About LVWS | LVWS Projects | LVWS Members

Lehigh Valley Water Suppliers, Inc. (LVWS) is a nonprofit organization made up of 18 public water utilities in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Our mission is to conduct meaningful public outreach programs that enhance the public’s understanding and support for the important issues that water utilities face, such as conservation, pollution prevention, source water protection and watershed awareness. LVWS focuses many of its programs on youth education because we believe the children of the Lehigh Valley will grow up to be our leaders and protectors of our precious natural resources.

We work together because we believe we can accomplish more by pooling our resources than any of us could do on our own, considering we are all public entities.

LVWS began in 1987 when a group of seven Lehigh Valley public water suppliers met to discuss the fledgling National Water Awareness Week -- an event promoted by the American Water Works Association to focus national attention on the value of drinking water and the importance of properly managing this resource. The suppliers concluded that together, they could help develop programs to educate people of all ages about the priceless resources in the Valley.

The first Lehigh Valley Water Awareness Week started modestly. Displays with water conservation tips were erected throughout the area and the first Annual Water Taste Test was held in the County Courthouse with passers-by acting as judges.

Since those initial efforts, focus on drinking water has continued to grow. Our programs now include an fund-raising golf tournament, an annual watershed "festival" called HydroMania, a water systems operator training day and water awareness luncheon, and other programming throughout the year as needed to meet the community's need for educational programming on water awareness topics.