilities must change their mindsets and become proactive about their lead communications, even if that thought fills them with fear. This is where we come in; LeadCopperRule.com puts water providers in a position to succeed for years to come."
About WaterPIO
Founded in 2016, WaterPIO is a national public communications firm dedicated to helping water utilities, local governments, and engineering firms affordably improve their customer, media, and crisis communications. Because of its track record of success in more than 15 states, WaterPIO has been tapped to provide public communication plans and products to communities facing major lead issues across the country, including Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Newburgh, New York.
About WaterComm.co
A brand of TTV Consulting, WaterComm.Co elevates the possibilities within public information. Since 2015, the consulting firm has been working with cities, municipalities, and engineering and planning firms to transform the way they communicate with customers. WaterComm.Co has been invited to participate in public involvement opportunities nationally and globally, helping turn project and program opponents into ambassadors by creating and executing unconventional engagement opportunities.
For more information about LeadCopperRule.com, please visit our website - www.LeadCopperRule.com.
For interviews and other inquiries, interested media can contact Mike McGill at (910) 622-8472 or mike@waterpio.com or Eboni Green at 678-387-0747 or egreen@ttve.co.
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