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Many of the early generation 6-litre toilet models sold in North America performed poorly and failed to meet consumer expectations for flushing performance. Yet virtually all of these models met all of the prevailing performance requirements to become certified. Water utilities were concerned over the negative customer feedback they were receiving regarding toilet fixtures that they had encouraged (through rebates) their customers to install. In response, 22 U.S. and Canadian utilities and other water interests, recognizing that toilet certification did not guarantee a high level of performance, sponsored the development of the independent Maximum Performance (MaP) Testing Program. This is now considered the de facto methodology for toilet performance testing throughout North America.

In keeping with its newly adopted Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan, the Village of Lumby introduced a Stage-1 Water Conservation threshold that instituted water sprinkling regulations, a public education awareness program, and increased water-level monitoring for village wells.

The goal of this project was to look at how tourist accommodation operators on Salt Spring Island could adopt best water conservation practices. This tied into the 'Green Accommodations' initiative developed by the local Chamber of Commerce, one of the goals of which was to ensure that tourism on Salt Spring Island would become a beacon of environmental stewardship and a model for sustainability which the rest of the Gulf Islands could look to as an example of best practice in the industry.

Water is commonly thought to be plentiful on BC’s west coast; an assumption that has traditionally shaped our decisions about everything from planning our home gardens to designing and operating cooling systems and industrial processes. However, the rising cost of providing drinking water from finite sources in growing urban areas is rendering many traditional water using devices, systems and practices obsolete.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water has published a guide to watershed management as a tool in developing and implementing watershed plans. The draft “Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters” is intended for communities, watershed groups, and local, state, tribal, and federal environmental agencies.

With help from West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL), a two-year effort to protect the Sunshine Coast’s Hotel Lake from harmful water withdrawals is successful. The Environmental Appeal Board has limited the amount of water that can be withdrawn from Hotel Lake until studies demonstrate that increased water use will not harm the lake.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, the agency responsible for managing water resources in a 16-county area in west-central Florida, provides a free program to hotels and motels to help conserve water. The district launched the Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program (Water CHAMP) in 2002 to help decrease the impact vacationers place on Florida’s most precious resource—water.

An up-to-date customer information system (CIS) is an essential component of an effective water utility business. These systems are responsible for a wide range of key business activities including billing, managing credit and collections, tracking water consumption, and responding to customers' needs.

As noted in “Preserving sustainable water supplies for future generations”, a feature in the July 2005 edition of the AWWA “Journal”, sustainability of the planet's water resources should always be a consideration when a water supply plan is developed.

“Ten primary trends and their implications for water utilities”, featured in the July 2005 edition of the AWWA “Journal”, provides an overview of the top ten water utility future trends identified through an assessment of the literature, interviews with public water supply community leaders, and a futures workshop featuring futurists and scenario planning exercises.