Background on the EUM Initiative and Interactive Primer

Developed by Utility Managers for Utility Mangers

This interactive Primer, and the document from which it derives, Effective Utility Management A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities, were developed by utility advisors drawing on decades of experience.


Addressing Common Challenges

Water and wastewater utilities across the country face many common challenges, including rising costs, aging infrastructure, increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, population changes, and a rapidly changing workforce. Effective utility management can help utilities respond to current and future challenges and support utilities in being successful 21st century service providers.


The Effective Utility Management Initiative

Based on these challenges, EPA and six national water and wastewater associations (the “Collaborating Organizations”) signed an historic agreement in 2007 to promote effective utility management based on the Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities and five Keys to Management Success. The Primer is an outgrowth of that agreement.


The EUM Resource Toolbox

As a companion resource to the Primer, the Collaborating Organizations developed an online EUM Resource Toolbox which offers additional information and guidance on effective utility management. The EUM Resource Toolbox provides a compilation of resources from the seven Collaborating Organizations designed to help the water and wastewater utility community further improve the management of their organizations.